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Imagine someone handed you six scenes from your favourite film, all shuffled up. You might recognise a few of them, but if you only ever saw scene four, would you understand the story? Probably not. To make sense of one scene, you need the whole plot.
Lots of people know a few scenes from the Bible: Noah's ark, David and Goliath, baby Jesus in a manger. But many have never seen how the scenes fit together. This term we are going to learn the plot of the whole Bible, from the very first page to the very last, in six parts. This first lesson gives you the map.
What you'll learn
- How the Bible is put together: one book made of 66 smaller books
- How to find any verse using book, chapter and verse
- The six parts of the Bible's big story, and who is at the centre of it
A library in one book
The Bible looks like one book, but it is really a library. Open the contents page and you'll find 66 books, split into two halves.
| Old Testament | New Testament | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of books | 39 | 27 |
| Mostly written in | Hebrew | Greek |
| What it covers | From Creation to God's people waiting for a promised King | Jesus comes, the good news spreads, and the promise of a new creation |
| First book | Genesis | Matthew |
| Last book | Malachi | Revelation |
The word testament means a covenant: a binding promise. You could say the Old Testament is God's promise made, and the New Testament is God's promise kept in Jesus.
The Bible was written by many different people over many hundreds of years. It has history, poems, songs, letters, laws and visions. So how can it be one story? Christians believe God was guiding all of it, so all those different writers fit together into one big, true story.
Finding your way: book, chapter, verse
Every passage in the Bible has an "address". Take Luke 24:27:
- Luke is the book.
- 24 is the chapter (the big numbers on the page).
- 27 is the verse (the small numbers).
The chapter and verse numbers weren't in the original writings. They were added much later, a bit like street names and house numbers, so readers could find their place. To find a book, use the contents page, or remember roughly where it sits. (Matthew, the start of the New Testament, is about three-quarters of the way through.)
The road to Emmaus
So what is the one story about? Jesus himself answered that question.
It is the Sunday after Jesus was crucified. Two of his followers are walking home to a village called Emmaus, sad and confused. They know all the facts: Jesus did amazing things, he was killed, and now some women are saying his tomb is empty. But they can't see how it all fits together.
Then Jesus, risen from the dead, joins them on the road, though they don't recognise him at first. He tells them they have been slow to believe what the prophets said. Then he does something amazing:
"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself." (Luke 24:27)
"Moses and all the Prophets" means the Old Testament. Jesus took them through the whole thing and showed them that it was all pointing to him. That's why Christians say the Bible has one story, and Jesus is at the centre of it.
The six parts of the big story
Here is the plot of the whole Bible in six parts. Each part has a symbol and an action to help you remember it.
| Part | Symbol | Action | In one line |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Creation | A tree | Spread your arms wide | God makes a good world. |
| 2. The Fall | A crack | Snap your hands apart | People turn from God and everything breaks. |
| 3. Israel | A star | Point up to the stars | God chooses a family and promises a King. |
| 4. Jesus | A cross | Arms out to the sides | The King comes, dies and rises. |
| 5. The Church | A flame | Fingers flicker upwards | The good news spreads everywhere. |
| 6. New Creation | A sunrise | Hands rise from low to high | God makes all things new. |
Parts 1 to 3 are in the Old Testament, and parts 4 to 6 are in the New Testament (though there are promises of the new creation in both). Try the actions a few times, then with your eyes closed. Over the next seven lessons we'll walk through each part in order.
Key words
- Bible: a library of 66 books that tells one big story.
- Old Testament: the first 39 books, written before Jesus was born.
- New Testament: the last 27 books, about Jesus and his followers.
- Testament (covenant): a binding promise.
- Reference: a Bible "address" made of book, chapter and verse.
How this points to Jesus
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus showed that the whole Old Testament was about him. So as we read the Bible this term, keep asking: "How does this part of the story point to Jesus?" Every part, from the first garden to the final sunrise, is leading somewhere, and Christians believe that somewhere is Jesus.
Think about it
The two followers on the road to Emmaus knew lots of facts but were still confused. Why can knowing facts be different from understanding the story?Show answer
You can know lots of separate events without seeing how they connect. Understanding the story means seeing the plot that ties the facts together, which is what Jesus gave them.
In the reference John 3:16, what does each part mean?Show answer
John is the book, 3 is the chapter and 16 is the verse.
If the whole Bible points to Jesus, how might that change the way you read the Old Testament?Show answer
You would read it looking for promises, patterns and people that prepare the way for Jesus, not just as a collection of old stories.
Take it further
Think of one Bible story you already knew before today. Which of the six parts do you think it belongs in? Practise the six parts and their actions this week until you can do them from memory. Your worksheet helps you practise finding verses and drawing the six-part timeline.
If you'd like to, you could pray: God, thank you for giving us the Bible. Help me to understand your big story and to see Jesus at the centre of it. Amen.