Packed with diagrams, illustrations and timelines, this accessible overview unlocks the storyline of the whole Bible.
Part of the Accessible Theology series.
Sometimes it’s hard to see the wood for the trees. Running through the many gripping and memorable stories the Bible contains is one big story of God’s plan for the world he made, and how he brought it about through Jesus Christ.
Packed with diagrams, illustrations and timelines, this accessible Bible overview unlocks the storyline of the whole Bible – how God promised and then brought about the plan to save our fallen world. But this is no book of arid theological ideas. It is a story that will encourage effective, active Christian living in today's world.
Looking at God's covenantal promises with Abraham, Moses and David, Tim Chester presents the 'big picture'’ of the Bible and helps Christians understand the part in relation to the whole. From Creation to New Creation traces different elements of the promise and introduces:
• A people: God's promise to save a people who will be His people
• A land: God's promise to provide a place of blessing
• A king: God's promise to re-establish his rule of freedom and peace
• The nations: God's promise to bring his salvation to all the peoples of the world
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Story of the Promise of Salvation
2. The Promise of a People who know God
3. The Promise of a Place of Blessing
4. The Promise of a King and a Kingdom
5. The Promise of Blessing to the Nations
6. Conclusion: Blessing and Curse
Further Reading
| Contributors | Tim Chester |
|---|---|
| ISBN | 9781908317278 |
| Format | eBook |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | The Good Book Company |
Find out what others are saying about 'From Creation to New Creation' here
Ever wondered how the whole Bible fits together? Here is the help you need. This easy-to-read book has great diagrams that shows how God's promises unfold and how they apply to us - the way you read the Bible will never be quite the same again.
Is it really possible to say so much in just a few pages? These two books by Tim Chester pack an enormous amount of theological thinking into a remarkable economy of pages. I commend these books as worthy additions to your library.
I was assigned this book to read at Seminary, it was by far the best book I read for my Old Testament survey class. I really appreciated how it connected the dots of the Bible story for me. I really recommend it for anybody who wants to understand the Bible better. This book is weapon against Satan so arm up, it’s worth the read.
This helpful book traces four aspects of God's promise to Abraham: a people who know God, a place of blessing, a King and a kingdom, and a blessing to the nations. By four quick journeys through the whole of the Bible, each chapter reinforces the perhaps familiar but clear outline of 'the story of the promise of salvation' given in the first chapter. Simple enough for someone new to biblical theology, but meaty enough for training others to teach an overview of the Bible's message fulfilled in Jesus. I've given copies to preachers and pastors I've trained in the Majority world, and will continue to do so.
The concept of the Bible as story is a popular one these days. With the publication of The Jesus Storybook Bible, The Big Picture Story Bible, and others like it, parents and grandparents are seeing the cloud of confusion surrounding the cohesion of the Bible begin to lift as they read aloud. Books of this nature geared toward adults are getting attention. Graeme Goldsworthy’s book, According to Plan (written on this subject in 1991 before it was popular), is gaining a new audience and D.A. Carson’s The God Who is There comes at concept from a fresh angle by drawing the reading to think about his/her place in God’s story.
Of the books stacking up on the subject, few will have heard of Tim Chester’s From Creation to New Creation. This is an unfortunate reality, for it may well be the most useful one to date. What do I mean? While Carson’s book makes for an engaging read, sometimes leading one to forget he’s reading theology, Chester’s book reads more like a syllabus or a manual for understanding the storyline of the Bible. The strength of this approach is in its organization and search-ability. I enjoyed Carson’s book, but unless I can commit to reading it all the way through again, I’m not sure how often I’ll pick it up. This book, however, makes it easy to pop into a specific motif in the story and get the basic information you need without a lot of sifting.
Chester follows the motifs of a people who know God, a place of blessing, a King and a kingdom, and blessing to the nations and brings them all together under the umbrella of God’s promise fulfilled in Christ. While not afraid to quote much Scripture, and often longer passages, Chester acts as a guide to the reader, making comments on important texts that highlight these different themes.
As I did, many readers will also appreciate Chester’s helpful diagrams and his straight-forward, no fluff writing style, but there’s one thing that would have topped things off nicely: a conclusion that summarizes the content of the book and shows the cohesiveness of the story themes. The book ended a bit abruptly and I found myself craving a reminder.
What I love about Chester’s book is that it’s great for getting the information. If you need information to be a bit more seasoned for the sake of palatability, you may want to choose another book like Carson’s. But for teachers who need user-friendly resources for study and anyone who appreciates simplicity and succinctness, I highly recommend it.
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