The Bible is, first and foremost, a story. Not a made-up fairy tale but the truest story of the world. A narrative that gives explanation, meaning, and purpose to the past, present, and future. It is cosmic in scale and yet so personal that we can find our place in it. The Bible is often misunderstood as a book of rules, or an encyclopedia of concepts about God, or a self-help manual to a better life. It includes aspects of these things, but the starting point is a story. The Bible doesn’t read like your average story and might even be a bit confusing. It is a collection of 66 books written by 40 authors over the course of 1500 years in 7 genres by people from different nations and walks of life. It can seem like a mash-up when really it is a beautiful tapestry that unveils a cohesive and compelling story. The best way to understand how it all fits together is to think of it like a symphony with six movements or a play with six acts

Complete notes available in the Appendix.

ACT 1: CREATION

God created the world and everything in it with an intentional and perfect design. He loved his world. There was perfect harmony between God, humans, and creation. All was as it was supposed to be.

ACT 2: REBELLION

God gave humans instructions on how his world worked and how to flourish in it. He gave them the mandate to reflect God’s goodness and cultivate the earth and unlock the potential hidden within it. They were also given a warning to resist the temptation to determine how things worked apart from God. They rebelled and decided they wanted to choose what was good and what was evil. This disobedience allowed evil, sin, and death into God’s perfect world, and it was no longer as it was supposed to be.

ACT 3: PEOPLE OF GOD (ISRAEL)

God loved his world too much to leave it in this broken state, so he initiated a rescue plan to restore his world to its original design. He created a family named Israel and instructed them to show the world what it looked like to love God and be loved by God. They failed miserably, but God didn’t let their failure have the last word

ACT 4: JESUS

Just when it seemed that all was lost and the world would never be remade, a light breaks into the darkness. God comes in the form of a human named Jesus and shows the world what faithfulness to God and His ways looks like. He demonstrated God’s love by dying on the cross and taking the impact of evil and, in the process, breaking the power of sin and defeating death. He proved this by being raised from the dead after three days as a foreshadowing of what would happen to the whole world…resurrection. Death would no longer have the last word!

ACT 5: CHURCH (CALLED OUT ONES)

Before ascending into heaven, Jesus said he would return and charge those who believe him to be the savior of the world and trust his way of living to carry the message of hope to the world. This group of people, called the church, lives between two worlds - the world we find ourselves in where evil is still present and feels like it is falling apart and a world that is free from pain, suffering, and death. The church is to follow the way of Jesus and invite people to do the same..

ACT 6: RESTORATION

When Jesus returns, what we see now in part, will come fully in earth and all things will be made right, establishing new and restored creation. He will wipe away every tear, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things will be gone forever.

This beautiful framework for understanding the Bible pulls stories together, brings Jesus to the center of all of history, and gives hope, no matter how dark the circumstances. Because of Jesus and his resurrection, we can truly say, the best is yet to come!