When people are looking for a good book or e-book to buy and read, they may look over the New York Times Best Seller list.
While there are critics who claim this particular Book should be listed in the fiction genre, there should be no question that it is non-fiction.
Simply because a book is on the Best Seller list doesn’t mean it is worth purchasing and reading. For example, one review of the best selling book Killing Jesus by Bill O’Reilly reports that the author makes the bogus claim that the reason Jesus was killed by the Romans is that He was interfering with the cash flow of tax money (Read what Jesus says in the Gospel record about paying taxes to the Roman government, Matthew 22:21).
One Book has been widely acknowledged as the best seller of all time. Current sale numbers has it selling at 100 million copies a year. As of November 2012 this best seller has been translated in its entirety into 518 languages, and partially into 2,798 languages.
While there are critics who claim this particular Book should be listed in the fiction genre, there should be no question that it is non-fiction. In regard to fallacious charges that the Book is flawed and cannot be fully trusted, many evidences can be cited showing that its accuracy is so impeccable that it does not contain a single error, inconsistency, or contradiction.
The contents of this incomparable Book covers world history, the record of which predates any secular history book. It has information about the origin of the world which puts any evolutionary so-called scientist to shame. Beautiful poetry near the middle of the Book has been a source of comfort to countless troubled souls. The careful reader can also find numerous prophecies in this Book as well as the perfect fulfillment of them.
No doubt you have surmised that we are writing about the Holy Bible. This Book of books is rightly called the Word of God. Although penned by forty different men over a period of 1,500 years, this Book has only one Author—God the Holy Spirit. When we were young we memorized proof texts for this claim, such as “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (2 Timothy 3:16) and “Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21).
This precious “Book divine by inspiration given” (see TLH #285) has much to offer people of any age, gender, race, or nationality in every generation of time. Its message is timeless, never being outdated. No matter how much society may change, the precious truths of God-given wisdom in this Book remain applicable. In contrast to the many self-help books out there these days, the Bible provides readers with a God-help Book that strikes at the very heart of human problems, even as it supplies surefire solutions.
With the morality of society on a steady and rapid decline, the law of God (summarized in the Ten Commandments) provides a standard of living which reveals what loving God and one’s neighbor is all about; as such it can only serve for the benefit of our fellow earthlings. And since our “no-fault generation” has few people who want to accept responsibility for their faults and failings, the law of God doesn’t let people get away with this. Instead, like a sharp double-edged sword it cuts open and lays bare a person’s innermost, utterly corrupt thoughts and feelings (see Hebrews 4:12).
Not only does the Bible expose mankind’s desperately lost and helpless condition but it also reveals the only solution to this desperate condition. It reveals to its readers the Savior Jesus Christ who heals our sin-infected hearts with His most precious gifts of forgiveness and eternal salvation.
There are those who think of the Bible as only a rulebook of do’s and don’t’s. What they fail to realize is that the Bible’s central figure is God’s Son Jesus Christ, and that the central message found throughout the Bible is God’s eternal plan of our salvation carried out by Jesus.
What the evangelist John has written in summary of his Gospel record could be said about all of Holy Scripture: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).
There is good reason for the Holy Bible being the best seller of all time. It is a powerful Word which transforms human hearts and lives, gives true and lasting peace and hope, and finally everlasting salvation through our Savior Jesus Christ.
This is truly a Book worth reading by everyone throughout all time!