God's Big Picture: A Bible Overview

Product Information

Repent = a desire to change life-direction after being compelled by the beauty and goodness of Jesus and his Kingdom, and realising that I have contributed to the problem of sin that He came to fix. This book was an excellent, clearly-written summary of a topic that ought to be too big to be contained in such a small tome. But Roberts did an excellent job of making his point without belaboring it. After reading it, I wanted to know more about how all of creation, from the time of its genesis, was waiting for Jesus to come and redeem it. And, now that we have seen Him revealed, those of us who believe are waiting for Him to return in glory. But, as we wait, we have the Word of God to remind us to wait with joy for what is surely coming. The course is taught by Vaughan Roberts, author of the best selling bookof the same name and is a must for anyone wanting to dig deeper into the Bible and comes in an accessible format with Vaughan as a helpful guide. In this short little book, Vaughan Roberts gives a wonderful overview of the Bible that helps you to take in the over-arching story of the Bible. What I really like about the book is its clarity and warmth. This is not a technical book, this is a book written to help the ordinary Christian to understand how Exodus fits with Matthew, what on earth is going on in the book of Amos, and how Revelation should give them hope for the future. I can't wait to see Jesus with my own eyes. But, until then, I'll see Him in Scripture, described with the loving clarity that only a Father could express.

Israel’s history takes a downward turn as the people continue to disobey. They are exiled from the promised land, they become a scattered fragmented people and are left facing God’s judgment rather than blessing. But in his grace God sends prophets to speak his word to his people and enforce his covenant. Whilst Clayton TV recommends the ministries featured on our channel, all content needs to be watched analytically with the Bible as the final authority. I whipped through the book in just over an hour. I then laid in bed and marveled at the big picture of God's Word. So having to read this book all in one shot for a class was... different from my usual experience with Scripture, to say the least.

Summary of God's Big Picture

The end of evil and the beginning of eternity: the final book of the Bible, Revelation, is a series of visions given to the apostle John which conveys a message through symbols to strengthen believers.

Perhaps God's people would do better if they had a king to rule over them? In 1 Samuel - 2 Chronicles God's promise of a king is seemingly fulfilled by Saul, David and then Solomon. The last two kings bring great periods of peace and prosperity to Israel, but ultimately each one fails to bring the everlasting peace and kingdom that God has promised. We conclude that these partially fulfilled promises must be pointing to something greater. The God's Big Picture Bible overview course traces the story of the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation to see how it all fits together, telling of God's wonderful plan to save the world through Jesus Christ.Clayton TV - broadcasting excellent, free, Bible teaching, music and courses for Christians around the world. New programmes and live content weekly. Meanwhile, here are some statements from the Westminster Confession of Faith to show the understanding of Covenant Theology with regards to the Reformed doctrine of sin and salvation clashes with the Vaughan Robert's understanding of the Holy Spirit.

His structure is loosely based upon Graeme Goldsworthy's work "Gospel and Kingdom", which he freely credits multiple times. Roberts' goal is to leave the reader with a mental road-map to assist with understanding the big-picture, so to speak, of the message of the Bible beginning with God's original creation in the Garden of Eden to the restored heaven and earth described in Revelation. As for his structure, it is one that is likely to help many people as they read individual passages, books, or Testaments. Having such a framework can prevent misinterpretation, or worse. Instead of trying us trying to earn our way up into His Kingdom, the King brings his Kingdom down to us. As someone who holds to Covenant Theology framework, unfortunately I couldn't give 5 stars because there are some disagreements in this book with Covenant Theology, especially with regards to the Holy Spirit. The author of this book probably has not considered the following questions which were considered by the Reformers a long time agoWhen I was younger and I first began to read the Bible in earnest, I learned to read passages in little chunks, deconstructing each sentence so that I could fully understand the meaning of each word in its context before moving on to the next bit. I would sometimes spend days meditating on a particular verse, especially if it presented a list of virtues to consider (e.g. Galatians 5:22-23). I would dedicate a day to each virtue, meditating on how I could cultivate each of these virtues in my life. Having seen the 'people' and 'blessing' promises partially fulfilled we're now looking out for the promsie of 'land' to be fulfilled. But, because of further disobedience, we read in the book of Numbers that God's people are delayed forty years in getting into the land he has promised them. Once in the land things don't get much better: the nation descends into a cycle of sin, judgment and grace. God provides judges to rule his people. When did the invisible church, the body of Christ begins? At the New Testament Pentecost or during Adam's time after the fall? If it was the latter, how can the OT believers be incorporated to the body of Christ without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit? This means God sees the mess, injustice and suffering in the world and in our own lives, and He on a mission to set things right by re-establishing his kingdom here on earth. To be honest, it helped grow my view of the gospel - when Jesus dealt with our problem of sin, in our place, on the cross, it was set within His bigger grace-filled plan to renew all things by restoring his Kingdom. Does TULIP applies to the Old Testament believers? Are Old Testament believers saved through the "Arminian" way or the "Calvinist" way?

Of course, God's Word does contain passages that are not literal history. You will find prophesy, the parables of Jesus, the Proverbs, and songs of praise and worship, but these are clearly identified as such. What Roberts does is dismiss passages that are presented as historical (up until the wisdom of man distorted our interpretation of the Bible). In doing so, Roberts sets aside foundational truths and challenges the reader to wonder "If God's Word isn't literal here, if there is symbolism and allegory here, then perhaps even more of the Bible is symbolic and allegorical." This is a dangerous road to follow and one that leads many to select those portions of Scripture they agree with and dismiss the rest as nice stories or symbolism, certainly not worth building a life around. Worse, non-believers are left to scoff at a book that even self-described Christians admit is filled with symbolism and stories that should not be taken literally. Can one enter the kingdom of God without the water and Spirit as mentioned by Jesus to Nicodemus? (John 3:5) As Roberts writes in his preface, his aim is "to provide all Christians, from the new convert to the mature believer, with an overview of the whole Bible that will help them see how the different parts fit together." He does that by using the framework of the kingdom of God, using a definition of the kingdom as "God's people in God's place under God's rule and blessing". And, as Edmund Clowney and Graeme Goldsworthy (and others) have opined, Roberts states, "The Bible must be understood and read as one book with one ultimate author, God, and one ultimate subject, God's plan of salvation through his Son Jesus." A disastrous line of idolatrous kings, the catastrophic destruction of God's kingdom, and amidst the rubble, new shoots of hope...Starting with creation and the garden of Eden, Roberts shows us the pattern of the kingdom. The fall brings in the perished kingdom. He moves on to the promises to Abraham and the promised kingdom, then to the partial kingdom partially fulfilled in Israel, then to the latter half of the Old Testament and the prophesied kingdom. Moving on to the New Testament, he shows us the present kingdom in the earthly ministry of Jesus, then on to the proclaimed kingdom throughout most of the rest of the New Testament, and finally shows us the perfected kingdom portrayed in Revelation. God did, from all eternity, decree to justify the elect; and Christ did, in the fullness of time, die for their sins and rise again for their justification; nevertheless they are not justified until the Holy Spirit doth, in due time, actually apply Christ unto them. I'm still looking for a beginner biblical theology book similar to God's Big Picture but written from a covenant theology perspective. Seems like Covenants Made Simple: Understanding God's Unfolding Promises to His People written by Jonty Rhodes might be what I'm looking for, but I have yet to read it so I'm unable to comment on this book at the moment.