What is the Big Story of the Bible?

This was a sermon prepared for a group of high schoolers and collegers. I was asked by my friend Bill Dindi, of Campus Life, to share on the question “What is the Metanarrative of Scripture?” at the River of God Church in Parklands, Nairobi. The delivery was different from the written material, of course J

Accessed from thinktheology.org

Introduction

Is there an overarching story in the Bible? I talked to a friend sometime back who had become an atheist, and he said that the Bible is just a collection of mythical stories. I hope in the topics you have covered previously in this current series on the Bible, you can now appreciate that the Bible is a trustworthy record of God’s self-revelation to us. God reveals himself, in the historical progression of the world, showing himself to be all powerful, merciful, gracious and victorious. That in the events that happen to each of us, the day-to-day mundane activities as well as the big events of history, in Kenya and around the world, there is an overarching story behind it.

I don’t know what book in oral literature you guys did, but in our day we read one called Coming to Birth, among many others. So if I was to ask you, what’s the book about, what would you answer? To answer, you would probably give a “big picture” story about the whole book. This is what a metanarrative is, a “big picture” idea of the book.[1] I could ask the same about your favorite song or movie that you’ve watched recently and you would give a certain explanation on what resonated with you most. That’s the thing about stories, they usually speak to us about the world, about who we are and about Faith: In God, in ourselves or in our circumstances. Through stories we somehow have a lens with which we can view the world, what scholars call a worldview. In more detail, a worldview consists of various assumptions that we may hold about what constitutes reality.[2]

And so when we look at our topic today, we can already identify certain assumptions that may cause conflict for us: Some answer, “there is no big picture view of the world or Bible, since everyone has their own interpretation of the Bible.” In our culture, we have this thing where we say “your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth.” This is a phenomenon that scholars have traced socio-culturally to a current historical period called postmodernism, and in this interpretation of the world, truth claims are disintegrated into distorted fragments that do not have an overarching story.[3] It is true, that each of our stories matter because each of us are created in God’s image, but even more than that, there is an overarching story that makes life meaningful. This is the Biblical story. Concerning this metanarrative, the Biblical scholar and former archbishop of Canterbury, the Rev. N. T. Wright says,

In the Christian canonical Bible there is a single over-arching narrative. It is a story which runs from creation to new creation. The great bulk of the story focuses quite narrowly on the fortunes of a single family in the Middle East. They are described as the people through whom the creator God will act to rescue the whole world. The choice of this particular family does not imply that the creator has lost interest in other human beings or the cosmos at large; on the contrary, it is because he wishes to address them with his active and rescuing purposes that he has chosen this one family in the first place.[4]

In his statement, we see 4 underlying questions which a coherent worldview should give:

·         Who and Where are we?

·         What is wrong?

·         What is the solution?

·         What is the end goal?

The 4 Questions of the Biblical Metanarrative

       i.            The Goodness of Creation: Who and Where are we?

Does its amaze you when you look at the world’s beauty? Perhaps, it’s an evening at the coast, reclining by the beach, the warm air breeze gently whispering across your face, while sculpting beautiful patterns on the sandy shores as the waves sing as they circulate to and fro. Or perhaps, it’s the turning of phrases in a poetic writing that speaks of things that resound with your heart. Maybe, it’s the sound of musical instruments, as they tune out a harmonious melody that leaves you saying “there must be a God.”

Or maybe, all this is just in my mind.

We can see elements of God’s creativity in creation in our current world. Genesis in the Hebrew “In the beginning” answers our deepest questions about the origins. “In the beginning God” tells us that for the Jewish community, God is assumed as existing. Some come to the book of Genesis with scientific questions not knowing that that is not the purpose of the book of Genesis. We can infer the following things about the origins, that is who are we, where are we and why are we here?

God is all powerful: He creates something out of nothing, what theologians call creation ex nihilo. Unlike human beings who use God’s raw materials to create things, God himself creates without any raw materials. Unlike human beings, God is not limited in time but he both transcends time yet operates within time.

Gen. 1:1-2 (ESV) “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

God’s goodness in Creation: As people made in the image of God, we have seeds of goodness in us.

Gen 1: 26-27 “Then God said ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”[5]

We were made to relate with God: The Garden of Eden gives the idea that Adam and God had a close relationship. It is this presence of God that we as human beings crave, yet that we look for in other things. The Church Father, revered across Church traditions St. Augustine speaking of God remarked that “You have formed us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”[6] A few centuries later, the famed Mathematician, Physicist, Inventor and Christian Philosopher Blaise Pascal expands on Augustine’s thought as follows:

"What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself."[7]

Therefore, we can see that as humans, we are created in God’s image to relate and live with God. This should place a high value on our lives. We can go forth in the world and make it more beautiful with the creativity that we have been bestowed with. However, despite this underlying goodness, there seems to be something wrong.

    ii.            The Distortion of the Fall: What is Wrong?

I joke with my friends that if you want to be depressed, watch the news. But since I know most of you don’t watch news, like I rarely do, even the music we listen to shows that something is wrong. I used to listen to a lot of hip-hop, and an underlying theme was very disrespectful towards women. Is it no wonder that if you take a walk in town you will see women parading their flesh? We are what we watch and that is why many of young jamaz are heavily into weed, alcohol abuse and orgies. It seems that instead of upholding the beauty of creation, we are self-destructing instead.

Social activists must be the most active people in the world. To take stock of the ills of the society is as good as taking stock of the number of human beings to have ever existed in the world. From corruption and tribalism, to child slavery and sexual abuse, it is clear that something is wrong. As I was saying, stories have this ability of drawing us inward, when we realize that we share in the lives of some of the stories we watch, see and read. As a human race, each of us knows that they are morally accountable to something and the guilt that we have shows the reality and presence of sin. It did not begin with you and I, but the human representatives that Adam and Eve were. It would have began with us were we to have been in their place. Genesis chapter 3 shows our story, that at the heart of things, we want to live without God. It shows that we have an affinity for deception instead of a taste for truth. It shows that by our own strength, we are naked and desire fuller clothing. The New Testament echoes the reality of sin in the lives of all men, without any distinction. That just as all men have eyes and noses and ears, all men have sinned:

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

In this falling, Adam and Eve would live their lives in the reality of pain, suffering, toil and death. We do too.

Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.”

Despite the goodness that we sometimes glimpse on this side of heaven, when we look around, we can see the stark distortion of God’s goodness. Inwardly, when we take account of the times we have been jealous, when we have lusted, when we have said a bad word in haste, when we have gossiped and when we have failed to stand for what is right, the torch is lit on us from the crevices of our comfort and self-righteousness, and we see that darkness shrouds our hearts. Our society has the culture of judging people because they sin differently than we do, but when the record is set straight the defilement in our hands comes from within our hearts (Mark 7:14-23). The Big Story in the Bible is that what is wrong in the world is a heart issue. Our hearts are corrupted with sin.

  iii.            The Gospel of Redemption[8]: What is the Solution?

Something is wrong BUT there is hope. Like the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, there is a light that has been shining, dimly in the Old Testament but progressively brighter as the drama of the Bible beats on, manifesting itself most clearly in the person of Christ that we may know and behold the truth and the glory of our Creator and Redeemer God. (John 1:7-14)

I reveled at watching the Matrix Trilogy. The story line is that the main actor, Neo, lives in his own world not aware of the fact that the human race is being captured by machines. He goes on a quest, together with his team, to face the “agents” who are computer programs designed to enslave the humans. Neo in action-packed, movie-style saves mankind. Although simplistic, these themes that we are talking about are the features of many movies that we love, especially the super-hero ones. Is it that deep down we are all in need of a supper-hero? The agents in our lives are much more seriously equipped, and the stake at hand will affect an eternity of our lifetimes. If two men on a boat are drowning then they can only receive help from outside. Only the God who has created this world can redeem it, because he is also in it.

In Genesis 3:15, we see the first message of the gospel of redemption given to the human race: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.” In the biblical metanarrative, in God’s calling of Abraham, we see that the promise would be fulfilled through a chosen people, the family of Abraham (Gen. 12:2-3).[9] Dr. Teague continues,

Continuing in Genesis, we read how the Promised Redeemer would descend from part of Abraham's family, but not from every part. Isaac is chosen, but not Ishmael. Jacob (Israel) is chosen, but not Esau. Each chosen generation had a sense that they were the promise bearers to the exclusion of others (Genesis 17:2, 6, 8; 22:16 ff.; 26:3 ff.; 26:24; 28:3; 35:11 ff.; 47:27; 48:3 ff.). The Redeemer-to-Come has a very specific lineage from Abraham through his descendants, Isaac and Israel, and then through Israel's descendant, Judah.[10]

This promise, or covenant is always made between two parties: God and the chosen people. The books of the Old Testament that deal with Jewish history point forward to this redemption of Jesus Christ (Job 19:25-27; Lev. 25:25-34; Lam. 3:57-58; Joel 2:25). The story of the Israelites, more like our own individual stories, show how we turn away from God, showing that the power of sin is strong. Yet, the Prophetic books of the Old Testament contain the words of prophets who speak into the contexts and life stories of the Jews (and of us) reminding us of the covenant stipulation: That obedience brings blessing and disobedience brings curses (Deut. 28-29). The prophet Isaiah points to Christ as the one who would “stand in the gap” and redeem us from the slavery of sin (Isaiah 53:1-12). Of specific mention, verse 11 speaking of Christ says that in accordance to God’s will,

“Out of the anguish of his soul shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one my servant make many to be counted righteous and he shall bear their iniquities.” (53:11)

The New Testament is sometimes seen as unveiling the Old Testament, in synonymy, Jesus Christ revealing the Law, Covenant and Promise of the Old Testament (Hebrews 1:1-4). As the shedding of blood was required in the Old Testament for the removal of sins, Christ’s shed blood on the cross is needed for us to be freed from the slavery of sin (Heb. 10:1, 12-14). The biblical story which started with God’s presence with man, and which was robbed by sin, is redeemed through the work of Christ on the cross. If we repent of our sins and accept what Christ has done for us, we can have access to God (John 1:12-13, 3:5, 3:16-18, 11:25; Acts 2:38; Romans 10:8-11; Ephesians 1:7; 2 Cor. 5:17-19; Hebrews 10:19-23).

In the Presbyterian Church that I attend, we have a great affinity for hymns for they capture these wonderful truths. The great hymn “Nothing but the blood of Jesus” captures the essence of redemption through the gospel of Jesus Christ:

Nothing can for sin atone,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

Naught of works, ‘tis all of grace,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

This is all my hope and stay,

Nothing but the blood of the Jesus;

This is all my righteousness,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

What a sure and trustworthy promise of redemption. Unlike the Matrix movies that needed a sequel, and unlike other false promises of perfection that the world promises, the redemption of Jesus Christ is the only sure way (John 14:6-7, 10:9-11). Are you a recipient of this redemption? Wewe ni member? In the words of Juliani, “uko ndani ama nje”?

  iv.            The Promise of Restoration: What is the end goal?

The biblical metanarrative gives a coherent understanding and hope for the reality that comprises our lives, each and every one of us. Various worldviews propose different ideas of the end goal or purpose of human existence. Some because they see the effects of sin in the world despair and lose hope, and without reading the whole of Ecclesiastes exclaim “the world is meaningless!” There is no purpose. On the other hand, while this group is holding their chin in despair and looking on the ground with a half-cast gaze, others because they enjoy the good of creation (whether lawfully or unlwafully) go to an extreme and say that “it’s just a big party here.” Tuzidi! Tuburst! They retort, not knowing that any moment the Creator, Giver and Sustainer of their life can come at any moment and demand of their lives. They forget that God is just in his judgements and shall give everyone according to their deeds (Mt. 16:27; Rom. 2:6). For those who believe in Christ, they have passed from a place of condemnation to a position of peace and newness (Rom. 5:1, 8:1).

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. . . There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (ESV).”

Restoration and Renewal is the end game of the drama of the biblical story. The dark brushes that are painted by the presence of pain, suffering and personal sin, will be colored by the strokes of the whiteness that corresponds to the new heavens and new earth. Renewal starts at the moment the believer entrusts herself to Christ, and carries on as the Spirit transforms her personal life and outward to her sphere of influence and eventually to the world.

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. (Romans 8:18-21)

This glory will be revealed when Christ returns again. In his reign, righteousness will reign in full and his wisdom will cover all the earth (Isaiah 11:1-10). There shall be no more foolishness! Isaiah observes how this new creation is a renewal of what we are used to. Picture a leopard lying down with a young goat, or the complete absence of hurt or destruction? Isaiah foresees the new heavens and new earth that await those who believe in Christ, which is recorded in Revelation 21. We see that the old enemy who seeks to deceive the believers from the victory that has already been won is banished together with all the lies, the pain, the suffering and the sin that are common to us. The end goal is that God the Father, will bring to its proper end the affairs of the world’s history, where there shall be eternal life or eternal death, depending on what metanarrative, what story one has believed in.

Conclusion

What is the story that runs your life? When you hear that people have lost money when their banks have collapsed, or when you hear that your brother has died, where does your hope lie? In the world of ideas, where everyone seems to be a philosopher, what philosophy informs your life? Can it tell you where you have come from, what is wrong, what the solution is and where we are headed? The bible is trustworthy because in it the triune-God, reveals himself and his purposes for us individually and for the world. The running story that he has reconciled us to himself in Christ and empowers us by his spirit to live a renewed life provides the greatest comfort for our souls, and minds, to our situations.

For a long time I had searched for this grand story in the reading of philosophical literature, in drug abuse and sexual escapades. God by his grace revealed to me the depth of my enslavement to the power of sin. I had thought that occasionally going to church and that doing good deeds would earn me a spot in heaven. God’s grace revealed God’s love and purposes for me, and I responded by accepting Christ in my heart. Are you here and you are looking for purpose in life? Christ calls on you today as you are. If you are a believer, God is more interested in your character than your comfort. He desires that you are renewed and transformed, always watching so that when the great eternal party is on, you will have the right attire, the right clad. The metanarrative of the Bible gives peace from our past, a hopeful awareness for the present and lasting hope for the future. I pray that you will continue to experience its authority, veracity and coherency in the face of the many stories and voices in our time.

End Notes

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[1] Various approaches of reading the bible as a metanarrative are: Two-Covenant, Two-Age, Christo-Centric, Salvation History, Worldview, Bible as Drama, Mission of God and Kingdom of God Approaches, among others. This material uses a worldview approach, while integrating other approaches. For more details on each approach see “The Biblical Metanarrative,” in Postmodern Preaching: How to Preach Christ in a Postmodern age, a blog by Dr. David Teague, accessed from http://www.postmodernpreaching.net/the-biblical-metanarrative.html on the 14 April, 2016.  

[2] James Sire, A Universe Next Door

[3] Douglas Groothius, Truth Decay: Defending Christianity Against the Challenges of Postmodernism (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 2000), 20

[4] N. T. Wright, “The Bible and The Story,” in The Bible in Transmission (Summer, 1997) accessed from http://www.biblicaltheology.ca/blue_files/The%20Book%20and%20the%20Story.pdf on the 14 April 2016.

[5] Some bible translations having an issue with scriptures that use the word man and other male pronouns such as he and his, have opted for unisex pronouns. They might have been responding to patriarchal societies, which as a product of their cultures, may have acted in a derogatory manner towards women. Hence, the philosophy and tradition of feminism that has sort to uphold the place of women, sometimes to an extreme of countering a biblical perspective. In this verse, we see that both male and female are imagers of God, in differentiated forms but in equal value. The New Testament Scriptures that talk about the relationship of husband and wife uphold this creation design by stressing mutual submission. Even when men and women may have different roles in the family or church set-up, as an illustration of God’s purposes of design, their value is equal in God’s eyes (Eph. 5:22-28). Although talking about justification, in Christ “there is no male or female” (Gal. 3:28) affirms the principle that in Christ, male and female are equal in value.

[6] St. Augustine, Confessions (Book 1)

[7] Blaise Pascal, Pensees (New York; Penguin Books, 1966), 75

[8] For an in-depth word study of redemption see this link Bible Study Tools. A more theological and biblical understanding of the doctrine of redemption can be found here Doctrine of Redemption.

[9] The language of “chosen people” in scripture shows God’s sovereignty over all things including his plan of Salvation. This does not refute the responsibility that people have in responding to God’s call, but even the ability to respond is enabled by the Spirit of God. This brief summary is what is called the Doctrine of Election within the reformed tradition, although Biblical scholars and theologians have differing views on this doctrine. Scriptural warrants for this doctrine are John 6:37, 44, 65, 15:16; Acts 13:48; Eph. 1:4-6; Romans 9:6-24; 1 Timothy 2:1-4; 2 Peter 3:9; Titus 3:3-7. For a resource on the Doctrine of Election and its differing views with further links, see http://www.theopedia.com/election. For a response to some objections to the Doctrine of Election, see Tim Keller, “3 Objections to the Doctrine of Election,” in The Gospel Coalition (Sep 2015) accessed from https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/3-objections-to-the-doctrine-of-election on April 15, 2016.

[10] Ibid., Dr. David Teague