Introduction
Do you like stories? I love stories! I prefer mostly adventure novels or mysteries, but who does not like a good story? The Bible is a story. You may not have always thought of it as such, but it is a story. The plotline of the story stretches from the very first pages until the end. It is the story of God and His kingdom. The plotline of the story begins with creation. The Bible teaches that God created everything in six days. God said what He had made was good. The pinnacle of God’s creation was humanity itself, whom God created in His own image and gave the task of ruling over His kingdom. But this dominion over creation was soon interrupted, as the first humans rebelled against God and disobeyed His commands. This part of the plotline of the Bible could be described by the word “fall”. Mankind fell from close fellowship with God and sin entered into the world, falling on all humanity. The relationship God had with man was lost by the fall and humanity was destined to suffer the ultimate punishment for sin: death. But God promised a way to re-unite humanity with God. In Genesis 3:15 God promised an offspring—a descendant who would one day provide deliverance from the curse of sin and restore humanity as rulers in God’s kingdom. Throughout much of Scripture, we find the characters waiting for this offspring to come and set things right in the world. Eventually, the offspring was identified as the man Jesus. Scripture teaches that He came to earth, lived a perfectly sinless life, and then died in our place on a cross. But Jesus did not stay dead. Three days after being killed He rose from the grave and conquered death! This part of the plot of Scripture is called redemption. The word “redeem” means to purchase. Through His death on the cross, Jesus paid the price for our sin so that we do not have to experience the punishment. Instead of death, Jesus made it possible for us to have life! The Bible teaches that all who believe in Jesus will have freedom from their sins and instead of suffering death, will receive eternal life! This brings us to the last part of the plot in the story of the Bible: restoration. One day Jesus will set things right on the earth. He will restore His kingdom on earth and humanity will once again rule over the earth as it did in the beginning. God will set up a new kingdom and a new earth, and all that is wrong with the world will be set right.
Final Thoughts
This is the story of the Bible. It is the story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. It is the story of God and His kingdom, how dominion was lost, how Jesus has won, and how God’s kingdom will be restored. This is a story worth telling!
*This article appeared in the Faribault Daily New “Faith Column” in September of 2017
