From time to time, it is helpful to step back and reacquaint ourselves with the overarching story that the Bible tells. Reflection on this topic is important because of our tendency to “miss the forest for the trees.” We often get so focused on our favorite passages, doctrines, books, or sections of the Bible that we miss THE Story. The Story of the Bible is the story of God accomplishing His plan of redeeming His broken creation. Theologians have divided the story a number of different ways, but here at Suber Road Baptist Church we like to divide it as follows:

• Creation – God is the rightful King of the world and worthy of our praise.
• Fall – Mankind has rebelled against God as his rightful King.
• Judgment – God justly punishes mankind’s rebellion.
• Atonement – God made a way for mankind to be forgiven of their rebellion and have a restored relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus.
• Resurrection – God approved of Jesus’ life and ministry, raising Him from the dead as the promised Messianic King.
• Response – God’s redemptive action calls for a response of repentance to God and faith in Christ.
• Consummation – God will ultimately redeem the entire cosmos.

As we consider the Story of the Bible, there are several practical implications that are relevant for us. The Story of the Bible provides. . .

1.     An Outline for Evangelism

This is a great way to share the Gospel, because the story of the Bible is the story of redemption. I think we often have a difficult time communicating the Gospel because we rip it from its context within this overarching narrative, which begins with Creation and ends with Consummation. I’ve found sharing the Gospel comes very natural when I share it within this overarching story. Also, stories just seem to stick with us better than truth presented in bullet-point fashion. This is true of both Christians trying to learn the Gospel better as well as unbelievers trying to learn Christian essentials for the first time. The tract Two Ways to Live: The choice we all face (by Matthias Media) is very helpful in learning to share the Gospel in this way.

2.     A Christian Worldview

Everyone has a set of lenses through which they see and make sense of the world around them, whether secular or religious. The Story of the Bible gives the basics of a Christian worldview. It accurately portrays reality, the real state of affairs — where we’ve been, what the problem is, what the solution is, and where all of this is going. It is the story of this book that answers the big questions of life: Who am I? Where did I come from? Am I valuable? Is there any purpose/meaning to life? The point is that if we want to have a right understanding of reality, of life, of where things are going, then we have to understand this Story.

3.     A Basis for Missions

As we reflect on the Story of the Bible we see that doing missions is not something that can be limited to a few proof texts in the NT. It is firmly rooted in the overarching mission of God to rescue His broken creation. The point is that our mission in taking the Gospel to the end of the world is based on His mission (John 17:18). We do missions because God is on a mission.

4.     A Framework for understanding the rest of God’s Word

Let’s be honest, there are parts of the Bible that seem very irrelevant to us. We are often left wondering, what does that mean to me? Having a thorough understanding of the big picture will help you to understand the parts. When confronted with a passage that is difficult, one of the first things I do is ask some of the following questions. Where does this passage/story fit into the overall story that is being told? How does it relate to one of the big picture points we’ve looked at? How is God bringing about His Plan or telling us about it in this passage? Much of the time, asking these kinds of questions will help you make some headway through those difficult passages.

In the previous post we noted three movements of grief: crescendo – trust in the Lord – decrescendo. There are several practical lessons that we can learn from this pattern.

The first implication is a warning against unreasonable expectations. Whether we ourselves are in the process of grief or trying to help a friend, we tend to look for the quick fix. A parent loses a child and we expect them to “get over it” within a week. A husband walks out on his wife and church people think her unspiritual because she is taking too much time to get on with her life. If prophets such as Jeremiah and David take the time to grieve, shouldn’t we expect the same from ourselves and others?

There are two unhealthy extremes in times of grief and pain: 1) all smile and no tears 2) all tears and no smile. Regarding the first, we should be a bit concerned when people short circuit the process and don’t take the time to grieve after a traumatic experience. It is with good cause that prophets such as Habakkuk and Jeremiah take some time to shed tears. Like Jesus, who wept at the death of his friend Lazarus, they acknowledge the pain and suffering in the world. As they begin to look to the Lord, however, their tears give way to joy. This shows the danger of the second extreme. While it is good (and necessary!) to acknowledge the pain of the world, the biblical writers do not allow themselves to wallow in their grief. They look to forward the day when God will deal with the problem of evil permanently. Even in times of suffering the promises of God give us reason to rejoice. In short, the first extreme fails to consider the terrible results of Fall; the second refuses to acknowledge the ultimate hope of the Gospel. The pattern we have noted (crescendo – trust – decrescendo) models itself after the story of the Bible. We lament the presence of evil that came as a result of the Fall; however, as we remember the Gospel, grief can only give way to joy. Continue Reading…