WALK THROUGH THE BIBLE
PART 1: The BIG PICTURE and CREATION
We cannot fully appreciate all that the N.T. teaches us until we have first come to understand what the O.T. has to say. The story line (or historical narrative) of the Bible can be divided into 12 main ERAS.
1. CREATION.
2. PATRIARCH Era. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Joseph was sold by his brothers into Egypt. Jacob’s descendants ended up in slavery in Egypt.
3. EXODUS. After 400 yrs of bondage in Egypt, the Israelites were miraculously delivered by God through the leadership of Moses.
4. CONQUEST. Around 1400 BC, Joshua led the Hebrew people into the conquest of the land of Canaan.
5. JUDGES. The Israelites sinned, God used an oppressive nation to discipline them, and they cried out to God for mercy. He raised up a judge to conquer their oppressors. All went well until the next generation once again did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the cycle repeated itself again and again.
6. KINGDOM ERA. Israel became a full-fledged nation ruled initially by King Saul, then King David, followed by King Solomon. Then Israel divided into two kingdoms—Israel (10 tribes in the north) and Judah (two tribes in the south).
7. EXILE. After 250 years of rebellion against God, Israel was conquered by Assyria, and the Israelites scattered all over the world. God’s judgment fell on Judah 150 years later, and the Jews were taken into captivity in Babylon for 70 years.
8. The RETURN. With the backing of Cyrus King of Persia and the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, the Jewish temple and the walls of Jerusalem were rebuilt and many Jews returned to their land.
9. SILENCE. At the close of the O.T. period, prophetic voices fell silent. During this time, the stage was set for the coming of the Messiah.
10. The GOSPEL ERA. Jesus came in fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies of a Messiah.
11. The CHURCH ERA. At Pentecost God established the Church.
12. The MISSIONS ERA. Early Christians expanded the church into the Roman Empire.
CREATION ERA. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth… Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…. So God created mankind in His own image” (Gen 1).
GOD EXISTS. The Bible does not attempt to explain where God came from; it assumes His existence. Romans 1:19 tells us God HAS and IS clearly revealing Himself to all humanity. Every person on earth knows in his heart there is a God.
HE is the CREATOR! There are only two possibilities as to how life arose—spontaneous generation through evolution or supernatural creation by God. Louis Pasteur disproved the theory of evolution. That leaves only one possibility—life came by a supernatural act of God. The primary purpose of the Bible isn’t to tell us exactly HOW God made everything, but that HE DID make everything.
WE are made in HIS IMAGE. “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…” (Gen 1:26). At the core of our being we are spirit, even as God is spirit (John 4:24). Like God, but unlike the rest of creation, we have the capacity to be creative, to communicate with words, to reason and make choices, and to distinguish between good and evil.
The power of God that spoke the universe into existence and raised Jesus Christ from the dead is available to us today. How BIG is your God? No problem is too big for the God of the Bible, the God of CREATION, to handle.