- Genesis 1-2 (page 1) – God’s good creation and His love for man (us).
- Genesis 3 (page 3) – Man’s rebellion (sin) and the entry of death into our lives because of it.
- Exodus 20 (page 68) – God gives His law to the descendants of Jacob (renamed Israel). He made them into a great nation, and chose to interact with them specifically to show us how He interacts with man. He gave this law and made a covenant with them, but because they were sinful, they did not obey it. There is a need for animal sacrifices to cover their sin, but that is only a picture or analogy of what Jesus (the perfect sacrifice Lamb) would do for us later on the cross, not just to cover our sin, but to purify us from it forever. God’s law proves cannot make ourselves right with Him by trying to obey it – because we cannot. Rather, it shows us our deep need of Him.
- Psalm 40 – (page 518) – the Psalms were the songs of the nation of Israel, many written by King David, by far their greatest king, whom God called “a man after My own heart”. This Psalm shows the greatness of God and how He helps those who trust in Him (I personally have repeatedly experienced this in my own life).
- Psalm 146 (page 583) – a song about God helping us.
- Ecclesiastes 1-2 (page 616) – This is a view of the emptiness and meaninglessness of a life without God.
- Isaiah 40 (page 668) – Isaiah was a prophet that live 700 years before Jesus Christ (“Christ” is Greek for the Jewish term “Messiah”) was born. And yet, he wrote (by God’s power and direction) some of the most amazing prophecies about the coming of Jesus. This chapter shows how He keeps His Word, and describes His greatness.
- Isaiah 53 (page 684) – An accurate and beautiful prophecy describing Jesus and what He would do for us.
- Isaiah 55 (page 686) – God’s great compassion and the joy for those who trust in Him.
- Luke (page 947) – This is an orderly eyewitness account of Jesus’ life on earth here. It is a full 24 chapters, but well worth carefully taking your time and reading it all.
- John 1-3 (page 981) – Some important things about who Jesus is and what He says about salvation.
- Acts 1-2 (page 1006) – Again, written by Luke, this is the account of God’s His work through those who followed Him after He ascended to Heaven.
- Acts 9 (page 1016) – How the apostle Paul (who wrote many of the letters that follow) came to follow Christ.
- Acts 10 (page 1017) – The account of God telling Peter that His free gift of life was now open to the Gentiles (those who are not Jewish) as well as the Jewish people.
- Romans 1-5 (page 1039) – An awesome summary of God’s offer of salvation for us.
- Hebrews 1-2 (page 1102) – Jesus’ supremacy and how He conquered death.
- 1 John 5 (page 1122) – How to know if you have eternal life… and that you can know (see verse 13).
- Revelation 20-22 (page 1142) – What is to come. This is how God will conclude this dying, fallen world and provide those who follow Him with a new place where He in His goodness will live with us, and without the curse of death.