God's Big Picture: A Bible Overview

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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 ago We have an extensive range of teaching and preaching organised by both series and Bible book from well-known Christian speakers including Don Carson, Alistair Begg, Vaughan Roberts, Rico Tice, John Lennox and John Wyatt. Good introductory level book which is based on kingdom theology framework for beginners to understand how the bible unfolds as one unified story. This is a book that I will recommend to anybody, especially in an environment where I'm required to be much more "neutral" in my theological stance. This is a book where most denominations will be able to find common ground to stand on. When 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.

A million lives lost in the desert, the farewell speech of a dying man, and then battles, chaos and coronations... (Numbers - 2 Chronicles) 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. 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. Christian Guides to the Classics: The Devotional Poetry Of Donne, Herbert, And Milton with Leland RykenThe 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. Too bad Roberts doubts the complete reliability of God's Word as he builds his big picture. For example, in Chapter 1, when describing creation, he states "Whether [God] completed the job in six literal twenty-four-hour days or over a longer period does not really matter..." Yes, it does. Read Exodus 20:8-11, or Romans 5:12. If creation was not completed during literal 24-hour days, then how long is the Sabbath rest? Weeks? Months? Thousands of years? If a day was a much longer period of time, what of death entering God's creation only after the fall? Next, in the second chapter when describing the fall of Adam and Eve, Roberts wonders if the snake literally spoke as the Bible records. He states, "My own view, for what it's worth, is that Genesis 3 describes an actual event but uses some symbolism as it does so." A disastrous line of idolatrous kings, the catastrophic destruction of God's kingdom, and amidst the rubble, new shoots of hope...

This perseverance of the saints depends, not upon their own free will, but upon the immutability of the decree of election, flowing from the free and unchangeable love of God the Father; upon the efficacy of the merit and intercession of Jesus Christ; the abiding of the Spirit and of the seed of God within them; and the nature of the covenant of grace; from all which ariseth also the certainty and infallibility thereof. I realised I had a pretty deficient/minimal understanding of what “the Kingdom of God” meant! He summarises it as - “Gods people… in Gods place… under Gods rule and blessing.” Man by his fall having made himself incapable of life by that covenant, the Lord was pleased to make a second, commonly called the covenant of grace: wherein He freely offered unto sinners life and salvation by Jesus Christ, requiring of them faith in Him, that they may be saved, and promising to give unto all those that are ordained unto life, His Holy Spirit, to make them willing and able to believe.

Summary of God's Big Picture

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. 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. This covenant was differently administered in the time of the law, and in the time of the gospel: under the law it was administered by promises, prophecies, sacrifices, circumcision, the paschal lamb, and other types and ordinances delivered to the people of the Jews, all fore-signifying Christ to come, which were for that time sufficient and efficacious, through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect in faith in the promised Messiah, by whom they had full remission of sins, and eternal salvation, and is called the Old Testament.

Whilst Clayton TV recommends the ministries featured on our channel, all content needs to be watched analytically with the Bible as the final authority. Believe the good news = recognising that he has paid in full for anyone to enter and remain in his Kingdom

Instead of trying us trying to earn our way up into His Kingdom, the King brings his Kingdom down to us. In God's Big Picture, Vaughn Roberts attempts to build a framework upon which to view the entirety of the Bible. He would do well to view God's Word as the ultimate authority in this endeavor. Unfortunately, he does not. Roberts defines the kingdom of God as "God's people in God's place under God's rule and blessing" (21). Roberts's definition of the kingdom of God is significantly important for the entire book. Throughout the book, he chronologically traces the kingdom of God following this definition. Each chapter provides the reader with a chart helping them understand where God's people, place and rule were within particular areas of history. In addition to this chart, there was another chart, which showed the progression from creation, fall, history of Israel, Christ and the new creation (157). The final chart presented the line of Israel beginning with Abraham progressing to the Northern and Southern split, the Southern exile and release, Jesus and the last days (158). 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. 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.