The Whole Bible—Old and New Testaments

Our January theme for the Today devotions, written by Professor Dean Deppe, is “The Whole Bible—Old and New Testaments."

As we begin a new year of Today readings, we’re going to take a fresh look at the entire Bible. Is it just a book of random thoughts written by a variety of people? Or is there something more that ties the whole book together in a unique way?

You may know that there are 66 books in the Bible. It’s a whole library written by a variety of authors—from the Hebrew scriptures by patriarchs and prophets to the Greek gospels and letters by apostles like Paul and John. And yet there are many similarities in what they wrote about, as well as quotes from earlier books put into the later books. How can this be?

The Bible is not only about the history of God and his people, it was inspired by God—2 Timothy 3:16-17 explains that very plainly. God is really the author of the Bible. And so from beginning to end, the Bible lays out the story of how God rescues his creation. We learn how God made humankind to be the pinnacle of his cosmos, yet we fell into sin, so God laid out a plan from the very beginning as to how we can be redeemed and saved from certain death. That’s already explained in Genesis 3:15. From there God weaves that story of redemption through all the scriptures until the last book, Revelation, where we read how God will finally bring his people back to him forever. What a beautiful story of redemption and restoration!

Professor Dean Deppe has taught New Testament Theology at Calvin Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan for many years. He is well qualified to walk us through this exploration of the Bible from beginning to end.

As you read the Today devotionals this month, may you be refreshed, refocused, and renewed in God’s Word!