Step Four
What is the story of the Bible?
Other than First Steps, have you ever read the Bible? What are your impressions of the Bible?
The Bible tells a single grand epic story from beginning to end. It is the story of God and humanity. It explains what has gone wrong with the world, what God has done to fix it, and where everything is going from here. Though the Bible tells a story, it is not fiction. It is the story of what God has done in actual space and time. The events of the Bible have intersected with our lives, sweeping us up into the grand story of God’s rescue of his beloved world.
The Bible is not one book but a library of 66 books, poems, and letters, divided into two parts—the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament begins with creation, tells of humanity’s rebellion, and God’s gracious interactions with people, primarily through one family— Israel—until a few centuries before the birth of Jesus. The New Testament begins with the birth of Jesus, tells of his life, death, resurrection, and records the story and teaching of Jesus’ early followers, the church.
All 66 books of the Old and New Testament are divinely inspired revelation from God. Though they were written by many different authors, in several languages, and across the span of many centuries, each word of the Bible was guided by God. God has given us the Bible as His revelation so that we might know him and find life in his Son, Jesus.
PART 1: CREATION
GENESIS 1:1 & 1:31
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
The story begins with God. God created everything. Like a wise artist, God brought beauty and order from darkness and chaos, and filled the world with wonder and life.
God is King, and the whole creation is his kingdom. Everything was very good under God’s rule.
He set up the whole world as a sacred space where he would dwell. But God didn’t make the world only for himself. He made it a place for humans to dwell with God.
GENESIS 1:26-28
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
God made humans unique from other creatures by making them in his own image. God made us for a special relationship with himself, to be his own beloved children. And God gave humans a unique role in creation, to have dominion as servant-rulers. Meaning under God’s authority, we were given the job of using our strength not to exploit or destroy the world but rather to bring more beauty and goodness, participating in God’s life-giving work in the world.
In the beginning, humans lived in perfect harmony with God, one another, and the whole creation. Why doesn’t the world look like this anymore? The story continues...
PART 2: REBELLION
GENESIS 2:15-17
The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
God planted a garden to be a temple where the humans could be with God and serve him. God gave the humans one command. If humans had trusted God’s wisdom as their Creator and honored his authority as their King it would have led to human flourishing and unending life. But things went terribly wrong.
GENESIS 3:1-6
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Instead of trusting God, the humans were deceived and redefined for themselves what was good and evil. They disobeyed God’s command. This was ultimately a rebellion against God as King.
Humanity’s rebellion resulted in immediate consequences. They experienced the shame of personal brokenness, relational brokenness between one another, and relational brokenness with God.1 And just as God had warned, humanity was now destined to die.2 But worst of all, humanity was exiled from God’s presence.3
This could have been the tragic end of the story. But God promised that all of creation and humanity within it would one day be restored. Speaking to the deceiver, God said:
GENESIS 3:15
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Humanity would have to wait many generations to see exactly what this veiled good news meant.
PART 3: COVENANT
Following the destructive choice to reject the Creator’s wisdom and rebel against his authority, humanity spiraled downward into worse and worse corruption and violence. A whole society developed out of human pride and autonomy from their Creator that continued to redefine evil as good.4
But when humanity deserved it least, God initiated his gracious plan to rescue the world. God unconditionally chose one undeserving human from the midst of the rebellious humanity. His name was Abram (later changed to Abraham).
GENESIS 12:1-3
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God’s call of Abraham was his solution to the problem of humanity’s rebellion. God made great promises to Abraham, to bless him by giving him a land and making his family into a great nation. Essentially, God was calling Abraham’s family to become a new humanity in the midst of broken humanity and establish their land as a new sacred space, in the midst of the corrupted world.
Later God sealed this incredible promise to Abraham with a covenant—a sort of sacred contract between God and people.5 Amazingly, God promised in his covenant that no matter what happened, he would take it upon himself alone to absolutely restore humanity to the special relationship and unique role he created us for.6 By establishing his kingdom over Abraham’s family, God would bless all the families of the earth by extending the goodness of his rule through them to the whole world.
PART 4: ISRAEL
As God promised, the family of Abraham grew into a great nation called Israel.7 However, they did not yet have the land God promised but were living in Egypt. The king of Egypt mistreated the Israelites and enslaved them. Not only were the people of Israel in peril, but God’s plan to rescue the world through Israel seemed to be in jeopardy.
But God was sovereignly working in all of Israel’s troubles.8 God redeemed Israel from slavery through amazing wonders and demonstrations of his power.9 This was how God showed Israel that he alone was King.10 He affirmed them as his covenant people, the new humanity.
EXODUS 19:4-6
“You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
As a kingdom of priests, Israel would represent God to the rest of the world. But to do so, they needed to trust the Creator’s wisdom and honor his authority by keeping the covenant instructions God gave them.11 God gave Israel instructions to construct a sacred place so they could draw near to his presence.12 And he provided them a way to deal with their sins when they broke God’s covenant instructions.13
PART 5: EXILE
God led Israel to the land he had promised. Rather than following God’s instructions, Israel continued in the pattern of the rest of humanity-- the pattern of their ancient parents in the garden. They rejected God’s wisdom and disobeyed again and again.
Eventually, God appointed a king over Israel. The human king was meant to represent God’s authority over his kingdom. First in Israel and extending the blessing of God’s Kingdom to the world. To do this, the king himself needed to trust and honor God and teach God’s way to the people.
The king also built a temple in the capital city of Jerusalem.14 It was the place where reconciliation and fellowship with God could occur for Israel and the other nations of the world. God’s glory filled the temple, and it was symbolic of God’s presence with Israel as their true king.
But, generation after generation, Israel’s kings rebelled against God’s authority. They did not honor God as God nor treat people with justice and righteousness. Though there were some good kings, none were perfectly faithful to God, and many of Israel’s kings were evil.
Israel strayed further from God and the world-rescuing purpose God had for them. So God sent prophets to call them back to a relationship with God and the role he had for them. The prophets warned what would happen if they did not repent, but Israel paid no attention. Finally, God’s presence abandoned the temple.15 God allowed foreign kingdoms to conquer Israel, destroy the temple, and take the king and people out of the land into exile. It seemed like the exile we read about Genesis 3 had happened all over again.
PART 6: MESSIAH
The years of exile were a very dark time for Israel. The people were suffering, but they also felt guilt and shame, knowing that their sins brought about this horrible consequence. What did all this mean for God’s covenant with Israel and through them the promise to rescue the whole creation? And yet, through all of this, God spoke messages of hope through prophets.
ISAIAH 40:1-2
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.”
The prophets told Israel that despite their failures God was still faithful. God would forgive them, restore them, and fulfill his promises to them and the world. This good news had three interwoven themes.
GOD WOULD COME TO HIS PEOPLE
ISAIAH 52:7-8
How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.” The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion.
Despite the way things looked in the aftermath of the exile, God was still reigning as King, and he was returning. This was good news! God had abandoned the temple, but he would suddenly come to his temple again.16 The prophets essentially told Israel to roll out the red carpet and get ready because they would soon see God return to Israel.17 But what would it look like when God showed up before everyone’s eyes?
THE MESSIAH WOULD ESTABLISH GOD’S KINGDOM
ISAIAH 9:6-7
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
God promised to establish his kingdom on earth through a king called the Messiah.18 The Messiah would be the True King who would do what no other king, no other Israelite, and no other human had been able to do. He would faithfully trust and honor God. He was even called God’s Son.19 The Messiah would defeat evil and extend the peace and justice of God’s kingdom to all the nations of the earth. But how would the Messiah defeat evil and establish the kingdom of God?
THE MESSIAH WOULD SUFFER AND DIE
ISAIAH 53:4-5
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
This was the most mysterious theme of the prophets’ message. The Messiah would establish God’s kingdom but not through violence and force. Instead, the Messiah would defeat evil by taking the guilt and consequence of evil onto himself. He would become God’s servant to suffer and die on behalf of humanity’s sin in order to make peace between rebellious humanity and God.20 However, this was not the kind of Messiah and kingdom many people were expecting. Would God’s people recognize the Messiah when he came to them?
Though there were many unanswered questions, there were also many reasons for hope. Israel was waiting with hope.
PART 7: JESUS
Finally the time came for God to fulfill his promises, which he did in and through Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was God come in the flesh, the promised Messiah, and the servant who would establish God’s kingdom through his suffering.21
MARK 1:9-11
In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
God declared Jesus to be His Son (the Messiah, the True King) and the Servant with whom he was pleased.22 After this, Jesus was tempted by the devil, like the humans in the garden. But Jesus did what no one else had ever done—he resisted the temptation and did not sin.23
MARK 1:14-15
...Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Jesus proclaimed that it was time for the story to be fulfilled before their eyes—the kingdom of God was here! He called everyone to repent and believe the good news of what God was now doing in him to rescue the world.
Jesus appointed 12 disciples to show that Israel was finally being put back together around him. He told his disciples they would gather the exiles, restoring them as the people of God.24 Jesus healed the sick and forgave peoples’ sins—actions demonstrating that Jesus was now the place where God would meet with his people, replacing the temple.25
Jesus’ actions demonstrated that the Kingdom had come, and they neared their climax when he entered Jerusalem as the humble King foretold by the prophets.26 But when some did not recognize him for who he truly was, he lamented that they had not realized that his coming was actually the visitation of God returning to save his people.27
In a final temptation, Jesus won the battle against sin and completely submitted to God’s will to obediently die.28 Jesus’ crucifixion was not his defeat but his victory over sin and is proclaimed by all four gospel writers as Jesus’ inauguration as King.
Jesus’ perfect trust and faithful obedience accomplished what Israel’s kings, Israel as a nation, and all of humanity had failed to do. In place of sinners, Jesus gave his sinless life. The rebellion that had been corrupting the whole creation and all of humanity since the garden was dealt with. Sin was forgiven. Death was defeated. The new creation began right away with Jesus’ resurrection.
This is the climax of the story: God returned to save his people and his world in his True King, Jesus, the embodiment of God. Representing Israel and humanity, Jesus, the truly human one, lived a sinless life and died a sacrificial death for sin in our place. Jesus is the True King—Israel’s Messiah and the world’s rightful Lord, who died and rose from the dead.
PART 8: CHURCH
After Jesus rose from the dead he appeared to his disciples over the course of 40 days.
ACTS 1:6-11
So when they had come together, they asked [Jesus], “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
The kingdom of God was inaugurated, but it was not yet fully realized. The goodness of God’s rule needed to (and still needs to) advance to all the peoples and nations of the world. Jesus gave his disciples this mission which is accomplished by being witnesses of the gospel throughout the world.
Jesus ascended to heaven and sat down on the throne at the right hand of God the Father. All authority in heaven and on earth is his. He commissioned his disciples to make disciples of all nations.29
Ten days after Jesus ascended, he sent the Holy Spirit just as he promised. The Holy Spirit empowered the disciples to proclaim the gospel. Thousands of people believed and were baptized. The church was born.30 And the disciples scattered throughout the world preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and forming those who believed into new church communities.31
Those who confess and trust in Jesus as the True King are his disciples, the church. They are the new humanity, the new people of God, the true Israel, through whom God is extending the blessing of his kingdom to everyone.
1 PETER 2:9
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
This is the point in the story where we are currently living. Jesus is on the throne, reigning as the True King of the world. And Christians, as his people, are witnesses of this.
By following Jesus as our Lord, we can be a part of this story!
PART 9: RESTORATION
The story is not over yet. Jesus the True King will come again!32
REVELATION 1:7
Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
On the day of Jesus’ second coming, the dead will be raised, and everyone who has ever lived will stand before the judgment of the True King. Everyone who trusted in the True King and in his death and resurrection will live with God forever. Everyone else will be cast out from the presence of God forever.
REVELATION 21:1-5
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”
God will recreate the world. It will be perfect, without any death, sorrow, or pain. All things will be new. The special relationship and unique role that God made humans for will be restored. God will dwell in the new creation with his people, just as he had always planned.
Though we do not know when this day will come, the Bible makes the following two remarks regarding the timing.
2 PETER 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
REVELATION 22:20
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
Did you know the Bible was one epic story? Which part stands out to you?
1 Genesis 3:7-13
2 Genesis 3:16-19
3 Genesis 3:22-24
4 Genesis 11:1-9
5 Genesis 15:1-16
6 Genesis 15:17-21
7 Israel is the name God gave to Abraham’s grandson, Jacob (Genesis 32:28). Jacob had 12 sons whose descendants are often referred to as the twelve tribes of Israel. They are also called the Israelites or the Jews. And sometimes Israel refers to the land they later received.
8 In fact, God had foretold that Israel would be enslaved. See Genesis 15:13.
9 Exodus chapters 1-14
10 Exodus 15:18
11 For example, Exodus 20-24. In a sense, trust and obedience to the covenant instructions resemble the opportunity to trust and obey the command in the garden in Genesis 2-3.
12 Exodus chapters 25-31. The tabernacle resembled the garden-temple from Genesis 2.
13 For example, the book of Leviticus. This also resembles the way God made provision for the humans in the garden in Genesis 3:21.
14 Israel’s first king was Saul, followed by David and then Solomon. Solomon built the temple. (See 1 and 2 Samuel.)
15 Ezekiel 10-11, Jeremiah 7
16 Malachi 3:1, Mark 1:1-3.
17 Isaiah 40:3-5
18 “Messiah” is a Hebrew word meaning anointed. The Greek translation is “Christ.” See Psalm 2:2 and God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:1-17.
19 Psalm 2:1-2, 4-8
20 Isaiah 42:1-9, 49:1-13, 50:4-11, and 52:13-53:12.
21 Mark 1:1-9 and Isaiah 40:3-5. See also Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:21-23.
22 Psalm 2:7, Isaiah 42:1.
23 Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12-13, and Luke 4:1-13. Jesus also showed his authority as King over the devil by casting out demons, for example Mark 5:1-20. Jesus’ death was his ultimate victory over the devil. See Colossians 2:15
24 Mark 1:17, Jeremiah 16:16
25 Mark 1:40-45 and Mark 2:1-12. In doing so Jesus showed that he himself was the embodiment of the new temple, declaring the old temple to be corrupted and now obsolete. See John 1:14, 2:13-22, Mark 11:12-21, Matthew 12:6, and Jeremiah 7:11.
26 Luke 19:28-40, Zechariah 9:9
27 Luke 19:41-44
28 Matthew 26:36-56, Philippians 2:8
29 Matthew 28:18-20. This fulfills God’s promise to Abraham to bless all nations through him: Genesis 12:1-3.
30 Acts 2:1-47
31 See the book of Acts.
32 No one knows when this day will come, only God the Father. See previous section with Acts 1:7.