What is the Bible About?
Instead of listing off the many theories of Creation, posing my own argument as to its validity, or struggling to define the purpose of life, I want to start by posing one question: What is the Bible about?
Theoretically, I think there are many correct answers to this question. You might immediately think of the Christmas narrative where God became an infant, called shepherds to see his first-born son, and received gifts from the magi. Or maybe the story of King David comes to mind. It’s hard to resist the enticing story of an underdog shepherd rising to be a giant slayer, a militia leader, and finally a great king of God’s chosen people. You might think of Noah, or Gideon, or a parable. Stories about compassion, love, mercy, redemption, faith,…the themes are endless. But is this what the Bible is about?
If you’ve noticed the theme of stories, you’re on the right track. The Bible is a collection of small stories that ultimately shape a much larger story. All good stories have a clear beginning, middle, and ending. They have a protagonist, and antagonist, and a problem that must be resolved. In middle school I participated in a theatre group, and I remember our director saying that a good play will place an intermission 63% of the way through a production. The first act should conclude with a suspenseful situation that must be resolved in the second act so that your audience will stay for the entire show, and the second act needs to not only resolve the problem, but do so in a timely manner so your audience won’t pack up and leave. I remember the second act was always harder to perform because the situations were so glum that the cast would be depressed when acting it out (our poor director had to keep yelling at us to keep our energy level up).
If you compare the structure of a good story with the Bible, everything falls right into place. There is a clear beginning (Creation), a problem (the fall from paradise), suspenseful situation before intermission (the world waiting for redemption), intermission at 63% (gap between Old and New Testaments), and a resolution to the problem (Jesus dying for the sin of the world). There’s also a hopeful ending that we can derive throughout Scripture: the promise of eternal life with our Creator.
The theme of the Bible is God. The story of the Bible is God’s. It’s a story of how God created man in His image, was separated from His creation when creation chose to rebel against Him, how He chose to reunite with His creation, and the promise He gave to His creation. Inside the Bible we can find stories of how creation intersects with God, and how we fit into God’s story. Are you ready to find your place in God’s story? Then let’s get started.