"Every verse in the Bible is meant to build faith in Jesus Christ."
I've spent some time trying to track down who said it, but I cannot place my finger on its origin. Regardless of who said it, I agree. I know it seems overly simplistic but simplicity is sometimes a good thing. The aim of the Christian life is to allow faith in Jesus to permeate everything. The aim of the Word is to build that faith into us.
Earlier this week while I was reading the One Year Bible I noticed how quickly, and almost illogically, the apostles jumped to Jesus. It reminds me of the Sunday school answers that kids always give. When a teacher asks, "What do you think this is talking about?" A kid replies, "sounds a lot like a squirrel, but I am going to go with Jesus." One thing I have learned about studying the Bible is that it is not always appropriate to see Jesus under every rock. If you use words in their normal sense, then sometimes it is irresponsible to try to impute Jesus into the text. It is like looking at a cloud and going, 'wow that looks a lot like Jesus... yep, that means Jesus is watching over us.' When it comes to Bible reading sometimes we want Jesus to be present so badly that we make words and sentences point to Jesus. Is this appropriate or no?
I actually lean towards, yes it is appropriate, so long as it is logical. I do think we have a duty to point people to Jesus from any text. I do think that all of the Bible is meant to build faith in Jesus. So I agree with Spurgeon when he says;
Don't you know, young man, that from every town and every village and every hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London? So from every text of Scripture there is a road to Christ. And my dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text, to say, now, what is the road to Christ? I have never found a text without a road to Christ in it... for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savor of Christ in it.
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