The big picture
This weekend I started reading According to Plan by Graeme Goldsworthy. It is a great introduction to Biblical theology. In it Goldsworthy explains the benefit of seeing the big picture of the Bible.
When you are close to the ground it is often very hard to see exactly where you are in relation to other places. A few trees, a dip in the ground, a couple of buildings or some other natural or man-made feature can prevent us from getting our bearings. That is why poeple build observation platforms on high buildings or on mountains, and why aerial photography became so important in war or in peace-time making of maps. The bird’s eye view enables us to see things and places in relation to other things and places. A map is a representation of a bird’s eye view of a particular part of the earth’s surface. It reduces an area that is too big for us to see at a glance to a model that is small enough for us to see all at once.
Seeing the whole is so important to understanding the individual parts. It is all to easy to misinterpret a passage because one neglects the large whole in which it is found.
Recently I came across a great link for gaining a better understanidng of the whole Bible. It is a series of sermons preached by Mark Dever at Capitol Hill Baptist Church . During his time as pastor of that church he has preached an overview sermon of every book of the Bible. I think that he does a fabulous job of clearly and comprehensively explaining large sections of the Bible in a short period of time. To help support his new book on the message of the New Testament; his church has posted the audio versions of all of the New Testament. I would highly recommend listening to at least his sermon on the message of the Bible if not the whole series. It is a wonderful resource.
LINK: New Testament Overview Sermons