Carson Response on the Biblical Storyline

The God Who is There by D.A. Carson breaks down the bible to show the continual storyline throughout. When reading through the Bible it can be difficult to connect all the books, chapters and stories into a seamless storyline. Carson articulates this by highlighting the characteristics of God to show the next part of the story. These are placed in the title of each chapter such as chapter one, “The God Who Made Everything” and chapter seven, “The God Who Becomes a Human Being.” I like how Carson does this because the Bible is about what God has done for His Children. It shows whom He is to make us understand why we follow him. Each part of the storyline shows another part of God that we did not know before.

            Chapter one lays the foundation of how God made everything and why. He created Adam and Even in his image and created the earth in perfection. Carson says that Genesis one and two where he makes the Earth is the foundation for Genesis 3 where the sin takes place. This part of the story is “The God Who Does Not Wipe Out Rebels.” Yes, Adam and Eve let sin destroy the perfection of what God created, but God did not destroy Adam and Even because of it. He has unconditional love and punishes them for their sin bringing curses like pain in childbirth and the ground stating “through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life” (Gen. 3:17). The rest of Genesis shows “The God Who Writes His Own Agreements” through the covenants and promises he makes with the biblical persons. God promises to make Abraham into a great nation and to multiply and follows with this covenant: “I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants...” (Gen. 17: 6-7). The “God Who Legislates” and “The God Who Reigns” come next in Exodus through 2 Samuel. God leads and lays down rules in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy and Joshua. From this come the Ten Commandments and stories of the Israelites failing to follow and being punished for it. After this there is a time where God does simply “reign.” The people just want a physical king, so God gives them David as one who rules by God and has a close relationship with him. David is not perfect and does disobey, but his Kingdom was much better than that of Saul who ruled for him and power only. “The God Who is Unfathomably Wise” and “The God Who Becomes Human Being” takes us through the Gospel books. God’s wisdom is shown throughout the Bible, but specifically highlighted in Psalms, Proverbs and Job. I often go to Psalms when needing insight on something that is happening in my life and Proverbs as well. These scriptures show all the characteristics of God and how he is there for us in all walks of life. He even became one of us. The prophecies of Jesus coming begin after the wisdom books and go through the end of the Old Testament until the Gospel books tell the actual story.  At this point we get to the climax of the storyline. To sum everything up in a nutshell, we have God who created perfection, but that perfection rebelled and brought sin to the world forcing God to lay down laws and guidelines. He throughout shows his mercifulness, wisdom and care for us. The peak is in the Gospel books when the story of Jesus is told. This is “The God Who Gives New Birth” which Carson focuses on in John chapter three. He suggests that new birth is something different than most evangelicals would say. He defines it as “a powerful regeneration, by God himself, in the human life, such that those who have been born again are necessarily transformed” (125). “The God Who Gives New Birth,” “The God Who Loves,” and “The God Who Dies—and Lives Again” are all presented simultaneously in the Gospel books. Jesus did great miracles for people to show God’s love when mankind did not deserve it and then died and rose again to extend salvation to us all. The Gospel is the climax of the Bible and is really the main idea. The Bible begins with the sin, and then climbs to the death of Jesus and his rising again. He is “The God Who Declares the Guilty and Just,” “The God Who Gathers and Transforms His People” through the disciples spreading the Word, “The God Who is Very Angry;” but over all He is “The God Who Triumphs.” God does not let sin win. He knows his people and opens his arms for us when we do not deserve Him. That love is something that Satan can never compete with and never rise above. Jesus will come again and believers will live eternally in the Kingdom of God.