Have you ever stopped to contemplate, to wonder about the written Word of God? To ponder over the fact that the Bible is God’s Word to us? God. Almighty God. Holy God. The Eternal One who is above all and over all and in all. The transcendent, unsearchable, incomprehensible God. This God chose to reveal Himself to us in words. Words that have been preserved for thousands of years that is life itself for us. He reveals Himself to us in words that humanity can understand. He condescends to our level to show Himself – why? Because He loves us. And this truly awesome God comes to us and invites us into a relationship with Him. We don’t discover him. I mean, wow. It’s an act of God’s grace!

Not only that, but God uses a story to reveal Himself to us. The story of a God who needed nothing because He had everything in Himself, who desired to create a world and a people to glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. A story that spans thousands of years, from Genesis to Revelation in which we progressively get to know who this God is. It’s one story. A meta-narrative. It’s the story of how God redeems for Himself a people He calls His own.

Like all stories, the Bible follows a typical pattern. Well, actually, all stories follow the Bible’s pattern: there’s an introduction to the characters, to the plot, to the necessary information about where, when, what and why. Then evil enters, or a crisis/conflict occurs, and we wonder how will it ever be solved. Will things be made right again? Then the hero of the story comes in, and we read how that hero fixes everything so that all is well again. There’s a climax and a resolution. See what’s there?

The Bible’s story is simple: Creation, Fall, Redemption and New Creation.

Creation: we are introduced to the main character – God. This is God’s story! And then the rest is introduced – supporting characters, place, the general setting. (God creates an entire universe and then creates man in His Image as His ultimate act of creation).

Fall: evil enters the scene, Satan, personified as a serpent (or dragon), comes in to cast doubt on what God had said and done for Adam and Eve, the goodness is shattered, and now humanity is in mortal danger. These are the first THREE chapters of the entire story of God. Just. Three. Chapters. Didn’t take long for humanity to make things horrific!

Redemption: as the whole of the Bible story is played out, not only is the great theme of Redemption being worked out according to God’s plan, but there are stories within the Story of redemption. We see types of Christ’s, we see Covenants, we see humanity’s faithlessness and God’s faithfulness. And then….at just the right time, Jesus enters in! Not too early, not too late. He is sent to do what humanity couldn’t do: fix and restore. This is the climax of God’s story! However, it didn’t start in the New Testament. Where then? Genesis 3:15. “I will put hostility (enmity) between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel”. The epic battle between God and Satan for the Kingdom ensues. But in that verse is a seed of hope: “He will strike your head”. The offspring of the woman, who we know is Jesus, will strike the fatal blow to Satan.

New Creation: the “and they lived happily ever after” part. As silly as that sounds because it’s part of fairy tales, it’s true. Jesus will crush the serpent once and for all, He will come and re-new His creation. Some people will call this stage “Consummation” or “Restoration”. I prefer New Creation because He will make all things new. We read in Revelation 21 and 22 some amazing descriptions of what is coming with Jesus. And we will live victorious with Him!,

Why does all this matter? Bible Literacy. Many, if not most Christians have great Biblical literacy. (yes, there’s a difference). Biblical literacy is knowing the stories or parts, for example – we know the Ten Commandments, or the story of Jonah or the story of David and Goliath. (we actually know the Old Testament stories quite well!). Bible Literacy is understanding the story of God. It’s the ability to read and understand the Bible as it was written to be understood, using good tools given to us along the way that will help us learn. God used words to reveal Himself – so we need to understand those words. One of those tools would be understanding the different genres that exist in the Bible.

Bible Literacy also helps us to understand how everything from Genesis to Revelation is connected. We start to see the Bible as ONE story that all points to ONE person: Jesus Christ. We see how the Gospel is central. How every Old Testament book points to Christ. Each genre of the Bible – narrative, wisdom and poetry, prophecy, law, gospel, letters, apocalyptic – has a unique purpose that unites the whole.

Amazing, isn’t it? And there’s so much more that could be said. However, I will stop here. Besides, one of the reasons I started this blog was to write about the attributes of our great and glorious God……up next!

****** a word to Mom’s: one thing I wish I had known or had access to was how to teach the Story of the Bible – of God – to young ‘uns. Find books that focus on the Big Story, instead of just individual stories as stand alones. Children are not too young to learn about Creation, Fall, Redemption, New Creation. Or about the Bible as One Story that points to Jesus. The Gospel Coalition a resource I trust for books for adults, and children. If you want some suggestions, here they are:

The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name by Sally Lloyd-Jones

Two books by Kevin DeYoung: The Biggest Story Bible, and The Biggest Story: How the Snake Crusher Brings Us Back to the Garden.

His Grace is Enough: How God Makes it Right when We’ve Got it Wrong by Melissa Kruger.

A book on theology for kids ages 6-14 worth looking at: Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God by Bruce A. Ware.

****** I have not read these, but I have seen them at book tables at conferences.