Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to teach the High School Sunday School class on Sunday mornings. It’s been a joy getting to know the students better, hearing parts of their stories, and having the chance to share with them.One of the things that has helped me most in understanding the Bible—and in grasping God’s overarching redemption plan—is learning to see the Bible as One Big Story. It’s not just a collection of disconnected books or moral lessons, but a unified story of God rescuing His people through the person and work of Jesus. That’s what the whole Bible is about—God’s good news plan.Over the years, I’ve found a helpful way to share this story with others: breaking it down into four main movements. While this might simplify things a bit, it really helps make sense of the Bible from beginning to end. These four movements are:Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration (New Creation)

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As we walked through these four movements with the CBC students, we found they actually speak to some of life’s biggest questions—questions that every human being wrestles with at some point. I want to briefly show how these four parts of the story provide meaningful answers.Creation: How did I get here? Who am I? What’s my purpose?In the beginning, God created everything out of nothing. He created the world for His glory and our good, and He made everything with intention and purpose. His crowning creation was human beings, made in His image and likeness—to reflect Him, to multiply, and to care for the world He made.God’s creation was exactly how He intended it: “very good”—whole, peaceful, and flourishing. That’s what Scripture calls shalom, and it was the original design.

 

Fall: Why is the world so broken? Why am I the way I am? So what went wrong? God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden and gave them one clear boundary—not to eat from the tree in the middle of the garden. But they were deceived, and they disobeyed. Through their sin, brokenness entered the world—spiritually, relationally, and physically. Sin disrupted the good world God had made. That’s why things are the way they are—why we experience suffering, pain, conflict, and even the inner struggles we all carry. The Fall answers the question: what happened to God’s good creation?

 

Redemption: What’s the solution? Who can fix what’s broken? Right after sin entered the world, God made a promise—there would be a Rescuer, born of the woman, who would crush the serpent even as He Himself would be wounded (Genesis 3:15). From that moment on, the whole Bible begins pointing to Jesus. Through the Old Testament and into the Gospels, we see God unfolding His rescue plan through His people, in specific places, and ultimately through His Son. Jesus is the true and faithful Adam—the perfect Son of God—who came to usher in God’s Kingdom, live a sinless life, die a sacrificial death, and rise again. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus provides the solution to our brokenness. He took on our sin, offered us forgiveness, and restored us to a right relationship with God.

 

Restoration: What hope do we have? Will it always be this way? Because Jesus rose from the dead, we live with hope. He has told us how the story ends—and as the Church, we’ve been sent out to share that story with the world. His salvation transforms hearts and lives, making us new creations even now.But He’s not done yet. Jesus is in the process of restoring all things, bringing everything under His love and rule. The Bible gives us a powerful vision of the end of the story in Revelation 21, where we’re with God in the New Heavens and New Earth. There will be no more sin, no more pain, no more tears. The old things will pass away, and everything will be made new.I hope this reflection has been helpful to the students as they navigate daily life and discover what God has for them. My prayer is that it will also encourage you as you seek to know, live out, and share the Gospel—first in your own heart, and then with a world that’s longing for answers to life’s biggest questions.

 

Pastor Ethan