The Story of God: The Bigger Picture

If you’ve ever attempted to put a puzzle together it can be frustrating, it can be addicting, it can even be a bit of a competition… but it can also be quite satisfying as you connect these seemingly obscure pieces into one beautiful picture.  And if you’ve ever attempted to do this, there is one strategy you must employ if you are going to have success. If you’re going to be successful at putting your puzzle together, the one thing you must do over and over again is to refer back to the big picture. You’ve got to see the bigger picture if you are ever going to see how all these little pieces fit together. This is what I want us to see as we embark on our journey into the Story of God. I want to help us see how all the seemingly unconnected people and stories throughout the Bible actually fit together into one grand story God is working out in history.

We are going to look at the bigger picture of God’s story as it unfolds throughout the Bible. How this story has a beginning and an end. How His story points to one subject and has one unifying theme; and how you might just see where your life fits into the bigger story of God.

The first piece of the puzzle is this: The Bible Has One Author: God      I like how the author of Hebrews says it: In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. Hebrews 1:1-2 The idea is that God spoke through human authors and His own Son to give us the end product: the Word of God, the Bible.

The Bible Points to One Subject: Jesus      All the Old Testament sets the stage for, predicts and anticipates the coming of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Luke 24:44    The Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms was the first century way of speaking about the Old Testament. So all the Old Testament points to the coming of Jesus, the Messiah.

Then, as we come to the New Testament, we have the Four Gospels that record Jesus’ life and teachings; his suffering, his death and resurrection… and the message of salvation that is found through faith in Him. The book of Acts tells the story of the early Church and how the good news of Jesus Christ spread throughout the known world. Then we come to the letters to the Churches. Each letter was written by an eye-witnesses of Jesus or by Paul who was given direct instruction from Jesus himself.  All of the New Testament focuses on or points back to Jesus.

And now for the Bigger Picture: The Bible Unfolds One Unifying Theme. And that theme is this: The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of is simply this: “God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule and blessing.” God created every person to enjoy an intimate relationship with Him in his presence: To walk closely with Him, to know Him and to enjoy the blessings of this relationship and of His creation. So He designed life to be lived in harmony with His loving rule and to enjoy all the blessings of life He created.  We are to live as His people, in His place, under His rule so that we might enjoy His blessings.

This then is how the Bible unfolds the Story of God and it begins with creation, where God establishes The Pattern of the Kingdom: The story begins with creation, where God establishes life as he designed it to be.

Next we will see how The Kingdom Perished: We will see how the story reveals how Adam and Eve’s choice to live independent of God’s rule had devastating consequences for us all.

Next, we will look closely at The Promised Kingdom: It is here we will see how God plans to bless the nations through one people. We will enter Abraham’s story and see how His calling and blessing is connected to our calling today.

As God forms this new people, called Israel we will then see The Partial Kingdom: Where the lion’s share of the Old Testament records the story of Israel’s rise and fall.

What follows comes the consequences to Israel’s rebellion as we enter the story of The Prophesied Kingdom: The darkest chapter in Israel’s story and the promise of the light to come.

Then as Jesus comes onto the scene, The Presence of the Kingdom comes with Him, when Jesus announces at the beginning of his ministry: “The time has come… The kingdom of God is near” Mark 1:15. With the arrival of Jesus we see the arrival of the Messiah. The promised king and kingdom is revealed in Jesus.

But then Jesus story takes a turn. He is betrayed, falsely tried and condemned to die a cruel death on the cross. Know one understood it at the time, but by His death Jesus dealt with the consequences of our sin and when he rose from the grave, he opened the way for anyone to be made right with God again! Jesus made it possible for anyone who believes in Him to know the presence of the kingdom: To experience God’s rule and blessing in our lives today.

But God’s Story did not end with the resurrection of Jesus. The Story continues into the present day with The Proclaimed Kingdom: The story of the Church Age. Here is where the Bigger Picture starts hitting home. The story of the Church began on the day of Pentecost with the coming of the Holy Spirit, God’s missionary Spirit, whose whole purpose is to reveal Jesus Christ and send us to be God’s agents of good news. Now is the time when every believer gets to share his/her story with others so that they too might know the loving rule and blessings of God in their lives.

Even now, we get to experience this loving rule and Gods blessings as we wait for the day when we get to see Him face to face. And that day will come. This is our hope, the dawning of a new day when we will get to enjoy The Perfected Kingdom with Jesus. The perfected kingdom will come with the return of Jesus Christ. At that time we will enjoy the restoration of all things under God’s rule and blessing.