Bible

The stage is set with God’s perfect creation of all things. Soon after, the first humans willfully oppose God and the problem of sin and death is introduced, separating humanity from God.

God relentlessly pursues individuals’ hearts throughout subsequent history, even appointing a chosen nation of people (Israel) and setting them apart as a microcosm of God’s relationship with humanity. God constantly points toward reconciliation, speaking to kings and prophets of a coming King and Kingdom where God and humanity will be reconciled.

The story hits its height with the introduction of Jesus – the author entering the story, God taking on human form. Jesus is humanity perfected, the promised King of the promised Kingdom. Jesus is violently killed by his own people, and he voluntarily takes on the burden of humanity’s sin to pay the debt of sin that separates humans from God. When Jesus dies he takes the power of sin and death with him to the grave; he then resurrects from the dead, breaking the power of sin and death, and lives forever as the King who connects humanity to God.

All humanity has access to the new, abundant life Jesus offers – the only requirement to receive it is to put one’s faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit indwells followers of Jesus (the church) and transforms humanity and the world one person at a time, slowly expanding the church in the “already here, but not yet fully here” nature of the Kingdom. The church eagerly awaits Jesus’s return. This is the part of the story we live in now.

Jesus returns with the full power of heaven to judge the living, the dead, and the spiritual powers; sin and death are eradicated. The Bible ends with the Kingdom of God in fullness on Earth: the final, perfect reconciliation of humanity to God in a new creation.