The Basic Plot of Scripture, Part 2

Read Part 1.

In the first installment of this article series, we looked at Genesis 1-3 and its introduction of three major themes: creation, fall, and redemption. This second installment looks briefly at how these themes continue through the remainder of Scripture, and then the third installment will examine just how snugly Scripture fits them together, namely, by examining how redemption is often cast as a re-creation. (Again, these three themes are like poles of a tepee leaning against each other: to lose one is to lose them all.) The themes are so interdependent that it is difficult to speak of any one of them singly.

Creation: Procreation, ctd.

Genesis introduces God as Creator with ultimate dominion and man as God’s creative and procreative vice-regent. The fall and the curse did not remove mankind from his role or relieve him of his responsibilities; the fall and curse only made the responsibilities difficult. So the dominion activities implied in Genesis 1 (procreation and creativity) do move forward: in Genesis 4, Adam and Eve have children. Notice that genealogies provide Genesis with built-in “chapter headings.” Our modern translations divide Genesis into fifty chapters, but Moses organized the book into several sections beginning with “These are the generations…” (2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:12, 19; 36:1; 37:2). Being written by Moses for the people of Israel, Genesis functions as an historical prologue to Exodus, telling the people of Israel where they came from. Along the way, Moses describes the rise of civilization (albeit a fallen civilization). Prerequisite to a civilization is a substantial population. God said, “Be fruitful, and multiply” (1:22), and indeed they did. Not only do Bible genealogies describe population growth and trace origins, but they also underline the essential interconnectedness of humanity.

While the next installment of this article will explore the idea of redemption as re-creation, it can be noted here that creation serves as a mechanism for redemption. The “seed” theme introduced in Genesis 3 continues throughout Genesis in the “These are the generations” formula, but beyond that, we watch the seed being directed through Abraham, Isaac (not Ishmael), Jacob (not Esau), and Judah (not his elders Reuben, Simeon, Levi, or even the godly Joseph). It is through God’s blessing on Abraham and his offspring (a great nation) that all the world will be blessed. Interestingly, the “These are the generations” formula recurs again in Ruth 4 (to advance a genealogy from Judah to King David), and Matthew 1 (to trace our Lord’s genealogy). The “seed” promise is chiefly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, supernaturally conceived into a line of natural generation.

Creation: Creativity, ctd.

We have already seen above that “be fruitful, and multiply” continues, but “have dominion” (1:26) continues as well. Genesis 4 describes the rise of a civilization. It refers to a city (a center of civilization), livestock, music, and metallurgy. Even after this civilization is destroyed in the Flood, the command is reiterated: “Be fruitful, and multiply” (9:1).

Behind the organization of civilization is God’s providence. In his Mars Hill sermon, Paul referenced both the essential connectedness of humanity and humanity’s sociopolitical organization: “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26 ESV). Paul’s words “one man” describe humanity’s interconnectedness; his words “every nation … periods … boundaries” describe humanity’s organization. Really, whenever there is a large population, some kind of sociopolitical organization is inevitable, even if it’s savage tribalism a la William Golding’s Lord of the Flies. Some people are leaders. All men have a measure of dominion over the earth, but some have a measure of dominion over other men, whatever the form of government may be. In any corporation or nation, someone has to oversee and coordinate efforts.

Thus the Bible is well stocked with VIPs: Nimrod, Abraham (a great man), Job (the Warren Buffett of his day), several pharaohs, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, the Herods, Caesar, and scores of less-famous kings. Israel offers us David and Solomon, both great men. In a sense Solomon “wrote the manual” when he wrote Proverbs. If God laid out the world in wisdom (Prov. 8), then it takes wisdom to navigate the world (all of Proverbs). If men with little responsibility need wisdom, how much more do kings need it? And so Solomon sets a high standard for kings to “dig in” to matters (Prov. 25:2–3, cf. Prov. 8:15).

It is no accident that the Bible frequently describes God’s involvement with world leaders: God wants to assert His ultimate dominion, and a good way to demonstrate it is to get the best of the most powerful man alive in any given century. The book of Daniel is some pretty exciting prophecy, but don’t miss the fact that God’s chief concern is to show that each and every great kingdom comes and goes at His sovereign pleasure. One day, “The kingdom of the world [will] become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15 ESV). Babylon, Persia, Greece, or Rome—they all will fall to the final Kingdom. Jesus could be called “King of Mankind,” but “King of Kings” communicates more, acknowledging hierarchy within creation but subjecting it all to Christ.

All that has been said so far is to say that both procreativity and creativity/dominion continue throughout Scripture. Indeed, they tend to blend into the woodwork. Since the Fall has bent everything out of shape, creation is a bit hard to see. For instance, warnings about the love of money obscure the fact that currency is a nifty economic tool. The Tower of Babel casts a shadow over our best building projects, lest we get caught up in our own hubris. Horses and chariots are great, but we dare not trust them. “For we know that the whole creation groaneth” (Rom. 8:22 KJV). We know that creation groans, but that fact shouldn’t be all we know. We should remember that creation groaneth (creation is still there). And we should remember that the groans are groans of travail: childbirth!

Fall

Genesis 5’s genealogy records birth information and death information. It reads like a litany: “begat … and he died … begat … and he died.” From Genesis 3 onward, the world has been populated with sinful mortals. Ben Franklin may have been wrong about taxes, but he was right about death. Not only are people mortals, but they are also sinful mortals. Cain killed his brother, and seven generations from Cain was Lamech, who married two women and arrogantly boasted about murder. A few chapters later in Genesis 6, Moses’ description of mankind’s sin is like boldface, double underline, size 24 font: “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5 ESV). Even Noah, a righteous man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord, became a drunk, at least for a day. God Himself observed after the Flood, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done” (Gen. 8:21 ESV). In other words, mankind is very evil, so I will not destroy the world like this again. Huh? This statement is God’s recognition that if He destroyed the world every time mankind deserved it, there wouldn’t be much left of the world! (Mercy needn’t flatter.)

Throughout both Testaments, the best of men are fallen men, and the worst are downright diabolical. The “seed” of the serpent is a hardy stock, and they make life very difficult for the righteous, either by persecuting them or influencing them. To illustrate the cacophony of sin in the world, one needs only to name Babel, Sodom, Gomorrah, Pharaoh of Egypt, Balaam, the period of the Judges, the tragic dynasties of Israel’s Northern Kingdom, the Herods, Judas, and the self-righteous Pharisees and Sadducees. Some sin is communal (Babel); some is private (Judas). Some is sordid (the period of the judges); some is whitewashed (Pharisees).

Creation is bent out of shape so that good things become objects of temptation and evil. Procreation is twisted into unhealthy desperation for children (Jacob’s family), rape (Shechem), incest (Lot, Amnon), prostitution (Tamar), adultery (David), rampant polygamy (Solomon), and sodomy (Sodom). Wine threatens with drunkenness (Noah). Money elicits greed and clouds good judgment (Balaam). Kingly responsibilities tempt to arrogance, bravado, and even megalomania (Saul, Hezekiah, Nebuchadnezzar, Herod). Our affections can fall from loving God and loving the stuff of the world “in God” (loving the world as He has given it to us, loving it with humble gratitude) to simply loving the world or the fallen and temporal world and its system (1 John 2:15–17). In his epistle, John was content to say, “Don’t love the world. Besides, it’s temporary.” When Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes, he wanted to rub it in. If we can feel the futility of loving the world, maybe we’ll be better armed against temptation.

The futility of this-worldly affections is death before death. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” First Corinthians 15:56 describes sin as the “sting” of death, and we can feel the sting even before the final sting. Again, Ecclesiastes laments the sting of death: futility, injustice, a general inability to enjoy good things. Paul describes creation’s collective “groaning” on account of this vanity (Rom. 8:19–22). (Note that the word for vanity in Romans 8 matches the word for vanity in the Septuagint version of Ecclesiastes.) Things are not as they should be. Christians must affirm with conviction, “See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (Eccles. 7:29 ESV). If we are convinced that things are not as they should be, we needn’t resign ourselves to this sinful and futile world. We can hope for something better, a world where things are as they should be. (Hold the thought.)

In Adam’s fall, we sinned all. Adam’s fall affected not just humanity, but creation, too. Yes, to say that creation “groans” is literary personification, but it is an apt and true statement. Mankind has abused the good gifts of God, and furthermore, God’s judgments upon men have sometimes fallen upon the “stuff” of creation, too.

Redemption

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve had no reason to expect God’s mercy, no reason to expect God to cover their nakedness with animal skins, no reason to expect a promise that the “seed of the woman” would ultimately crush the serpent’s head. “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jonah 2:9). It is God’s prerogative, and He can work salvation through mankind and/or despite mankind.

God predicted (which is tantamount to a promise) that the “seed of the woman” would be the agent of redemption and crush the serpent’s head. Will He keep His promise? How? When?

Genesis provides only the beginning of the answer. Through its genealogies, it follows the seed of the woman. God approached Abraham and made a promise, renewed it with Isaac, Jacob, and the people of Israel. In Exodus, God remembered His covenant with Abraham (2:24), and He stayed faithful to His covenant throughout the Old Testament. God’s faithful determination to fulfill His promise is remarkable, especially in light of Israel’s repeated failures to be faithful to God. Sinful mankind is not faithful, cannot be faithful, but God remains faithful. Nothing is wrong with God; nothing is wrong with His promises; nothing is wrong with His law. No doubt the problem is with us. But God even promised a New Covenant in which He would graciously work His law right into our hearts (Jer. 31:31–34). He brought this covenant to fruition in Christ (Matt. 26:28).

Christ was (is) a Jew, and “salvation is of the Jews” (John 4:22). The Jewish story is the story of the preparation of a people for the coming Savior. Because of their moral law, they should understand their own sinfulness. Because of their ceremonial law, they should understand something about holiness, priesthood, and vicarious atonement. (That many of them failed and continue to fail to “get it” is not the Author’s fault. The Old Testament Scriptures do testify of Christ [John 5:39; Luke 24].)

The Old Testament describes God’s preparing a people for Christ, and from a literary standpoint, this fact prepares a reader in any age to understand the Gospel narratives. When a reader arrives in the Gospels, he can’t help but notice the sweeping statements that Jesus came to save sinners (Matt. 9:13; 20:28; Luke 19:10). He cannot help but notice that a large percentage of the Gospel narratives describe the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. And reading on in Acts and the Epistles, the reader cannot help but notice that these apostles talk a lot about Jesus and what He did to save us.

It terms of raw word count, the Bible is mostly about redemption, either directly or indirectly.

Creation, fall, and redemption continue throughout Scripture. This truth is worth noting. But it is more remarkable to see how Scripture relates them to each other, particularly in that Scripture casts redemption as a re-creation. Scripture describes redemption as a re-creation both at the personal level and at the cosmic level. Part 3 will examine the passages that teach this truth.

Michael Osborne received a B.A. in Bible and an M.A. in Church History from Bob Jones University (Greenville, SC). He co-authored the teacher’s editions of two BJU Press high school Bible comparative religions textbooks What Is Truth? and Who Is This Jesus?; and contributed essays to the appendix of The Dark Side of the Internet. He lives with his wife, Becky, and his daughters, Felicity and Elinor, in Omaha, Nebraska, where they are active members at Good Shepherd Baptist Church. Mike plans to pursue a further degree in apologetics.