God's Big Picture: A Bible Overview

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As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath He, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore they who are elected being fallen in Adam are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working in due season; are justified, adopted, sanctified, and kept by His power through faith unto salvation. Neither are any other redeemed by Christ, effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only. 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. A million lives lost in the desert, the farewell speech of a dying man, and then battles, chaos and coronations... (Numbers - 2 Chronicles)

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. Believe the good news = recognising that he has paid in full for anyone to enter and remain in his Kingdom 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.

Tracing the story-line of the Bible

Having now read it, I’d expand this summary to - God longs to enjoy intimate relationship with humanity… in His presence… willingly and gladly living under His good, loving rule, which is where we enjoy life as He designed it. If union of Christ through the Spirit is necessary to receive all the spiritual blessings such as justification by faith, regeneration to overcome total depravity, and perseverance of the saints, then are these necessary for the Old Testament believers too? Can one under the OT have faith and repentance without the indwelling of the HS? Are the Ordo Salutis of the OT believers different from NT believers? 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). 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.

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. 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.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. Clayton TV - broadcasting excellent, free, Bible teaching, music and courses for Christians around the world. New programmes and live content weekly.

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. 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. In addition, it also appears to be incompatible with the Anglicanism 39 Articles, particularly article 17 because it stated that all whom God hath chosen in Christ (which I believe this implies OT believers too) received the same benefit of everlasting salvation (perseverance), effectual calling, justification, adoption and transformation into the image of Christ through the Spirit of Christ. 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.

Summary of God's Big Picture

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. 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.