The Bible's Big-Picture StorySample

STAGE 1: GOD IS LOVE. From beginning to end.

The Bible’s big-picture story opens with the words now used by many other stories … In the beginning: 

“In the beginning God created the heavens and earth”. 

The opening words introduce us to the main character, God. The Bible is His story!

This God of love is revealed to us in the Bible under twenty-six different names, descriptions and titles, each one having a different meaning. The very first time He is introduced to us is with the name Elohim, which translates: God the Creator and Preserver, Transcendent, mighty and strong. It also has the concept of revealing the relationship of the trinity being there right at the beginning.  

We, the created, are introduced to our Creator in the opening sentence.

To mirror that, when Jesus first comes to Earth, the book of John in the New Testament begins Jesus’ story with the same opening words:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”

God has always been there. He existed at the start of all things, and He is unchanging throughout the story. He is described as The First and Last, the one who was and is and is yet to come! We have never been alone!

Over the centuries, theologians have tried to describe the indescribable. They often use a method of ‘dividing’ God into two parts: Nature & Character. Nature are those things that God is, but we are not; for example, Infinite. Character is God’s attributes that we can also develop. The Bible shows us that God is a relational God; He has always existed as a trinity of Father, Jesus the Son and Holy Spirit. He is a personal God having a mind, will and emotions; He has morals, which are principles of right and wrong behaviour, attributes that include things like faithful, good, kind, pure, just, forgiving and creative. At the very centre of His being, He is Holy and perfect, wholly encompassed in love from beginning to end. God literally is love. 

This is the God with whom we get to have a real relationship, which gives our life purpose, meaning and a place of belonging. 

An invitation to interact with God and His life-giving Word:

You may want to go back to those Bible verses for today.  Ask Him to establish His love for you in a fresh way today, inviting His love to go even deeper into your whole being. 

We begin by seeing a God who is infinitely creative—and we are in His image, so part of your interaction may look like visualising it with words, images, poetry, song, movement or quiet meditation… it’s all worship which brings us into a place of deeper intimacy with God and where we hear His heart for us more clearly. Enjoy!