Old Testament: Genesis (God and Humanity)
Genesis is the first chapter of the Bible and the beginning of everything. In Genesis, answers to the question, “who is God what does he do?” are answered. We also find the answer to “Where are we from and why are we here?”
Since Genesis is the first book of the Bible, it’s basically an introduction to life. Making it, an important part of the metanarrative. In the beginning, God made the universe and earth (Genesis 1:1-4), living creations (Genesis 1:24-25), and humanity (Genesis 1:26-27). God is sovereign, which means he is not competing with anyone or anything, Which makes him powerful. We see this in the power of word usage such as “calling” (Genesis 1:26) and “blessing” (Genesis 1:22,28). We also see his power through God’s empowerment of life-giving and potential. The Sabbath is also a focal point of who God is. Sabbath, which is not a word for rest but a word that means “to cease or to stop” and gives us a sense that creation starts and ends with God (Genesis 2:3).
In Genesis, we learn about humanity. We know that God gave humanity the ability to take charge, God gave humanity a blessing, and God made us intentionally. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26). From this point, God focuses a lot on Humanity. We see this in Genesis 2:7, Adamah (human) receives breath from God and adamah is born. From this creation, God gives us instructions which denote free will/ability to choose. So, When Eve ate from the forbidden tree, man sinned and fell, then grew more and more evil. Since we know God is sovereign, this marks a turning point where God is constantly challenged by that humanity, who have rejected him. God floods the world and after humanity grew, He confused people’s languages at the tower of Babel when they disobeyed God.
Old Testament: Exodus (Ten commandments/Law)
In the book of Exodus, It’s the main character is Moses who, instead of being executed as a baby, was adopted by the wife of the Pharaoh. After running away in his adulthood, Moses was called by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
The book of Exodus is, in my opinion, the most foundational book of the old testament and of the metanarrative. This is also, where God enters into a covenant with the people (Exodus 10-14). People were called into the covenant, which was done in the wilderness. A place where the Israelites are in complete dependence of God and a place that is not where they have been and not where there are going. God showed the people that their freedom was not without responsibility. This is where the first mention of law is an introduction. In the book of Exodus, the 10 commandments are given to Moses, on Mt. Sinai, after wandering for 40 years in the desert with God and the people of Yahweh (Exodus 20:1-17). When the people heard the thunder, lightning, smoke, and noise they were afraid. Then Moses said to them: “Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that we will sin not.” (Exodus 20:20)
The law was significant because it gave a chance for equality of economics, as well as, political justice. Meaning that anyone could participate in sacrifices, not just the rich and powerful. The law was so important for Israel because it provided a model of wholeness with God and community, in which Israel could strive. It also would become the thing that would set Israel apart as holy people of God.
Old Testament: Job (God’s Justice)
The book of Job was set in Uz, a land that, I believe, is far from Israel, during an unknown time period. The book of Job focuses on questions about God's justice and why good people suffer.
The book of Job is one of the most interesting books in the metanarrative. It brings up the question of “How do you trust God even when life isn’t fair and you suffer for no good reason?”. The most interesting part is in the first 2 chapters (Job 1:6-12, 2:1-6) where Satan goes to God to have a conversation. When first reading it, one might think that God gives Satan permission to do bad things in the life of a Christian, but God did not give Satan permission over Job. Satan already had the means to do bad towards Job and since when does Satan ask for permission to mess with someone’s mind? Satan wanted God to “stretch out” his own hand against Job to test his loyalty. After losing his animals and servants (Job 1:14-17), losing his sons and daughter (Job 1:18-19), and was covered in boils from head to toe so much so that he took a piece of a pot to scrape off the sores (Job 2:7-8), and even his wife telling him to curse God’s name (Job 2:9), He did not curse God’s name. “ Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” (Job 1:22).
Although Job never curses God, he does blame him for his suffering. “Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?” (Job 10:3). He accuses God of being unjust and not operating the world according to principles of justice, and his friends believe that Job's sin caused his suffering (Job 19:6-7). God reminds him that the world has order and beauty but is also wild and dangerous. While we do not always know why we suffer, we can bring our pain and grief to God and trust that He is wise and knows what He's doing. God never explains to Job why he made him suffer throughout all of the book Job.
New Testament: Romans (Aftermath of Jesus’s Death)
Paul is the author of the letters that he writes to the Roman Catholic church. In the letter, Paul addresses why Jesus was born, why He died, how it affects us, and what we must get eternal life.
Paul wanted the divided church to come together in unification and to do so he wrote the fullest explanation of the Gospel to the Romans. They were separated into 4 main movements but come together to a make the whole Gospel. In Romans 1-4, Paul discusses God’s righteousness. He says that all humanity was trapped in sin and simply obeying the law of the Torah can not excuse them from that sin. So, when Jesus died and was resurrected, God created a new covenant family in which it includes both Jews and Gentiles who are unified as they love and forgive each other. In Romans 5-8, Paul introduces a concept called “Justification by faith”. Here, Paul says that every human since Adam and Eve chooses to sin and selfishness, but Jesus offered his life so that everyone could be justified by faith and enter the new Jesus like humanity. In Romans 9-11, Paul addresses how God’s promise was fulfilled. Paul says that Israelites in the past and present reject God, even though people continue to reject Jesus, God uses their rejection to expand his family and grow the Church.
The people of Israel tried to obey God and follow the Law, but they didn't succeed. Only faith in Jesus' death and resurrection can justify humanity and fulfill God's promise to create a covenant relationship with his people. Paul’s message was so important because it was liberating. He basically tells everyone that all people had access to the kingdom of God, which was especially liberating for those who stood outside the ‘status Quo”.
New Testament: Revelation (John’s vision)
The book of Revelation is probably the most debated book of the bible. It mainly focuses on the futuristic events of what will happen in Heaven and Earth, sometimes by being literal and sometimes by being symbolic. Written around 95 AD during the reign of Emperor Domitian.
The way Revelation merges in with the metanarrative, it is written to give both encouragement and challenge. Revelation is an apocalyptic letter, which relies on visions, symbols, and Old Testament references to reveal the ultimate fulfillment of God's promise given to Abraham in Genesis. It shows that every human kingdom eventually becomes Babylon and must be resisted. Jesus, who died for the sins of the world, will return one day as King with His followers to prompt repentance. He will remove evil permanently and make all things anew.
The most revealing message is that of Revelations 5:2-8. John was at the throne of the lord and there he saw a scroll which no one was worthy enough to open. Only “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David”. When John turned to see this imagery, he saw Lamb! A lamb that looks like it has been slain. This lamb took the scroll and the creature and elders all fell to their knees. The sacrificed lamb is a symbol of God’s kingdom and how it began through the crucifixion of Jesus who dies for his enemies. In Revelations, Jesus death was not a sign of defeat but a sign of conquering over evil. That promise motivates every generation of God's people to remain faithful in the midst of persecution until their King returns. From the lectures in class, we know that Revelation is about unveiling what society is really like and to remind the church to never be compromised by the lure of favor, comfort in the world at large.