The Drama of Scripture (Craig Bartholomew and Michael Goheen)

Karen and I have been meeting once a month with our pastor and a group of young adults at church discussing servant leadership. One of the books we read was "The Drama of Scripture" by Bartholomew and Goheen. I definitely recommend reading this book. It gives a great overview of the story of the Bible.

Many of us have read the Bible as if it were merely a mosaic of little bits – theological bits, moral bits, historical-critical bits, sermon bits, devotional bits. But when we read the Bible in such a fragmented way, we ignore its divine author’s intention to shape our lives through its story. (pg 12)

This quote about "little bits" captures our society today very well. We'll read a quick "one-minute devotional" or get upset if the preacher goes over 25 minutes... this book helped me to see that similar to a great Shakespeare play, the Bible too has an introduction, climax, and conclusion with different acts and scenes.

The climax, or the point of highest tension, after which that conflict must be resolved, one way or another. (pg 26)

Therefore the climax of the Bible is obviously the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The authors divided the book up into various "Acts":

Act 1 God Establishes His Kingdom: Creation

Act 2 Rebellion in the Kingdom: Fall

Act 3 The King Chooses Israel: Redemption Initiated

Act 4 The Coming of the King: Redemption Accomplished

Act 5 Spreading the News of the King: The Mission of the Church

Act 6 The Return of the King: Redemption Completed

Below I've copied and pasted a quick summary of Acts 1, 2 and 3 (a.k.a. the Old Testament) from sermon notes from my friend Adam:

God created the universe

God created humanity

Humanity fell into sin

God launched a restoration project by giving unconditional promises to Abraham

Abraham had a son in his old age

Isaac had a son named Jacob.

God renamed Jacob, Israel

Jacob’s sons became the 12 tribes of Israel

The 12 tribes of Israel were slaves in Egypt 400 years.

God chose Moses to be Israel’s deliverer.

Moses led Israel out of Egypt and miraculously crossed the Red Sea to safety in the wilderness

Moses and the Israelites went to Mount Sinai, where God gave Moses the law and instructions for building the Tabernacle.

Israel wandered in the wilderness 40 years.

Joshua succeeded Moses and led Israel into the Promise Land.

God gave Israel the land through conquest.

Once settle Israel had no earthly leadership

When in trouble, God would raise up judges deliver them from their enemies

Things went from bad to worse.

Eventually Israel asked for a king.

Irael’s first king, Saul, reigned a very short time before he was removed.

David succeeded him.

God gave David an unconditional promise that his descendents would rule forever.

David wanted to build God a temple but God said no

David’s son, King Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem.

After King Solomon’s reign the kingdom was divided in two.

Both Israel and Judah fell away from the Lord

God rose up prophets to warn both kingdoms of the consequences of their turning away from God, but the kings did not listen

Eventually the northern kingdom was taken into exile by the Assyrians and destroyed.

Not long after, the southern kingdom was defeated and taken into exile by the Babylonians; but a remnant remained.

The Persian Empire defeated the Babylonian Empire and a small remnant from Judah was permitted to return to Jerusalem

This remnant rebuilt the city walls and the Temple.

They were also re-taught the Law of Moses.

This tiny remnant persisted through the rise and fall of the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great, and the rise of the mighty Roman Empire.

From this tiny remnant came a descendant of David according to the flesh, and Son of God according to His divinity: Jesus the Christ and Saviour of the world

Act 4 then describes Jesus' life, ministry, death and resurrection and then some great quotes from Act 5 are below:

Here (Acts 13:2) for the first time we see a planned effort to take the gospel to places where it has not yet been heard. This church still carries out its own mission in the place where it has been set – here, in Antioch. But now it also lifts its gaze to “the ends of the earth” in obedience to God’s calling. (pg 182)

Thus the church was then (and should be now) characterized by its zeal for witness nearby and missions faraway. (pg 201)

May God renew that zeal within our generation to be witnesses in our Jerusalem's, Samaria's and to the ends of the earth.

We currently live within Act 5b of the story (following the Bartholomew and Goheen's breakdown) and we look forward to the Coming of the King!!

Revelation does not give us a picture of Christians suddenly transported out of this world to live a spiritual existence in heaven forever... Instead John is shown (and shows us in turn) that salvation is the restoration of God’s creation on a new earth. In this restored world, the redeemed of God will live in resurrected bodies within a renewed creation, from which sin and its effects have been expunged. (pg 211)

I hope that as you've read this summary of Drama of Scripture you'll be encouraged that:
1) God is in complete control;
2) There is still a mission to be accomplished; and
3) One day soon the King will come!