Does the Bible sometimes seem random to you? What does Hezekiah have to do with Philemon? How is Enoch connected to Ruth? What do battles in ancient Mesopotamia have to do with the church? Is the Bible really all one story?

Here are eight proofs that the Bible is one story.

  1. The Bible has One main character. From Genesis to Revelation, God is the protagonist. Genesis 1:1 declares, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Revelation 21 proclaims that “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Even in the middle, Daniel is not the main character of the book of Daniel. He’s not even in chapter 3. But God is. And this is true throughout the Scriptures.
  2. The Bible has One author. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16). Many individuals over thousands of years contributed, but they were moved by the Holy Spirit to write what they wrote (2 Peter 1:21).
  3. The setting of the Bible sets up the conclusion. What began in a perfect garden in Genesis 1 ends in a perfect garden in Revelation 22. Creation moves towards new creation. God began with His people and will dwell with them once more in the end.
  4. The conflict leads to the climax. Man sinned and marred God’s creation. God made man to reflect His image, fellowship with Him, and have dominion over His creation (Genesis 1:26-28). The Bible ends by show how God brings His original plan for His creation to pass. The distruper is not the victor. Christ crushes the serpent’s head at the cross and rises, defeating death. Because of Christ’s victory, at the end of the Bible, man once again reflects the image of God as God designed him to do. He fellowships with God, redeemed from his sin. And he has dominion over creation, ruling and reigning with Jesus in the Millennial Kingdom.
  5. The genealogies tie the Torah to the New Testament. It’s all one story, centered on Jesus Christ. His genealogy in Matthew 1 ties threads back to Abraham. And the genealogy in Luke 3 goes all the way back to Adam.
  6. The Old Testament looks ahead to Christ’s first coming. The New Testament anticipates His second coming. All sections of the story look ahead to Christ because it is all one story.
  7. Tension rises throughout the Bible. At the end of each book, the story has not finished. Genesis ends with God’s people in Egypt–not the Promised Land. The story must go on. Exodus ends with God’s people with a place to worship God but in the wilderness. There is more to this story still. Fast forward to 2 Chronicles, the last book in the Hebrew Torah, and Israel is in exile. The story is not done yet! Malachi ends with a curse. That can’t be the end of the story. Even the Gospels, end looking ahead. The story has not finished because Jesus must return. Then, Acts ends abruptly with Paul in jail awaiting a verdict. His story was not finished and neither is the story of the church. The story does not end until God makes everything right. He must judge the world. His kingdom must come as He promised. The Bible is one story, leading to the final conclusion.
  8. The biblical covenants and Messianic prophesies are plot points in an overarching narrative. If the author of a novel mentions a sword on the wall in the first act, you can guarantee that someone will be brandishing that sword by the end of the story. If God makes promises in His Word, you can guarantee that the story is not over until all of the promises have come to pass. The covenants and prophesies link the ancient stories. What has been fulfilled foreshadows what is coming later in the story and ties the millennia of narratives together.

The Bible is one grand narrative. This list of evidences is only the beginning. Can you add to it?