The Drama of Scripture

Pastor Ken Bickel $14.99 for 4 months The Drama of Scripture Craig G. Bartholomew Michael W. Goheen Baker Academic

A Geographic Overview

An Overview of the Bible

The Bible contains 66 books: Old Testament 39 New Testament 27

The O.T. is divided into four main sections: 1. Pentateuch 2. History 3. Poetry (or Wisdom Literature) 4. Prophecy

“Pentateuch” is Latin meaning “ 5 books.” Torah is what the Jews called the first five books of the Old Testament.

Who is the author of the Pentateuch?

Overall Content of the Pentateuch: 1. Beginning history of mankind 2. Beginning of God’s judgment of sin 3. Beginning of languages and peoples 4. Beginning history of the Jews 5. Giving of the Law

Who is the author of the historical books? Names of the Historical Books?

Content of the Historical books? The main sections: 1. Conquest 2. Judgeship 3. Kingship 4. Exile (Captivity & Return)

Names of the Poetical Books?

Major Prophets: 5 books Minor Prophets: 12 books

The overall content of the Prophets: 1. The people are in serious violation of their covenant with God. 2. Repent! Judgment is coming! 3. Have Hope! Restoration will follow!

The N.T. is divided into four main sections: 1. Gospels 2. Acts 3. Letters (Epistles) 4. Revelation

1. Matthew 2. Mark 3. Luke 4. John

The overall content of the Gospels: Earthly life and ministry of Jesus. And especially… The death and resurrection of Jesus

Author:Luke Main Purpose:To present a history of how a small Jewish sect spread from Jerusalem to the Center of the Civilized World

There are 21 New Testament letters.

Paul: 1. Romans 2. 1 Corinthians 3. 2 Corinthians 4. Galatians 5. Ephesians 6. Philippians 7. Colossians 8. 1 Thessalonians 9. 2 Thessalonians Timothy Timothy 12. Titus 13. Philemon

Anonymous:14. Hebrews James:15. James Peter: Peter Peter John:18. 1 John John John Jude:21. Jude

Author:John Date:95 A.D. “I am coming quickly.” Revelation 22:7

Why Story? Eugene Peterson… “The Bible is basically and overall a narrative, an immense, sprawling, capacious narrative. Stories hold pride of place in revealing God and God's way to us.”

Eugene Peterson… “In both the Old and New Testaments…, story is the primary means of bringing God's Word to us. For that we can be most grateful, for story is our most accessible form of speech.”

Eugene Peterson… “ But there is another reason for the appropriateness of story as a major means of bringing us God's Word. Story invites our participation.” “We feel the emotions, get caught up in the drama, identify with the characters, see into nooks and crannies of life that we had overlooked, realize there is more to this business of being human than we had yet explored.”

Eugene Peterson… “We don't live our lives by information. We live them in relationships in the context of a community of men and women - each person an intricate bundle of experience and motive and desire,… and of a personal God, who cannot be reduced to formula or definition, who has designs on us for justice and salvation.” And that is communicated in the Grand Narrative…

Michael Goheen… “The way we understand human life depends on what conception we have of the human story.” “The Bible tells one unfolding story of redemption against the backdrop of creation and humanity’s fall into sin.” “But I want to say more: the story it tells claims universal validity.”

Michael Goheen… “When we speak of the biblical story as a narrative we are making a normative claim: it is public truth.” “The biblical story is not to be understood simply as a local tale about a certain ethnic group or religion. It begins with the creation of all things and ends with the renewal of all things. In between it offers an interpretation of the meaning of cosmic history.”

A Hindu scholar… “I find in your Bible a unique interpretation of universal history, the history of the whole of creation and the history of the human race. And therefore a unique interpretation of the human person as a responsible actor in history… That is unique. There is nothing else in the whole religious literature of the world to put alongside it.”

Now… let’s be clear: “Speaking of the Bible as one story is not to say that it is like a single volume with a tightly woven story-line with no loose ends….” “It is rather a complex mixture of all kinds of smaller narratives, many of them rather self- contained, with all kinds of other material embedded within them. But there is clearly a direction, a flow….” “An important part of our task today, then, is…to get hold of this story, so we can find our place and live faithfully in it.”

To get hold of this story… Is to pursue understanding of the missional nature of the story… “The Bible tells the story of God’s mission to restore the entire fallen creation and the whole rebellious life of humankind to again live under His gracious rule..” (Goheen)

To get hold of this story… Is to pursue understanding of the missional nature of the story… “Mission is much more than evangelism or taking the gospel to other places… it is our very identity: we are sent with the good news to embody in our lives, demonstrate with our deeds, and announce with our words God’s end-time salvation. This defines the meaning of our entire lives.”

The missional nature of the story… The Spirit thrusts God’s people into worldwide mission. He impels young and old, men and women, to go next door and far away into science and art, media and marketplace with the good news of God’s grace. A contemporary confession of the Christian Reformed Church

Look at the Bookends Genesis 1 – 3Revelation 21 – 22 First heavens and earth created (1:1) New heavens and earth created (21:1) Lights to govern day & night (1:14-19) Glory of God to provide light (21:23) Man created to reflect God’s image/glory (1:26-30) Redeemed man will be the perfect reflection of God’s image/glory (22:4-5) Tree of life (2:9; 3:22)Tree of life (22:2) River flowing from the garden (2:10-14) River flowing from the throne of God (22:1) Man given to serve the Lord (2:15)Man serving the Lord (22:3)

Look at the Bookends Genesis 1 – 3Revelation 21 – 22 Death promised for disobedience (2:16-17) No longer any death (21:4) Presence and possibility of evil (3:1ff.) No unclean thing in it (21:21) The Lord walks among his people (3:8) The Lord dwells among his people (21:3, 22; 22:3) Curse for disobedience (3:14-19) No longer any curse (22:3) Eating from the cursed ground (3:17-19) Eating from the tree of life (22:2)

Scriptural Drama – an overview  Act One: Establishes His Kingdom: Creation  Act Two: Rebellion in the Kingdom: Fall  Act Three: The King chooses Israel: Redemption Initiated Scene 1: A People for the King Scene 2: A Land for His People  Act Four: The Coming of the King: Redemption Accomplished  Act Five: Spreading the News of the King: The Church’s Mission Scene 1: The Church Begins Its Mission to the Nations Scene 2: Our Place in the Story: The Church Continues Its Mission to the Nations  Act Six: The Return of the King: Redemption Completed

Introductory Remarks…  Genesis 1-2 introduces us to foundational elements of the biblical story  Genesis 1-2 is about: (1) God; (2) Humanity; (3) Creation  A straightforward reading of Genesis 1-2 presents creation in six 24 hour days

A straightforward reading of Genesis 1-2 presents creation in six 24 hour days  Not every seriously dedicated Christian agrees with that…  But, I venture to say that all who believe in the Bible as truth would agree with “intelligent design”  Still, it’s the most uncomplicated way to understand the repeated “evening and morning” theme  It’s also the most straightforward way to explain Exodus 20:8-11 and Romans 5:12