Today, we embark on a journey to meet and know Jesus.

I know I’ve already stated this, but it simply cannot be overstated that making an effort to know Jesus is not just one of the most important things that you can do in your life; it is the most important thing you can ever do.

I commend you for getting to this place and taking the time to make this investment into your eternal soul. Only the life beyond this one will reveal the true value of the investment you are about to make during the course of this journey.

Before we begin, I want to encourage you to take a moment and reflect on where you are today in your walk with God.

Maybe, take a moment to note it in a journal or your notes app on your phone so that at the end of this time of exploration, you can reflect on the progress that you have made in meeting and knowing Jesus.

This chapter that we are about to dive into will serve as the foundation for the rest of this book. Each subsequent chapter after this one will build on this one as we seek to unearth the truths of who Jesus is and what it means to meet Him, layer by layer.

With that said, everything we discuss moving forward in this book will be rooted in Scripture—the Bible.

While we are thankful for church history and at times appreciate certain traditions that have come through it, we do not look to these things to define the baseline of what it means to meet Jesus and truly know who He is. Instead, we turn our attention to the Bible as our baseline and ultimate source of revelation and experience with God, not only of who He is but also how we get to know Him.

One of the foremost authors of the New Testament is a man named Paul. Paul was a disciple and apostle of Jesus—a primary leader of the church that Jesus started in the first century.

One day, Paul, while writing to one of his mentees, Timothy, delivered a few very important keys that we want to examine and lay into the foundation of this journey together.

Let’s look at the statements that Paul made to Timothy.

The first statement is found in 2 Timothy:

“But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” (2 Timothy 3:14–16).

Here, we find Paul writing to Timothy, warning him that there would be people who would come along one day, imposters, who would try to deceive the followers of Jesus. In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul tells Timothy that the only way to stay anchored in what is true, and therefore not be deceived, is to know that “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

In this statement, Paul underlines the following points, which we want to take a moment to acknowledge, affirm, and briefly elaborate on:

ALL Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and not of men.

Although men did put the Scriptures from pen to paper by their own hands, it was under the divine inspiration of God that these men even picked up pens and began to write in the first place. Peter, who was also an apostle, echoes this same sentiment as he writes in 2 Peter 1:20–21 that the prophetic writings of Scripture did not come to us by the will of men, but as holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit to write them.

ALL Scripture is profitable for the following:

In addition to this, just a few verses prior to the above admonition, Paul writes another very important truth for us all to consider in 2 Timothy 2:15.

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

I cannot overstate how important this is for us to understand.

If there is indeed a right way to read and understand the Scriptures, then there must be a wrong way. And if there is a wrong way, we must be “diligent,” as Paul says, in our efforts to “rightly divide” the word of truth.

This is why we look to the Word of God as our foundation of truth instead of what someone has to say about it. Truly, the Word of God is capable of interpreting itself and needs no assistance if, indeed, it is the true Word of God. We will see this in action in just a moment.

This word “divide”, which Paul mentions in 2 Timothy 2:15, in the original Greek language in which it was written, means to “guide along a straight path.”

This becomes all the more illuminating and insightful when we take a glance at what King David wrote in the Book of Psalms 119:105, saying, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

See what I mean about Scripture interpreting Scripture?

The Word of God isn’t just our guide on the path but our light along the way.

While the Bible is a big book and can admittedly appear complex with lots of stories, subjects, characters, and more, it actually has one simple, clear, well-lit straight path guided by the Spirit of the very same God who inspired it—a path that leads to one central truth found in one central person: Jesus, who is both our God and our Savior.

Yep, it’s all about Jesus.

The Bible, from Genesis (which is the first book of the Bible) to Revelation (which is the last one), points to Jesus from start to finish. As far as the Bible is concerned, Jesus is the star of the show.

The Bible is about Jesus. Christianity is about Jesus. Everything points to and declares the truth of Jesus.

This walk with God and Christian faith is centered on the concept of meeting and following Jesus. Another way to express this concept of following Jesus is to “become a disciple of Jesus.”

Yet with so many different expressions and streams of Christianity, how can we be sure that we are truly living the life that Jesus has called us to live? How can we be sure that the stream of Christianity that we are in or are about to jump into is the right one?

This is a good and essential question.

“Is this supposed to be confusing?” “Am I doing this right?” “Am I walking down the well-lit, straight path, guided by the Holy Spirit? Or am I on some path paved by a group of people somewhere in the fourth century, for example?”

Thankfully, no, it’s not supposed to be confusing.

Yes, you can do this right and walk down the straight path that God has designed for all of us to meet and follow Him.

And yes, you can know for sure that you are following Jesus, instead of what people have to say about Him.

As someone said, we need to get this straight from the horse’s mouth. Except, no horses wrote the Bible. However, there is that one time that God did use a donkey to speak to someone. Don’t let anybody tell you the Bible is boring. LOL.

This is why we turn to the Bible. The Scriptures. The divinely inspired (meaning God-breathed) Word of God. Because everything that we need to know, not only about how to meet Jesus but also about who He is, how to follow Him, and more, is found in the Word of God.

Yes! It’s all in there!

Let’s face it, with so many denominations and branches of Christianity, unfortunately, someone or some group is bound to be wrong. That’s just life.

But you know what isn’t wrong? The inspired Word of God. The Bible.

And so, therefore, we turn to it alone as our basis of doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness… just like Paul instructed Timothy.

Since we are talking so much about the Bible, let’s break it down a little bit. Namely, the second half of the Bible called the New Testament, which is the last twenty-seven books of the Bible (sixty-six in total), where Jesus and His disciples come bursting onto the scene.

The New Testament—which means New Covenant—is broken down into three main sections:

  1. The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
  2. The Acts of the Apostles (The Book of Acts)
  3. The Letters to the Churches (Romans–Revelation)

Let’s begin by taking a look at the Gospels together.

In the Gospels, which are the first four books of the New Testament, Jesus, our perfect example, teaches and models to His followers how to live. After all, who better to teach humanity how to live than the one who created them?

You could say that these Gospels, which are the real-time accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus, are essentially written documentaries. Consider them as four different written documentaries from four different directors: “The Life of Jesus, According to Matthew,” “The Life of Jesus, According to Mark,” etc.

Not only do we have the Gospels, but Luke, one of the Gospel authors, also wrote another book known as The Acts of the Apostles, sometimes known as “The Book of Acts” or just “Acts.”

In this book, Luke provides a sequel of sorts to his Gospel, as Acts is basically “The Life of Jesus’ Followers and What They Did, according to Luke.”

In Acts, Luke records what Jesus’ followers did, and how they carried out the commands that Jesus gave them, living out His full expression in the earth as His disciples.

Acts gives us an opportunity to observe in real-time an account of the actions, lifestyle, and fruit of the church that Jesus started in the first century through His disciples.

This is important to know and a vitally important piece to the puzzle when attempting to “rightly divide” the Word of Truth.

Let’s take a look at a particular verse of Scripture found in Hebrews 2:3. This is going to be an important verse for us and will help provide some context for the following chapters as we endeavor to meet Jesus together and to know Him more fully according to the Scriptures. 

Here is what the author of Hebrews writes:

“How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him?" (Hebrews 2:3).

The writer of Hebrews is making sure that we understand something critically important, which is that if we are really going to understand Jesus and the salvation that He brings to us through His gospel, then we are going to need to pay very close attention to what Jesus did and said in the Gospels, as well as what His followers (those who heard Him) did and said in the Book of Acts as they carried out His will in the earth in real-time.

If we are going to truly know what it means to follow Jesus and thereby be His true disciples, we must do things His way. And if we are going to do things His way, we must start right here… with what Jesus said and what His disciples did to confirm His words, showing us exactly how He intended for them to be carried out.

There is a lot more of the New Testament to read beyond the Gospels and the Book of Acts, but in order to read it properly and understand what it is saying, it is important that we launch into it from this proper contextual view of the Gospels and Acts.

It is from this perspective that we then can properly read and understand the rest of the New Testament. The letters (called “Epistles,” which is really just a fancy word that means “letters”) to the churches (the remaining books of the New Testament) are letters to the churches that were established by the apostles, teaching the disciples within those churches how to live as followers of Jesus beyond their initial conversion. The aim of these letters was to instruct and equip the disciples of Jesus in faithfully living as His followers in the earth, fulfilling His kingdom mission to make more disciples.

Before we conclude this chapter, I want to go back to a word that we referenced together, used by Paul in his writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16.

Doctrine.

What does such a word even mean?

Doctrine means “that which is taught.” It is a body of teachings which produces a particular perspective and thereby particular action.

Why is this important?

Because what we do is always rooted in what we believe. And what we believe comes by what has been taught to us.

Whether by a parent, a spiritual leader, a schoolteacher, mentor, friend, family member, author, podcaster, TV show host, or any other source of influence and information, we have all been taught by someone, most likely multiple someones. And the way that we live our lives is a natural byproduct of the teachings that we have received and therefore chosen to believe.

The word that the Bible uses to describe this concept is doctrine. Whatever it is of what we have been taught that we personally hold to and choose to believe.

Is this important? Yes. Because what we believe determines what we do and how we live. And if we are interested in living rightly and in accordance with how Jesus desires for us to live, it is vitally important that we make sure that our doctrine is solid, or as Paul says, “sound.”

As a matter of fact, as it pertains to the subject of the journey that we are on together in “meeting Jesus,” the writer of Hebrews makes the following statement, saying, “He who comes to God must believe that He is” (Hebrews 11:6).

Are you beginning to see how important sound doctrine is?

We can’t even come to God without first having an introductory level of belief that He even exists in the first place. If we are to truly meet Jesus, we must believe what is right and true about Him. And first, we have to believe in Him at all.

But you see? Even that simple belief in Jesus is in and of itself a doctrine.

If we are going to meet Him and deeply know Him, we must know and believe what is true about Him… which Paul helps us understand, just as we have  learned together, this knowledge comes from the Bible.

And if you were curious if these comments by Paul were a simple one-off or maybe weren’t clear enough, he doubles down in writing to Timothy, again in 2 Timothy 4:1–4, further underscoring the need for sound doctrine, saying:

“I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching (meaning doctrine). For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables” (clarification mine).

To another young man whom Paul was also mentoring, named Titus, his message remains consistent as he tells Titus to hold “fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict” (Titus 1:9), and to_ “speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine”_ (Titus 2:1).

What is the answer for Titus to continue walking in what is true? Paul says it is by holding fast to the sound doctrine he was taught and believed.

It is so important to know the truth. Jesus even says that knowing the truth will make us free (John 8:32).

But knowing the truth alone, in and of itself, is not enough. We must love the truth. We must develop the right atmosphere in our hearts to hold fast to what is true by loving it.

As we will see in the next few chapters, and as we have already begun to unveil, truth is so much more than information. Truth is a person. That person is Jesus. And He sends us the Spirit of Truth, which abides with and in us… leading and guiding us into all truth (John 16:13).

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

If we are to meet Jesus, we must know and believe what is true about Him and then love that truth with all of our hearts. Receiving the words of the writer of Proverbs, in Proverbs 23:23, to “buy the truth, and do not sell it.”

Reflection Questions: