The Story of the Bible • What It's About From Beginning to End

- [Jon] The Bible's an important book, but it's (dramatic sound) really long. - [Tim] Yeah, it's a collection (gasps) of many books written over (bus engine humming) a long period of time, but altogether they tell one unified story. - [Jon] So what's the story of the Bible?

- [Tim] Well, it begins by introducing us to a beautiful mind, (wind blowing loudly) the author of all reality, a being called God. And he has the power to take the dark chaos of the uncreated world (birds whistling) and bring about order, and beauty, (hopeful music) and a garden full of life. - [Jon] And to crown this accomplishment, God appoints these creatures called humanity.

- [Tim] Or in Hebrew,'adam. - [Jon] and they're made as God's image. - [Tim] Which means that they're commissioned (birds whistling) to rule this beautiful world on God's behalf by harnessing all of its potential and creating even more beauty and order.

(plants rustling) - [Jon] This is a story about humans (popping sounds) using their power (plants rustling) to do meaningful, life-giving work. But the question is, "How? " - [Tim] Yeah, humanity now faces a choice that's represented by a fruit tree.

So humans could (wind blowing) partner with God and find freedom by trusting in his knowledge of good and evil, or they could seize power (thunder rumbling) and define good and evil on their own, which, God warns, will kill them. - [Jon] And they hear the voice (hissing) of a dark, mysterious creature that tells them, "The choice is simple. Take the fruit.

"It'll give you power and freedom to rule the world on your own terms. " - [Tim] And so (dramatic thumping) they seize this knowledge and as a result they become suspicious (man and woman grunting) and self-protective. It leads to (man and woman yelling) fractured relationships, violent power grabs, and, ultimately, (many people screaming) a whole civilization, Babylon, that has redefined evil as good.

(lightning cracking) And so God scatters (wind blowing loudly) this corrupted human project. - [Jon] And, here, the story of the Bible takes an important turn. We zoom into the story of a man and a woman who come out of Babylon: Abraham and Sarah.

- [Tim] Yeah, God promises that from them will come a new people, a nation that has another chance (footsteps) to make the right choice, and, if they succeed, it will open up (people talking happily) this new way forward (whooshing sound) for the rest of humanity. (birds whistling) - [Jon] And this is why the rest of the Bible story is about this family. (many people talking) - [Tim] And it does not go well.

Despite God's personal guidance, Abraham's family gives in (hissing) to that same temptation to redefine good and evil on their own terms apart from God. - [Jon] Even when their (coins jingling) best people were in charge, rulers who loved God's guidance (people screaming) and had divine wisdom, even they gave in. - [Tim] And so Israel was warned by their own prophets (men grunting and yelling) that these choices would lead them back to Babylon, this time as conquered captives living in exile, and that's exactly what happened.

(lightning cracks) - [Jon] So even with God's personal guidance, Israel fails. (thunder rumbling) Who can succeed? - [Tim] Well, the prophets said (man grunting) that the story wasn't over.

God's going to send a new leader to Israel to cover for their failures (lightning cracks) and to transform the people's hearts and minds so that they can make the right choice. - [Jon] And so the part of the Bible called the Old Testament ends, and these promises are left hanging. - [Tim] And then the biblical story continues (wind blowing) into the New Testament.

We're introduced to a man who comes from the line of Israel's kings: Jesus of Nazareth. And he said that he was bringing (footsteps) all these promises to their completion. - [Jon] He confronted that (hissing) dark, mysterious evil that all humanity has given into (whooshing sound) and resisted its power.

- [Tim] And then he announced that God had arrived to rule the world (people talking) through himself. Jesus taught about God's definition of good and evil, and he said that real power is serving others. According to Jesus, it's people who love the poor and even love their enemies, (whooshing sound) these are the kinds of people who actually rule the world.

- [Jon] And that's confusing but also really beautiful. - [Tim] And so is the claim that the story goes on to make about Jesus that he is God become human to be for Israel, and for all humanity, (people screaming) what we could never be for ourselves. (man grunting) (whip cracking) He came to take the consequences of our evil into himself, and his sacrificial love proved more powerful than evil, (rock crumbling) than even death itself.

- [Jon] So now humanity's presented with a new choice. - [Tim] Represented by a new tree. - [Jon] Stick with (thunder rumbling) the old way of being human (hopeful music) or venture into this new way.

- [Tim] And in the story, those who choose the way of Jesus find themselves energized by God's own power. People who know that they are loved and forgiven by God can become people who love and forgive others in return. - [Jon] The Jesus movement quickly spread throughout the world, (thumping sounds) forming these new communities of people who follow the way of Jesus.

- [Tim] But they faced problems. (stones whooshing) There was persecution (gasping) from the outside by people in power, and inside there was (hissing) confusion, even compromise. - [Jon] Yeah, because following Jesus is really hard.

- [Tim] And so the movement's leaders, called apostles, (hopeful music) they wrote letters to comfort and to challenge these communities to stay faithful to the difficult way of Jesus. - [Jon] And they're called to hope for the day when Jesus will come and change everything. (whooshing sound) - [Tim] And so the Bible ends by pointing to the future day when all wrongs are made right.

(church bells chime) When evil is eradicated, (whooshing sound) Heaven and Earth are united, and humanity can rule the world together in the love and power of God. (bus hissing to a stop) - [Jon] Okay. So that's the story of the Bible, and it brings all of these books together.

- [Tim] But what's interesting (bus engine roaring) is that each book contains a different kind of literature that contributes to this story in a unique way, and that's what the next video will begin to explore. - [Tim] Hey, everybody, thanks for watching this BibleProject video. This is part two of our How to Read the Bible series.

We've got a lot more of these videos coming and a lot more videos. You can see it all on thebibleproject. com.

- [Jon] We're a crowdfunded project, so you can support us on our website, so we can make more videos and also download free resources there. Thanks. -[Tim] Thanks.