Introduction
The goal of this essay is to demonstrate my understanding of unified and coherent nature of the Bible by explaining the overarching narrative of Scripture, the big picture, or in which some call biblical metanarrative. In the example of this essay, it will be called and referenced as biblical narrative. There are four major acts or events that encompass biblical narrative; creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. I will attempt to describe my understanding of these four major acts or events and how they are relative to biblical worldview.
Creation
We understand that origin begins with creation. We read in the Bible in the book of Genesis, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Genesis 1:1). God reveals himself through creation, and his creations. Further in Genesis chapter 2 God describes the creation of man and woman. In reference to the creation of man, the Bible states, “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed.” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Genesis 2:7-8). In reference to the creation of woman, the Bible states, “The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam[g] there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Genesis 2:20-23).
However in all of the creation and how God reveals himself through his creation, and creations, he also shares a warning and command in the book of Genesis, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 1but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Genesis 2:15-17). In which leads to the second major act or event of biblical metanarrative.
Fall
The second major act or event of the metanarrative is the Fall. The fall began in the garden of eden with the first original sin when Adam and Eve disobeyed the commandment of God from the book as we read in Genesis, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Genesis 2:15-17). The serpent tempted Eve and she ate, and then Adam ate as we read further in Genesis, “Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Genesis 3:1-6).
This was the first and original sin which was the fall of mankind, removal from the Garden of Eden, death, and a separation from God.
Redemption
The third major act or event of the biblical metanarrative is Redemption. In that we are born into sin since the fall of humanity from the disobedience of Adam and Eve, we are born to die and be separated from God. To be reunited with God, we must be redeemed of our sins. In the book of Romans we read, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Romans 6:23). We also read in Hebrews, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Hebrews 9:27). The penalty for sin is death. God revealed his himself in his love, and plans for redemption through Abraham, and his lineage, to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection is mankind’s redemption for all whom accept and believe. We read in the book of John, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, John 3:16-18).
New Creation
The third major act or event of the biblical metanarrative is New Creation. We understand that there will be a new creation and it is eluded to by Paul in the book of Romans, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Romans 8:18-21). This New Creation is further described as a new heaven and a new earth in the book of Revelation, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” (English Standard Bible, 2001/2016, Revelation 21:1-6)
Biblical Worldview
We have read, and I have learned, that worldview is a basic set of presuppositions and values that form the foundation for how we interpret and understand the world around us (Ellis et al. 2023). The reality, our origins, where we are going, what is true, what do we value, and how are we going to live. In a Biblical wordview, is that we see this through the lens of the Bible. It is a Christian’s framework of beliefs in which motivate how we engage with the world in which includes cultures. The foundational authority, and source of truth is God, and His word, the Bible..
Worldview impacts life as it is how we see the world, and the key motivators, or indexes on how we engage and interact with the world. In chapter 7 of Ellis et al. (2023) professor’s video, “What Is a Worldview and Why Do I Care?”, describes this in some detail by highlighting the six key indictors which involves study. In short, (1.) It is, or what we logically assume is, the reality as we know it. This is called Ontology. (2.) Our origins. Where we came from. This is called Cosmetology. (3.) Where are we going. This is called Eschatology. (4.) What is true. This is called Epistemology. (5.) What we value or highly esteem. This is called Axiology. (6.) How are we going to endure, persevere, and live. It is purposeful behavior. This is called Praxeology. In short, this answers the five worldview questions of our origin, our identity, the meaning of life, morality, and our destiny or life after death.
I found this very intriguing and it has been a way that I have tried to see the world with the use of logic, and developed purpose in my own life which included deeper studies, reflection, and test taking such as personality and spiritual gifts analysis and tests.
Conclusion
In conclusion it is obvious God reveals himself throughout scripture. The verses and information that I shared in the biblical metanarrative essay briefly demonstrates the dual authorship, incorporation of authors personality, inspiration of actual words, and full inspiration of the entirety of scripture which is called, Plenary Verbal Inspiration Theory (Etzel et al., 2016). Furthermore, I expounded upon the four major acts or events of the biblical narrative and aligned it with biblical worldview. A biblical worldview cannot fully exist without knowing and understanding the biblical metanarrative as each fully support one another. In other words, we cannot have origin, identity, meaning, morality and destiny without creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. In my theory to understanding, both are the structure, foundation or bones upon theology, and/or the study thereof.
References
English Standard Bible. (2016). https://esv.literalword.com/ (Original work published 2001)
Ellis. (2023). The Essential Guide to Becoming a Master Student: Custom Edition for Liberty
University, 5th Edition
Etzel, G., & Gutierrez, B. (2014). Theology applied: A living faith. Chattanooga, TN: B&H Academic.
Etzel, G., & Small, R. N. (2016). Everyday series: Theology. Chattanooga, TN: B&H Academic.
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