INTODUCTION

The bible is a Christian scripture consisting of 66 books written by different authors with different
messages. It is divided into two parts, the New Testament and the Old Testament. The scripture is
known to contain many themes but the greatest theme is the kingdom of God. The scripture explains
the reason why God created the world was because of His kingdom. When humanity sinned against
God, He sent His only son to come and rescue humanity by dying on the cross for our sins to be forgiven
so that we could have an everlasting life in His kingdom. God’s kingdom was the plan before He created
human beings. God is the king of kings, who created everything and we are His subject, He deserves to
be praised and obeyed. The scriptures mainly guides us on living righteously so as after dying we could
live with God in His kingdom. This paper summarizes the drama of scripture by involving the six acts of
God’s story outlined in the biblical story and textbooks by Goheen and Bartholomew. The six acts are
identified as the creation, fall, Israel, Jesus, church and new creation.

Acts of God

Creation

Creation is an act of God alone He created everything that did not exist before. It is in creation that God
revealed and manifests His existence. In the creation story God is known to be the sole creator. Before
God created everything the earth was formless. He created everything that exists through a word of
mouth that shows the power God has over his creation. God created the world in 6 days. God created
man in His own last and in His own image and God gave man responsibility to fill the earth, obey His
command and take care of His creation. God gave man authority to rule over all His creation. God put
man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it. The scripture drama tells us the ongoing work of God
within His kingdom on His creation. We experience God’s creative act in everything that we do. When
God created the world, God wanted human beings to obey Him but they became rebellious to His
command. The first incidence of man being rebellious to is when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit
in the middle of the garden. God loved the world so much that after disobeying Him. He did not turn His
back on it but he planned on how to save it. God decided to redeem the rebellious people and the world
as His kingdom since He wanted mankind to live forever with Him in His kingdom but not to perish. An
important theme in the creation act is that God created everything in wisdom. God gave man wisdom
to continue with His works of creation. That is one thing that distinguishes mankind from other creation.

Fall

The fall is when humankind went against God’s will. Adam and Eve were the first people to sin against
God. When Eve was walking in the garden met with the serpent. The serpent was able to convince Eve
to eat the fruit in the middle of the garden that God had forbidden them not to eat. The serpent told Eve
that if they eat the fruit they would have wisdom like that of God. Adam and Eve wanted to be like God.
After eating the fruit their eyes opened and they realized they were naked and ran to hid. God was
annoyed by Adam and Eve disobedience and sent them out of the garden. God cursed the serpent and
to save Adam’s generation from suffering their offspring would crush the serpent head and kill it. God
promised that Adam’s offspring will be victorious over the serpent. At end last God would redeem
humanity. God loved the people that He didn’t want them to perish in sin but to have an eternal life in
His kingdom. God wanted human kind to enjoy the happiness of choosing the holy over evil. In God’s
plan for salvation the fall was necessary. The people who take the bible lightly or have little interest have
easy time in accepting and perceiving this act. For instance, if the fall of man happened during this time
and era, the American Civil Liberties Union would file a suit against God on the grounds of illegal and
unfair eviction of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.

Israel

To take away the curses of God from humanity, God made a covenant with Abraham. God promised to
give Abraham’s descendants a great land that was peaceful to occupy. Israel becomes God’s chosen
nation to represent God. God promised to take care of the Israelites and defeat the enemies for them.
Moses would lead the Israelites from Egypt where they were held captives to the Promised Land. God
gave Moses the ten commandment to guide the Israelites in their daily lives. The Israelites did not obey
God but did what was right in their eyes. The Israelites wanted to be like the neighboring would had
kings and God sent Samuel to anoint Saul as the king of Israelites. Saul fought successful battles for
Israelites but disobeyed God and David took over as the king of Israel. God made another covenant with
David and promised that the offspring of David would rule over the earth and have a great kingdom.
David was succeeded by Solomon, but due to idolatry and other sins that King Solomon committed God
got annoyed and the kingdom was divided into two Israel and Judah. Israel suffered a lot. The Israelites
looked upon God to redeem the earth and defeat the enemies for them. God saved the Israelites once
again by sending Jesus Christ. God wanted the Israelites back to His kingdom. Israel portrayed to the
world that being in a covenant with God changes people and God does not break the covenant He
makes with the people.

Jesus

God sent Jesus to save Israel. Jesus came to be the light to the Israelites as recorded in the gospel books
of the scriptures. Jesus claims to be a descendant of David and this shows that God was fulfilling the
promise of giving David’s descendants a great nation. When Jesus was dedicated in the temple Simeon
holds Jesus and says that Jesus was the savior. God’s plan for salvation was to come through Jesus. Jesus
healed the sick, raised the dead, delivered people from evil spirits, and forgave sin. Jesus goes on to
teach the people on how to live righteous life like the sermon in the mount. Jesus is the messiah sent to
us by God to save all human kind. In Jesus parables teaching, we see the oppressed being saved for
instance in the parable of the lost coin, the woman rejoices after finding it. The lost coin is like a lost
sinner, Jesus teaches that God rejoices when a lost soul. Jesus did not conquer the world but sacrificed
himself for everyone in it to be saved. Jesus proves that every human can be saved. God’s mission was
for Jesus to die on the cross for us to be redeemed back to the kingdom. When Jesus died on the cross
He said it is finished to mean that the mission of saving mankind had been accomplished. The theme of
this act was God’s redemption to mankind through Jesus.

Church

When Jesus died the work of salvation was to be continued by the church. The followers of Jesus are
referred as the renewed people of God the church. Through the work of Jesus a transformed
community called the church rises. God’s initial intentions was humankind to rule over the world and
this is showcased through the church. Luke in the scripture describes how the early church began and
grew. The church is seen as the continuation of the creation, the Israel and Jesus work. During
Pentecost, Jesus sent to the disciples the Holy Spirit to guide them as they spread the gospel to the rest
of the world. The church continues to take care of creation by preaching to the people that Jesus lives
among us. Bartholomew and Goheen explains that the main aim of the church was to spread the good
news to the rest of the world. Before Jesus ascended he left the church key with Peter to continue with
the work of preaching the gospel. The church tries to win more souls back to God’s kingdom by
welcoming back those who have repented and preaching to the sinner. The ambassadors of God to the
world is left to be the church.

New Creation

The renewed Christians believe that they will have an everlasting life in God’s kingdom. God values the
world despite unrighteous deeds going on in it. God has plan to redeem the world. According to the
scripture, John view salvation as restoration of God’s creation on new earth. Jesus followers are
encouraged to continue doing God’s will as they anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ. When Jesus
comes back on earth, the living and the dead will be judged and the evil will be banished. Those who
lived a righteous life will be restored to live in their physical bodies. People would not suffer in the new
earth after restoration. Human kind will live happily with God. It is through Jesus that new creation was
brought about. Human kind will live in the world God had initially planned for when Adam and Eve were
put in the Garden of Eden. The world that God imagined of was of righteousness. Therefore, the new
creation is about humanity given a new body on the second coming of Christ. During this time, God will
judge and reward people according to their deeds on earth. Coming to terms with this act is not easy to
many Christians. It requires in-depth understanding of the scripture and wide view of the world to come.
It becomes difficult to predict and come to terms with the future, however, the bible put emphasis on
what is yet to happen.