`Search the Scriptures, for ... they are they which testify of Me' (John 5:39).

`For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed Me: for he wrote of Me. But if ye believe not his writings,

how shall ye believe My words?' (John 5:46,47).

To the ten disciples (Thomas was absent and Judas was probably dead) the Risen Saviour declared:

`These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which

were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me' (Luke 24:44).

To miss Him therefore in our Bible study is to miss our way entirely.

Now all this may seem complicated, but actually in practice it is nothing more than a sane and reverent way of

handling the Holy Scriptures and recognizing that the Word of God is primarily a Book of Redemption, meeting

man's deepest needs and revealing, in some measure at least, what a gracious God intends to do with the creation He

has made and those who come under His redeeming Love. In all our Bible Study and searching for Divine Truth,

may we be able to say with the Psalmist, `I rejoice at Thy Word, as one that findeth great spoil' (Psa. 119:162), or

Jeremiah when he said `Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing

of mine heart' (Jer. 15:16).

But someone may say, I see the importance of all this, but where am I to start when I want to read and study the

Bible? Do I commence with Genesis chapter 1, or somewhere in the middle of the Old Testament? Or shall I begin

with the New Testament? Let us say straight away that we sympathise with the inquirer. The Bible is a long book,

dealing with an amazing variety of subjects, much of which appears, on the surface, to be unconnected. Perhaps,

however, we can find within its covers some principle to guide us. We have already pointed out that the Word of

God is a signpost directing us always to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is of the first importance and must never be

forgotten. But in and through Him, God has been pleased to reveal His plan and purpose for the earth and for the

heavens, the Bible being a record of this plan. It is a Book of Divine purpose. In Ephesians 3:11 we read

`According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord'. A more literal rendering would be

`According to the purpose of the ages which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord'. From this we see that time (the

ages) is a platform, as it were, upon which God is working out a great redemptive plan for His creation and this is

centred in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus. Genesis 1:1 commences with the creation of the heaven and the

earth and so we find in the Word of God this wondrous plan has a heavenly part and also an earthly part.

In 2 Timothy 1:8,9 we read, `God, Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our

works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus ...'. Here the apostle Paul

tells us how we can have a share in this mighty purpose, and there is only one way and that is by salvation. It is not

much use studying God's plan for heaven and earth, if we ourselves are outside of it, and so the reader is asked

plainly and directly - is this salvation yours? Have you taken this necessary step for coming within the plan and

purpose of God? If you have put your trust simply and sincerely in the Lord Jesus Christ and taken Him to be your

own personal Saviour, you can be described truthfully by Romans 8:28 `the called according to His purpose'. You

are inside the plan and eternally secure. If you have never taken this step think seriously for a moment. God is

slowly working to bring the whole of His creation back again to perfection and beauty. Everything that mars will be

eradicated when this has been finally fulfilled, for God will not have one sin or one sinner to spoil His goal.

`The Son of Man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and

them which do iniquity' (Matt. 13:41).

`Every plant, which My Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up' (Matt. 15:13).

`There shall in no wise enter into it (the Heavenly Jerusalem) any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh

abomination, or maketh a lie' (Rev. 21:27).

These are exceedingly serious statements, and they describe all who are outside of Christ and unsaved. On the

other hand to know Him as Saviour means that He will wash away all our sins and clothe us with His own

perfection, so that when we meet Him one day (and we surely shall) we shall do so as perfect creatures without the

slightest possibility of condemnation (Rom. 8:1).

We will now go further and search the Scriptures in order to discover what they teach concerning the earthly part

of this plan. First of all Isaiah 45:18 tells us that God created the earth in order that it might be inhabited, so we can