You might be thinking, are we really saying this
whole big Bible is one connected story and not
just lots of little religious pieces thrown together?
That's exactly what I'm saying. From the first
page to the last, Scripture is telling one unfolding
story, God's story of creation, the fall, redemption,
and final new creation. And the claim I want
to make very clearly is this. You can't read
any part of that story rightly unless you see
how it connects to Jesus Christ. So let me walk
us through that one question at a time. How does
the story actually run from Eden to new creation?
You might ask, all right, if this is one story,
what are the main movements? How does it actually
unfold? First, we start with creation. God speaks
the world into existence. He makes everything
good. He creates human beings in His image to
know Him, reflect Him, and enjoy Him. Then comes
the fall. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve
disobey. Sin, death, and curse break into God's
good world. But God does not walk away. In the
middle of the judgment, God gives a promise.
In Genesis 3, verse 15, he speaks of a child
of the woman who will crush the serpent's head.
That is like the first small beam of gospel light.
From there, we move through the big covenant
stages. With Noah, after the flood, God preserves
the world and promises steady seasons so his
plan can continue. With Abraham, in Genesis chapter
12 verse 1 to 3 and beyond, God promises to bless
him, give him a people and a land, and bless
all the families of the earth through him. With
Moses, God brings Israel out of slavery in Egypt,
gives them his law, and lives among them as their
God. With David, God promises a king from his
line whose throne will last forever. Then the
prophets come along and talk about a new covenant,
a time when God will forgive sins and write his
law on people's hearts, not just on stone. And
where does all this lead? To Jesus Christ and
the new creation. In Jesus' life, death, and
resurrection, God's long plan comes to its climax.
In the end, Scripture shows us a renewed heaven
and earth, where God lives with his people and
wipes away every tear. Hebrews chapter 1 verse
1 and 2 puts it beautifully. In the past, God
spoke at many times and in many ways, but in
these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son,
one author, one storyline, many chapters, and
Christ as the key. Why did God use so many people,
offices, and writing styles? You might say, If
this is one story, why does the Bible feel so
diverse, different kinds of leaders, different
kinds of writing? That's on purpose. God chose
to unfold his one message through different offices,
prophets, God's messengers, who said things like,
this is what the Lord says, calling people back
to him, priests, go -betweens, who offered sacrifices
and prayed for the people, showing God's holiness
and his mercy. Kings, rulers over God's people
who were supposed to reflect God's justice and
shepherding care. He also used different genres,
different kinds of writing, law, commands and
instructions about how to live as God's people.
Narrative, stories that show what God has done
in history. Poetry and psalms, songs and prayers
that give voice to joy, sorrow, faith and repentance.
Wisdom. short sayings and reflections that teach
how to live under God's rule, prophecy, warnings
of judgment, and promises of future restoration.
All of that variety is like different instruments
in one orchestra. Each has its own sound, but
they play under one conductor. Each office and
genre points beyond itself towards someone greater
toward Christ. Why do I insist that Christ is
the center of everything? At this point, you
might say, All right, but is Jesus just one important
part in the story or really the center? Jesus
himself answers that for us. After his resurrection,
when he is walking with the two disciples on
the road to Emmaus, they are confused. Then he
gently rebukes them and starts to teach. Luke
chapter 24 verse 27 says that beginning with
Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them
what was said in all the scriptures concerning
himself. Then later, with the larger group, he
says that everything written about him in the
Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had
to be fulfilled, and that the message of repentance
and forgiveness of sins would be preached in
his name to all nations. Luke chapter 24, verse
44 to 47. In John chapter 5, verse 39, he tells
the religious leaders, you search the scriptures
because you think that in them you have eternal
life. and it is they that bear witness about
me. So Jesus is saying, in effect, if you read
Moses, the prophets, and the Psalms, and you
miss me, you haven't really understood them.
And how does he stand at the center? As the great
prophet, he is God's final, complete spokesman.
As the great priest, he offers himself as the
once -for -all sacrifice and goes on interceding
for his people. As the great king, he rules in
perfect righteousness and will return to renew
all things. If you try to read the Bible with
something other than Christ at the center morality,
self -help, politics, even Israel by itself,
the story falls apart. Laws float without fulfillment.
Sacrifices point to no final lamb. Promises hang
in the air. But when Christ takes his rightful
place at the center, every piece begins to fit.
How do God's acts in history and his words in
scripture fit together? Another question I want
to raise is, does God just do things and leave
us to interpret them on our own? Or does he also
tell us what his actions mean? In scripture,
God always joins mighty deeds and faithful words.
Think about the Exodus. God doesn't just rescue
Israel from Egypt and then walk away. He brings
them out with signs and wonders. Then he speaks.
In Exodus chapter 20 verse 2, he says, I am the
Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out
of the land of slavery. And then he gives the
Ten Commandments. He ties his commands to his
past act and explains. who he is and what he
has done. The same pattern shows up in the death
and resurrection of Jesus. God acts in the cross
and the empty tomb. Then he gives us his own
interpretation. In Acts chapter 2, Peter stands
up and says that Jesus was handed over according
to God's plan, crucified, raised, and made both
Lord and Messiah. In Romans chapter 3 verse 21
to 26, Paul explains that at the cross, God shows
himself to be just and the one who justifies
the sinner who has faith in Jesus. So the Bible
is not a collection of human guesses about what
might be going on. It is God's own explanation
of his actions. He tells us what his deeds mean.
That is why I keep saying the Bible is God's
interpretation of God's works. We are called
to think his thoughts after him, not to sit in
judgment over his story and rewrite it. Now,
let me anticipate some objections that might
come to your mind, or that you may hear from
others, and then answer them one by one. If God
has worked through councils and liturgy, isn't
scripture just one part of a bigger holy tradition?
Someone might say, If God reveals himself over
time and uses the church, its councils, its liturgy,
and its doctrinal statements, doesn't that mean
scripture is just one piece of a much larger
holy tradition where all the parts, Bible, councils,
liturgy carry equal authority in this one big
story? Here's how I would respond. First, I want
to agree with part of that. God has worked in
history through the church. He has used creeds,
confessions, preaching, and worship to defend
and pass on the message of scripture. We should
not despise that. But then I want to ask, what
does the Bible itself say? about the written
scriptures. 2 Timothy chapter 3 verse 16 and
17 tells us that all scripture is God -breathed
and equips us for every good work. 2 Peter chapter
1 verse 19 to 21 says we have the prophetic word
made more certain. and that the writers spoke
from god as they were carried along by the holy
spirit that is strong language about the uniqueness
of the written text Jesus and the Apostles constantly
appeal back to what is written. In Matthew chapter
22 verse 29, he tells the Sadducees, you are
in error because you do not know the scriptures
or the power of God. In Mark chapter 7 verse
6 to 13, he criticizes traditions that cancel
out God's word. In Acts chapter 17 verse 11,
the Bereans are called noble for testing Paul's
teaching by examining the scriptures. Historically,
when major councils met, they defended doctrine
by reasoning from scripture. Their weight came
from how faithfully they echoed the biblical
story, not from some claim to be new sources
of revelation equal to scripture. So here is
the issue. If we treat later tradition As an
equal or even higher authority than scripture,
we are allowing later voices to reshape the meaning
of the story God already told. That does not
fit with the idea of one divine author whose
own written words are the standard. The story
God tells in scripture must be the measuring
line. Tradition is valuable only as it serves
that story, not as it corrects or competes with
it. If the Bible is one unfolding story, why
can't God add new, equally inspired chapters
later? Another person might ask, if God has been
telling a story all along, why can't He keep
adding new, inspired books like the Book of Mormon
or other latter -day scriptures as new chapters
with the same level of authority? This sounds
reasonable at first, but scripture itself points
in a different direction. Hebrews chapter 1 verse
1 and 2 says that in these last days, God has
spoken to us by his Son. Ephesians chapter 2
verse 20. says the church is built on the foundation
of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus
himself as the cornerstone. Jude verse 3 says
we are to contend for the faith that was once
for all entrusted to the saints. Those are foundation
and once for all words. The apostles did not
act like men writing the middle chapters, waiting
for others centuries later to finish the book.
saw themselves as laying the foundation centering
on Christ, on which the church would be built.
Historically, the early church quickly recognized
a specific group of apostolic writings as the
norm for faith and life. Other writings could
be helpful or edifying, but not on the same level
of authority. So, if later books can rewrite
or overturn the earlier chapters of the story,
then the story never settles. There is no final
word of God. Everything is provisional waiting
for the next update. But the Bible presents Christ
as the final word and the apostolic testimony
as the completed foundation of that one story.
Is Christ really the center if we still need
a later tradition as the lens to see him? Someone
from an Eastern Orthodox type background might
say, We agree that Christ is the center of the
story, but we believe only holy tradition icons,
the fathers, the liturgy, really shows us how
to see Christ in scripture correctly. Isn't the
story incomplete without that lens? Let me respond
carefully. I will gladly say we need the church.
We need teachers, and we should listen respectfully
to how the early fathers read scripture. None
of us reads the Bible in a vacuum. But listen
to how the New Testament describes its own writings.
John chapter 20 verse 31 says, These are written
that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah,
the Son of God, and that by believing you may
have life in his name. Luke chapter 24 shows
Jesus himself opening the scriptures and helping
his disciples see him as their center. The apostolic
writings claim to be sufficient to reveal Christ
and call us to faith. The Holy Spirit's role
in passages like John chapter 16 verse 13 to
15 is to guide the apostles into all the truth
and to glorify Christ by taking what belongs
to him and declaring it not to create another
separate unwritten stream of revelation. Historically,
many church fathers warn about traditions that
drift away from scripture. When they argued for
key doctrines, they argued from the Bible as
the norm. So if we say that only one particular
later tradition can truly unlock the Bible, then
in practice we are saying the Bible by itself
is not clear enough or sufficient enough to reveal
its own center. That undermines the very thing
scripture claims about itself as God's clear
Christ -centered story. Isn't the Bible just
a patchwork of clashing theologies instead of
one coherent story? Someone from a more liberal
or pluralist or purely critical perspective might
say, Come on, when you actually read the Bible,
it looks like a patchwork of different voices
and theologies. Isn't it more honest to say it's
a collection of conflicting views rather than
one unified story? I want to answer that by starting
inside the Bible itself. Ephesians chapter 1
verse 9 and 10 says, God made known to us the
mystery of his will to bring all things in heaven
and on earth together under Christ. That is one
plan, one center. Acts chapter 3 verse 18 and
following says, God fulfilled what he foretold
through all the prophets that the Messiah would
suffer. Romans chapter 15 verse 4 says everything
written in the past was written to teach us and
give us hope. Then look at how promises and fulfillments
connect across the testaments. God promises Abraham
in Genesis chapter 12 verse 3 that all families
of the earth will be blessed through him. In
Galatians chapter 3 Paul says that scripture
announced the gospel in advance to Abraham and
that the blessing comes to the nations through
Christ. God promises David a son whose throne
will last forever. The gospels present Jesus
as that son of David whose kingdom will never
end. Historically, early Christians were very
aware of the Bible's diversity different authors,
times, styles. but they also saw a deep unity
in the message. That is why they spoke of one
rule of faith and read the Old and New Testaments
together. At the presuppositional level, if you
start out assuming there cannot be a single divine
author, then you will naturally see only fragments.
But that assumption itself does not explain why
this set of writings from different centuries
and cultures holds together around one God, one
human problem, one unfolding plan of grace, and
one Christ. How should this change the way we
read and live? Let me close by asking, so what?
What difference does this make tomorrow morning
when you open your Bible? First, read every passage
as part of one story. When you are in Genesis,
Isaiah, a Psalm, or one of Paul's letters, ask,
where am I in the big movement from creation
through fall to redemption in Christ and on to
new creation? Don't treat chapters as loose inspirational
quotes. See their place in the drama. Second,
keep Christ at the center of your reading and
teaching. Because Jesus says all scripture points
to him, we should always be asking, how does
this text in its own context point me to Christ,
his person, his work, his kingdom? That doesn't
mean forcing Jesus into every verse in a clumsy
way. It means honoring the direction the whole
story is heading. Third, let the big story protect
you. When you know the storyline and the center,
you are less likely to twist verses to fit your
agenda and less likely to be captured by man
-made traditions or new revelations that do not
fit the plot. The one story with Christ at the
heart becomes like a map that shows you when
something is off. And finally, remember this.
You are not simply a spectator of this story.
If you belong to Christ, You are inside it. The
same God who wrote Genesis and Revelation has
written your name into the story by grace. You
were created by him, fallen in Adam, pursued
by his word, redeemed by his son, and headed
for the new creation he has promised. That's
the story we're living in. And that's how we
must read every page of scripture.