One of the most amazing things about the Bible is that lots of different authors living in different places and times, writing in different styles and contexts still produced a unified set of stories that all help to tell a grander story. It’s one of the reasons the Bible is believed to be divinely inspired because its story transcends its human authorship. Indeed, the Bible communicates a coherent narrative concerning the universe and our place in it.
What is that grand narrative and how does knowing about it help us to read our Bibles? This week’s video presents a broad overview of the “Story of the Bible”, and it presents that story as a series of divine movements and human choices.
Watch Episode 2 by clicking HERE. Come back after the video to continue reading.
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The Bible tells the story of God moving to intentionally bring order out of chaos. Genesis tells us that God created an ordered universe out of chaos and called it good. Then, He created mankind within that ordered universe to be His representatives and he invited mankind to rule and reign with Him.
God’s invitation comes with a necessary and simple choice. Either we will live in obedience to God’s will, trusting that He is good, or we will choose to define good and evil for ourselves. Our choice leads God’s good creation back into chaos.
Unwilling to leave it there, God intervenes again. This time He chooses a nation, and He gives them the law which is good and evil defined. Through this nation and the law God would showcase to the whole creation the good order which He intended for it.
Again, we see a necessary choice. The chosen nation can obey the law and showcase the blessing that it brings, or they can disobey the law and showcase the curse instead. Again, this nation is unable to live in obedience and repeatedly resorts to defining good and evil for themselves.
In the midst of this drama God begins to lay the foundation for a new intervention. This time, He will enter into His creation and provide a once and for all model of goodness, perfect obedience, and the blessing that obedience brings.
God Himself restores the good order to His creation and we are once again invited to rule and reign over it with Him. The necessary choice remains, will we follow His example and live in obedience to His example or will we go our own way.
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