the story of the Bible

Once upon timelessness, there was a mutiny.

A beautiful creature called Lucifer, right-hand to the King of the Universe who had created him, rose up with a third of the kingdom in a wild attempt to thrust their Sovereign off His throne and take the highest place for themselves. But they had grossly overestimated their own strength, and in response to their treason, the King justly expelled them from the kingdom.

The remaining two-thirds of the King’s angelic subjects watched anxiously to see what would happen next. Would the King end them all, His created beings, and choose to exist alone in His splendor? Would His beautiful character - the goodness and justice and mercy they all revered - shatter in the wake of this betrayal? Would He grieve and mourn and lament, or would He vengefully call up His armies to chase down Lucifer and destroy him utterly?

But He did none of those things. To His kingdom’s surprise, He instead selected a dark and unformed corner of His universe, and began to create again.

They watched while He divided the light from the darkness, the waters from the atmosphere, the land from the oceans, the day from the night. Then they saw Him place living creatures on the land, in the oceans, and in the air, painstakingly divided into hundreds of kinds and categories. Finally, hushed with anticipation, they watched Him plant a beautiful garden and create a magnificent being that was almost like them - but his name wasn’t Angel, it was Man.

Then they drew in a collective gasp: Instead of protecting this pristine new world at all costs, as the angels had expected, the King opened up His brand new creation to the access of His enemy, Lucifer.

In no time at all, Lucifer sowed death and destruction into all that was good and perfect in what the King had made. Man betrayed his Creator faster than even the Enemy had before him, and the whole new world was stolen by the darkness. The angels held their breaths once again, waiting to see what the King would do.

And again - He didn’t attack. He didn’t defend. He didn’t conquer. Instead, He chose from the multiplying nations of mankind one - named Israel - to be His bride. And He spoke to her something profound that puzzled them all: “Through you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”

The King loved Israel - how He loved her! The angels watched while He wrote love letters and spoke poetry over His wife, inviting her ever deeper into intimacy with Himself, inviting her to choose faithfulness to Him over every other temptation in the dark, stolen world.

But her heart was fickle, and the angels watched in horror while she dared to cheat on their King - and then cheat again - and again. She made a humiliation of herself with countless suitors, all of them mere pawns of Lucifer, who delighted in the King’s heartbreak.

The King wept. He pleaded. He sent messengers to call Israel back to her home, back to her place by His side. Defiant, she refused, and at last the King divorced her for her infidelity - released her into the harsh, dark world she seemed to long for, so that perhaps she might realize the truth out there, and come home.

The angels waited. Hope seemed lost; Lucifer had corrupted all of the King’s beautiful work, and had even stolen His beloved wife. Maybe it was over; maybe the Enemy had won.

But they didn’t know that the estranged bride of their King was with child.

Israel labored alone in the dark on a cold night. She had no idea that the King had sent a throng of His angels to guard her and her child from Lucifer’s grasp. That night, she gave birth to a Son - a Son of her own nation, but also of the King’s royal, heavenly blood. This Son grew up to love His mother and grieve over her separation from His Father. He knew that the price for her treason could justly be her life.

But the King had a plan.

He told the Prince to take a wife for Himself - not of a nation, as His Father had done, but of a people. This people, called the Church, would be defined solely by her love and devotion to Him, and not by her ethnicity. By their example, the King hoped that the heart of His own beloved Israel would sear with the reality of her loneliness, and she would desire to return to His arms.

The angels watched while the Son wooed His chosen bride and offered her the bread and the cup of engagement. Perhaps it really could end happily, somehow - at least for the Prince and His bride.

Israel’s heart grew cold and bitter toward her Son, in whom she saw only reminders of her own humiliation and disgrace, shame and despair. His obedience to the King’s work enraged her, and the Church’s wide-eyed wonder and innocence disgusted her. The angels exclaimed in horror: In a single stroke, Israel thrust the blade of all her hatred and shame into her own Son’s side, and slew Him.

The Church struggled to support the weight of His slumped body. His precious blood spilled out onto her garments and splattered Israel’s tainted robes. In the distance, Lucifer gloried in this, the ultimate victory. Surely, this couldn’t be part of the plan.

The King cried out in agony while He watched His Son die: “It is finished.”

Darkness fell like a curtain across the stage of a tragedy.

The angels didn’t dare to breathe.

Silence - deafening silence.

Until the King spoke again.

And in an instant, with the thundering of His voice, light like the dawn cut across the black, and against that brilliant and blinding light stood the silhouette of the Son Himself - alive.

Celebration erupted among the angels above, and between the Son and His Fiancee below. The Church exulted over her restored Beloved, and when that powerful resurrection light hit the scarlet bloodstains on her robes, her garments became white as snow - the regalia of a bride.

Israel backed away from the scene in shame.

Lucifer cowered away from the light.

At last the King’s plan was fulfilled, His victory sealed. His Son’s blood had purchased costly robes of purity for Israel so that when she finally returned to the Kingdom, it would be as one of the royal family, not as a traitor.

“I must go to my Father’s house and prepare a place for us,” the Prince murmured to The Church. “Wait for me - be ready for my return. I’ll leave you my own Guardian from the palace to guide you and encourage you until then. And go to my mother,” he added in a tone of urgency. “Be kind to her, tell her that my Father longs for her return, and that she has been acquitted of her treason. I paid the debt myself.”

He kissed her and turned away. “I’ll be back for you.”

As the angels watched the Son journey back toward His heavenly Kingdom, they couldn’t help but notice that the dead and broken world was not quite so dark anymore. In fact, small, flickering, resurrection lights seemed to multiply wherever The Church went.

Maybe Lucifer had not quite won after all.

•••

The angels still wait for the completion of the story, when all of the King’s family is reunited - including a forgiven and reborn Israel, and a newly-wed Church - and all of Creation is made new, untouchable by Lucifer’s treachery. But in watching this incredible drama unfold, the King’s loyal angels have learned one thing for certain: This is who He is.

Good. Patient. Faithful. Loving. Holy. Just. Selfless. Eternal. Victorious. Compassionate. Gracious.

King.

And one day, we will all live joyfully forever and ever after in His presence.

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Note

This is the dramatized version of a story that my Bible professor told on the very first day of class, before we had even cracked open Genesis. It is, in a sweepingly general sense and with immense liberties taken, the story of the Bible. This is the narrative arc that undergirds and sews together all sixty-six books in the canon we call Scripture. At its core, the Word of God not a handbook on how to please Him; it’s a revelation of His love for His people, and the relationship He desires to have with us.

Below, I’ve included a list of Scripture references that informed this rendition of the story, although since every single verse of the Bible contributes its piece to the narrative, this list is by no means exhaustive. It simply contains some of the passages that most closely correlate. If you were to read just one, I would suggest the book of Hosea, which is really the original edition of this tragic and yet victorious romance.

Or, if you would like to join us in reading through the Bible in 180 days in 2020, you can get the full picture of God’s incredible story for yourself. To learn more, sign up, and get your own Bible180 Challenge Journal, click here.

For further reading, in approximate order:

• Isaiah 14

• Ezekiel 28

• Genesis 1-3

• Genesis 12:1-3

• Deuteronomy 6

• Song of Songs

• Hosea

• Ezekiel 16

• Jeremiah 30-33

• Revelation 12

• John 13-21

• Acts 1-2

• Acts 10:34-48

• Romans 11

• Isaiah 61-62

• Daniel 12

• Revelation 19-22

Merry Christmas, and a happy new year.

biblical vocabulary: unity

It’s been a little while since our last installment in the Biblical Vocabulary series, but there has been a word on my mind recently that I think deserves a closer look, especially because it’s so easily misunderstood. The word is unity.

The concept of unity (or the lack thereof) seems to have crept into conversations across a broad range of topics in recent years. We are confronted with division and conflict on every side, and in spite of the fact that so many voices in the public square are denouncing that divisiveness, the splits and chasms only seem to broaden. It matters now more than ever that the Church understands unity - what it is, what it isn’t, and why we so desperately need it.

So, what is unity? How does the Bible define it?

What is unity?

Our dictionary defines unity as “the state of being one; oneness.” I think that’s a good starting point, even though it sounds rather elementary; unity is one of those words that’s pretty easy to throw around without remembering its most basic meaning. The prefix “uni-” means “one” - not “same,” not “compromise,” not “fairness,” not “equality.” One.

That’s the word and meaning Jesus used when He prayed, the night before His death, that His followers and all those who would believe in Him be “perfected in unity.”

“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.”

John 17:20-23

Unity, by Jesus’ description, is the ultimate evangelistic tool the Church possesses. It is the ultimate representation of who God is and what He has done for humanity. It was Christ’s unity with the Father that made Him willing to come to earth as the salvation for humanity, whatever the cost. It is the Church’s unity with God and one another that makes us the guiding light toward Jesus in a dismal, dog-eat-dog world.

But we can’t fulfill that mission if we’re striving after a mistaken understanding of unity.

Jesus was one with the Father without being the same as the Father. He desires us to be one with Him, even though we can’t possibly be equal to Him. He asks us to be one with each other even though we all come from different backgrounds, have different opportunities, and experience different wounds. He envisions unity, oneness, among all of His children - even when some of them have absolutely nothing in common beyond Jesus Christ Himself.

Sometimes, we think we’re fighting for unity when we are really fighting for sameness. Or we think we’re fighting for unity when we are really fighting for fairness. Or equality. Or compromise. We often mistake for unity a room in which everyone acquiesces to the status quo, everyone looks and acts and speaks the same, and no one rocks the boat with a hard question, rebuke, or dissent.

But the real power of real unity is only found in oneness, which defies all our natural prerequisites for camaraderie, community, and teamwork to bring together the unlikeliest of human beings and unite them in Christ, the cornerstone.

Unity is a value statement.

True, Biblical unity is reflected best in Christ’s oneness with the Father. Father and Son had very different roles in the mission to redeem fallen humanity; One remained on the throne, holding the universe in His hands, while the other cast off His holy power and royal rights to become a sacrificial Lamb. To accomplish the greatest rescue of all time, these two Persons of the Godhead became unequal. The demands on one of them became unfair. Their actions and experiences became completely different and separate.

Yet they were still One, because they both gave equal, all-important weight to the ultimate goal: the salvation of the world.

In the Church, we frequently get unity backward. We rally together as groups of people who look and act and think the same, but divide based on how we understand and interpret truth. (If you don’t believe me, consider the sheer number of different denominations that exist, and what “kind” of people stereotypically attend each church in your area.) Biblical unity is the opposite: It’s very different people with very different experiences and perspectives coming together to stand on the same truth and pursue the same goal.

The kind of unity that points the whole world to Jesus can’t be accomplished when we select our churches based on whether they serve our similar demographic or cater to our exact interests, or when churches silence the legitimate questions, ideas, changes, and concerns of individuals in an effort to prevent “division.” We all need to keep our eyes on the big picture, and examine the value statements we are making at individual, local, and denominational levels. Do we balance the weights of different issues in a way that’s consistent with the priorities of God’s Word, our foundation - or are we clinging too hard to certain preferences and petty differences?

Is abiding in life with Christ and the sharing of His abundant love with our brothers and neighbors the foremost concern on our hearts?

If we can all become one behind that cause - even if some of us like to sing hymns and some of us like to worship in dance, or if some of us are decades younger in age and experience than the congregation around us, or if some of us are Calvinists and some of us aren’t - then our testimony to the world will be impossible to snuff out.

There is a reason Paul uses the metaphor of a body to describe the Church. Just as a physical body needs all its different parts in order to stay healthy and accomplish its created purpose, the Church body needs a diversity of people that work together in unity toward its common health and common goals.

For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:12-13

The issues we unite behind are a clear and direct statement to the world about what we believe and value. If we can only unite around our demographics or around secondary theological issues, they’ll notice that in the big picture, we are just as divided as they are. But if we can become one, despite all of our differences, around the ultimate truth of who God is and what He has done? Then, as Jesus said, the world will know exactly who He is, and how He loves.

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biblical vocabulary: contentment

I’m not sure if this is anyone’s favorite word. I once attended a women’s retreat where the keynote was centered entirely around this concept, and I must admit it was some of the sharpest conviction I’ve ever experienced. To this day, it’s a word that inspires a little bit of a cringe in me, and it’s something I think most of us try not to think about too much. But what is it?

What is “contentment”? What does the Bible say it is?

This is our fourth lesson in the Biblical Vocabulary series. If you haven’t yet, pause for a moment to read up on faith, joy, and worship, because they’ll all play a role in our understanding of contentment.

What is contentment?

The dictionary definition of contentment is straightforward:

“The state of being satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.”

Now you understand why this word stings the conscience a bit. I don’t know when I last met someone I could freely describe as “contented,” and I certainly don’t think I’ve ever met a contented version of myself.

For all secular intents and purposes, this definition of contentment is pretty good. But there’s one very important thing it’s missing if we want to develop a truly Biblical understanding of what it means to be content, so our next stop needs to be the Bible itself.

But I rejoiced greatly, that now at last you have revived your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned before, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Nevertheless, you have done well to share with me in my affliction.

Philippians 4:10-14

We all know at least one verse in this passage: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Without its context, this verse becomes a mantra for athletes and a slogan for bumper stickers, but it gains a whole new power when we realize this isn’t about what we can achieve, or reaching for the stars. It’s about what we can be satisfied with - even if we never touch the stars.

Notice Paul’s situation as he writes these words to the Philippians. They’ve sent him a gift, something to help sustain him as he continues in the work of ministry, and he rejoices in their care for him. But he does not need their care for him in order to be content. He doesn’t covet their resources; he’s not driven to steal or con his way to accessing them. If God provides through the Philippians, Paul rejoices - and if He does not, Paul is content. It’s nothing about Paul’s circumstances, relationships, or potential that give him this power and freedom; it’s Christ alone (which should sound familiar to you if you studied the definition of joy with us!).

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” I am satisfied because Christ is my satisfaction and sustenance.

The dictionary told us that to be content is to be “satisfied with what one is or has; not wanting more or anything else.” The Bible tells us that the only way this state of being is possible, especially when we are truly “suffering need” as Paul said, is to be entirely dependent on Christ.

That’s the piece that our dictionary definition is missing.

Contentment is born of surrender.

Biblical contentment is not just about being okay with it if we never get that new car or nicer house or better job. Like faith and joy and worship, true contentment is not a feeling; it is an action, a surrender, a way of living. We can be content even when we lack basic needs and wants because contentment is a theological acknowledgement statement that “God has done right.” It is rooted in the absolute dependence and surrender that can only come from trusting that God is who He says He is: good, sovereign, loving, personally invested in our lives, our provider.

“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.” That is, I have learned how to acknowledge, in every situation, that God has done right by me. Even in my times of need, I have more than I could possibly deserve. I have a relationship with the living God! And because of who He is, I can remain strong and satisfied in that truth, regardless of my circumstances.

There’s one more important thing I hope you see before we leave this discussion of contentment: Contentment can’t exist without an established foundation of faith (seeing things the way God says they are instead of how my eyes see them) and joy (the resolute assurance that God knows and cares about the details of my life). If my perspective is small and fearful, and I perceive God to be cold and distant, I will never be able to submit my heart to the truth that God has done right. I will always notice what I’m missing out on and become embittered toward God for seeming to not care about my needs. Eventually, this will lead me toward the three core sins of discontentment: covetousness, theft, and disregard for God’s Sabbath (see Exodus 16).

Faith, joy, and contentment are some of the key fruits of a life that is learning who God is and allowing His character to define reality. If you’re not there yet - maybe you don’t really know who God is, or you think you do but He doesn’t seem like someone who would inspire faith, joy, and contentment at all (you are not alone!) - I can only encourage you to spend time in His Word, where He reveals who He really is through the narratives, laws, poems, and prophecies of the Scriptures.

The Bible is a big book. If you need help tackling it or knowing where to begin, I’m leading a challenge to read through the Bible in 180 days again starting January 1 - I’d love to have you join us! You can learn more here.