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The Overall Plan of the Bible
There are several prominent characteristics of the Bible that are indispensable keys for study.
The Bible is one book.
Several telling signs attest to this unity.
(1) From Genesis onward the Bible bears witness to one God. Wherever He speaks or acts He is consistent with Himself, and with the total revelation concerning Him.
(2) The Bible forms one continuous story-the account of God's dealing with the human race.
(3) The Bible advances the most unlikely predictions concerning the future, and then gives the record of their fulfillment at the appropriate time.
(4) The Bible is a progressive unfolding of truth. God does not give all the information He will give on a subject at one particular point. (It is also important to remember that God has not told us all there is to know about Himself and His purposes with men and women, only what we need to know.) To stimulate our interest and to thwart the casual, God has given His revelation in parts over time. A helpful statement of this principle is found in Hebrews 1: 1-2: "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. . . ."
(5) The Bible presents a single way of access to God. All of biblical history up to the Cross anticipates the great act of God to provide a way for sinners to come into His presence. The remainder of the New Testament records views that act in retrospect, delineating the account of those subsequently living under it. The means of access to God (substitutionary death of a sacrifice) and the sole channel for obtaining that access (faith) are presented uniformly in Scripture, without a suggestion of any other possible way.
(6) From beginning to end the Bible has one great theme: the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. All Scripture is rightly related initially to Him. Revelation 19:10 reminds us of this when it states: "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." The predictive words of the Old and New Testaments have Jesus Christ as their focus: they are testimonies about Him.
(7) The doctrines of the Bible are harmonious, even though they were penned by some forty-four writers over more than sixteen centuries. The constant quotation of the Old Testament by writers of the New Testament attests to this. For example, the fact that Paul could adduce Genesis 2:24 to advance his argument in Ephesians 5:31 shows that he believed his words were in keeping with those of Moses.
The Bible is a book composed of books.
Each of the sixty-six books is complete in it and has its own theme and analysis. It is of great importance that each book be studied in the light of its distinctive themes. Genesis, for instance, is the book of beginnings-the seed-plot of the whole Bible. Matthew is the Gospel book that portrays the Lord Jesus Christ as the King presented to Israel, as opposed, for instance, to John, which stresses His acts as the Son of God, that is, as Deity.
Old Testament is a preparation for Christ.
The entire Old Testament is a preparation for Christ (Luke 24:27). The four Gospels present His life and ministry as the incarnate second Person of the Trinity. The book of Acts records the early publication of the euangelion, the Gospel, the Good News concerning Him. The Epistles furnish interpretation and explanation of that life, ministry and death. And the book of Revelation portrays the culmination of God's purposes in Christ in and beyond human history on earth.
The Bible tells the human story.
Beginning, logically, with the creation of the earth and of the first human being, the story of our race which sprang from the first human pair continues through the first eleven chapters of Genesis. In the twelfth chapter begins the history of Abraham and of the nation of which Abraham was the ancestor. It is that nation, Israel, with which the subsequent Bible narrative is chiefly concerned, from the eleventh chapter of Genesis to the second chapter of Acts. The Gentiles are mentioned, but only in connection with Israel. It is made increasingly clear that Israel so fills the scene only because this nation was entrusted with the accomplishment of great worldwide purposes (Dt. 7:7).
The appointed mission of Israel was:
1) To be a witness to the unity of God in the midst of universal idolatry(Dt.6:4; Isa.43:1 0);
(2) To illustrate to the nations the greater blessedness of serving the one true God(Dt. 33:26-29; 1 Ch. 17:20,21; Ps. 102:15);
(3) To receive and preserve the divine revelation (Ro. 3: 1-2); and
(4) To produce the Messiah, humanity's Savior and Lord (Ro. 9:4-5). The prophets foretell a glorious future for Israel under His reign.
The biblical story of Israel-past, present and future-falls into seven distinct periods:
(1) From the call of Abram (Ge. 12) to the Exodus (Ex. 1-20);
(2) From the Exodus to the death of Joshua (Ex. 21 to Jos. 24);
(3) From the death of Joshua to the establishment of the Hebrew monarchy under Saul;
(4) The period of the kings from Saul to the captivities;
(5) The period of the captivities;
(6) The restored commonwealth (from the end of the Babylonian captivity of Judah to the destruction of Jerusalem, A.D. 70); and
(7) The present dispersion and subsequent return to the land of Israel.
The Gospels record the appearance of the promised Messiah, Jesus Christ, in human history and within the Hebrew nation, and tell the wonderful story of His manifestation to Israel, His rejection by that people, His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension.
The book of Acts records the descent of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of a new entity in human history, the Church. The division of the race now becomes threefold the Jew, the Gentile and the Church of God (1Co. 10:32). Just as Israel is in the foreground from the call of Abram to the resurrection of Christ, so now the church fills the scene from the second chapter of Acts to the fourth chapter of Revelation. The remaining chapters of that book complete the story of humanity and the final triumph of Christ.
The central theme of the Bible is Christ.
It is this manifestation of Jesus Christ, His person as God revealed in the flesh (lTi. 3:16), His sacrificial death and His resurrection, that constitute the Gospel (1Co. 15:1-4). All preceding Scripture leads to this; all following Scripture proceeds from this. The Gospel is preached in Acts and explained in the Epistles. The topic of Christ, Son of God, Son of man, Son of Abraham, Son of David thus binds the many books into one Book. As seed of the woman (Ge. 3:15), He is the ultimate destroyer of Satan and his works; as seed of Abraham, He is the benefactor of the world; as seed of David, He is Israel's King, "the desired of all nations" (Hag. 2:7). Exalted to the right hand of God, He is Head overall to the Church, which is His body; while to Israel and the nations the promise of His return forms the one and only rational expectation that humanity will yet fulfill itself. Meanwhile the Church looks momentarily for the fulfillment of His special promise, "I will come back and take you to be with me" (John 14:3). It is to Him that the Holy Spirit throughout this Church Age bears testimony. The last book of all, the consummation book, is "the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 1:1).
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