Biblica - NIV, the Books of the Bible, New Testament

The Books of the Bible New Testament

Copyright 2011 by Biblica, Inc

Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.

Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Published by Zondervan

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

www.zondervan.com

New International Version and NIV are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Used by permission.

The Drama of the Bible Notes copyright 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. No part of The Drama of the Bible Notes may be reproduced without written consent of Biblica, Inc.

Community Bible Experience program and The Books of the Bible editions developed by Biblica, Inc.

ePub Edition September 2017: ISBN 978-0-3104-4806-8

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2017936207

The NIV text may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio), up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without the express written permission of the publisher, providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible nor do the verses quoted account for twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the total text of the work in which they are quoted.

Notice of copyright must appear on the title or copyright page as follows:

Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV.

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.

Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

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Any commentary or other biblical reference work produced for commercial sale, that uses the NIV text must obtain written permission for use of the NIV text.

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Biblica provides Gods Word to people through translation, publishing and Bible engagement in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, and North America. Through its worldwide reach, Biblica engages people with Gods Word so that their lives are transformed through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

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The Bible is a collection of letters, poems, stories, visions, prophetic oracles, wisdom and other kinds of writing. The first step to good Bible reading and understanding is to engage these collected works as the different kinds of writing that they are, and to read them as whole books. We encourage you to read big, to not merely take in little fragments of the Bible. The introductions at the start of each book will help you to do this.

But it is also important not to view the Bible as a gathering of unrelated writings. Overall, the Bible is a narrative. These books come together to tell Gods true story and his plan to set the world right again. This story of the Bible falls naturally into six key major acts, which are briefly summarized below.

I had always felt life first as a story: and if there is a story, there is a story-teller.

G. K. Chesterton

But even more precisely, we can say the story of the Bible is a drama. The key to a drama is that it has to be acted out, performed, lived. It cant remain as only words on a page. A drama is an activated story. The Bible was written so we could enter into its story. It is meant to be lived.

All of us, without exception, live our lives as a drama. We are on stage every single day. What will we say? What will we do? According to which story will we live? If we are not answering these questions with the biblical script, we will follow another. We cant avoid living by someones stage instructions, even if merely our own.

This is why another key to engaging the Bible well is to recognize that its story has not ended. Gods saving action continues. We are all invited to take up our own roles in this ongoing story of redemption and new creation. So, welcome to the drama of the Bible. Welcome to the story of how God intends to renew your life, and the life of the world. God himself is calling you to engage with his word.

ACT : G OD S I NTENTION

The drama begins (in the first pages of the book of Genesis) with God already on the stage creating a world. He makes a man and a woman, Adam and Eve, and places them in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. The earth is created to be their home. Gods intention is for humanity to be in close, trusting relationship with him and in harmony with the rest of creation that surrounds them.

In a startling passage, the Bible tells us that human beings are Gods image-bearers, created to share in the task of bringing Gods wise and beneficial rule to the rest of the world. Male and female together, we are significant, decision-making, world-shaping beings. This is our vocation, our purpose as defined in the biblical story.

An equally remarkable part of Act 1 is the description of God as coming into the garden to be with the first human beings. Not only is the earth the God-intended place for humanity, God himself comes to make the beautiful new creation his home as well.

God then gives his own assessment of the whole creation: God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Act 1 reveals Gods original desire for the world. It shows us that life itself is a gift from the Creator. It tells us what we were made for and provides the setting for all the action that follows.

ACT : E XILE