Real Restoration: Introducing the Story of the Bible

This idea of “story” is a big deal. The Bible tells a story, and if we don’t hear the story and understand its plot, the conflict, protagonist, antagonist, denouement, climax — the elements of story — we miss much of what God is saying to us in scripture.

Now, I hasten to point out that “story” doesn’t mean fiction. By referring to the Bible as “story,” I’m not remotely suggesting that the story is untrue. Rather, it’s the very best kind of story, a true story.

All stories have certain elements.

a) Introduction – The beginning of the story where the characters and the setting is revealed.

b) Rising Action – This is where the events in the story become complicated and the conflict in the story is revealed (events between the introduction and climax).

c) Climax – This is the highest point of interest and the turning point of the story. The reader wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolved or not?

d) Falling action – The events and complications begin to resolve themselves. The reader knows what has happened next and if the conflict was resolved or not (events between climax and denouement).

e) Denouement – This is the final outcome or untangling of events in the story.

The over-arching story of scripture has all these elements —

Introduction: Genesis 1 – 11, which gives us the main characters and introduces the central conflict

Rising Action: Genesis 12 – Malachi: The story becomes more complex, God is at work preparing the world for the climax, the climax is anticipated in the Law and the Prophets but the exact nature of the climax is a mystery not yet revealed.

Climax: Matthew 1 – Acts 2: The climax is the coming of Jesus, his resurrection, and the founding the church at Pentecost. The conclusion — the denouement — is anticipated and known, but just how we get from climax to denouement remains untold.

Falling Action: Acts 3 until 2011: God’s plan, revealed in Jesus, is working itself out but the story is not yet finished.

Denouement: Judgment Day and the news heavens and new earth: God brings about perfect justice, destroying his enemies and giving victory to his followers, eternal life, and a return to the Garden.

In story terms, we live in the times of falling action. God has given us a peak at the last chapter — the denouement — and so we know how the story ends. It’s a happy ending! But God hasn’t told us how we get there from here. We are still a part of the story — his story — and we get to make choices that decide how the Falling Action proceeds and even whether we choose to participate in God’s story.

This next takes us to Conflict. All good stories are about conflict and how it gets resolved.

There are two types of conflict:

1) External – A struggle with a force outside one’s self.

2) Internal – A struggle within one’s self; a person must make some decision, overcome pain, quiet their temper, resist an urge, etc.

Now, in God’s story, of course, the antagonist — the person who must be defeated — is Satan, an external force. But, as we all know, Satan has a powerful ally in our fleshly natures, that is, the part of us that just loves to sin. Satan tempts, but he only has success if we submit. And so, ultimately, the conflict is internal — a battle being fought every day by billions of people with eternity at stake. Each person gets to write his own part in the story because each person has to deal with his own conflict with temptation.

But not alone. The hero of the story isn’t you or me. The hero (protagonist) is God — all three persons — who fight mightily to persuade all people to fight against both an external and an internal enemy and so to choose to be a part of God’s story.