Imagine what it would be like to never have seen a book. Before Johannes Gutenberg’s Bible, no one had ever seen a printed copy of the Word of God, let alone any other book. John Wycliffe’s followers had translated the Bible into Middle English, an older form of English in the year 1380 but if you wanted to buy a copy of it back then the cost would have been the equivalent of around $80,000 in today’s money. An entire city would pool their money to buy one copy! People would be assigned to read it out loud by shifts 24 hours a day. People would stand in line and be amazed to hear the Word’s of the living God in their own language for the first time. God’s Word was precious to them.
William Tyndale translated The Bible into what we would know as English for the first time in 1526. His final edition was printed in 1535 and he was strangled and burned at the stake for doing so. It was against the law in Europe to translate the Bible into the language of the people. Only trained churchmen were allowed to read the Bible.
In England, in 1519, a family of six was burned at the stake for teaching their children the Lord’s Prayer in English.
We are so blessed to have immediate access to the eternal Words of God. In the pages of the Bible, we hear from the God who created the world and not only the planets but us too! The Creator reveals His will to His creation: you and me. The most significant message to us is the message that Jesus Christ, God the Son, came to us, born of a Virgin to live a sinless life so that He could take my place on the cross. He died in my place—unbelievable love. 1 Peter 1:23 tells us how important the Bible is to our eternal salvation. It reads, “Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.”
God’s Word is eternal and so is the Salvation it promises. If you would like to have that eternal life with Jesus Christ the Bible makes it clear that salvation is the gift of God that is received by faith in Jesus Christ’s death burial and resurrection. Romans 10:17 reads, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Romans 10:13 reads, “For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Call on Jesus today, repent of your sin. That means change your mind about it, it really is bad enough to take you to Hell where you will be separated from God forever. Ask Him to save you. Cry out for His mercy. He will give it to you!
We know all of this because of the wonderful gift we have received in the Bible. I am so thankful for that supernatural book.
The writer is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Sidney.
