Daily Word of Grace # 129 (September 11, 2020)
One of my heroes is Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), who was the Archbishop of Canterbury and the leading figure of the English Reformation. In addition to producing the first two English Prayer Books in 1549 and 1552, he also wrote many of the sermons in the First Book of Homilies (1547), including the first sermon of this volume, “A Fruitful Exhortation to the Reading and Knowledge of Holy Scripture.” Cranmer begins this beautifully written and theologically loaded sermon, “Unto a Christian there can be nothing either more necessary or profitable than the knowledge of holy scripture…as drink is pleasant to them that be dry, and food to them that be hungry, so is the reading, hearing, searching, and studying of holy Scripture to them that be desirous to know God or themselves…let us diligently read holy Scriptures, which is the food of the soul.” The reason knowledge of the scripture is necessary and profitable, drink “to them that be dry” and the “food of the soul” is because scripture points us to our Savior Jesus Christ (John 5:39), who is both the “bread of life” (John 6:35) and the One who gives “living water” (John 4:7-14). Scripture is the inspired word of God (2 Timothy 3:16) because it points us to the Jesus Christ, the Word of God who has given all of us “grace upon grace” (John 1:1, 16). And it is this grace of God that assures us we that we are fully known by God, fully forgiven by God, fully loved by God.
Love and Prayers,
Dave