Christians Need the Bible’s Big Picture
I took oil painting lessons from my mother-in-law, Rae, who was a former Disney artist. (The painting displayed in this post is her work. Sadly, we lost my paintings in a move.) Each week she critiqued my progress and told me what to work on next. One week I added complementary under layers to my canvas. Because the butter leaf green background needed red for depth, I squirted red ochre onto my palette and swirled it with dabs of other pigments. The odors of linseed oil and turpentine permeated the air as I leaned close to my aluminum easel so I could meticulously merge the muddy maroon into the mossy background.
As I carefully brushed and delicately blended, my husband walked in the door, stopped, and declared, “You gave the painting measles!”
“No, I didn’t,” I said, frowning. “It’s depth.”
“Come over here and look at it,” he said, laughing.
None too pleased over his lack of appreciation for my artistic enhancements, I walked over to where he stood and looked back at the painting. Sure enough: measles. What up close looked like subtle gradations of color, at a distance looked like leopard skin.
When I took my polka dotted canvas to Rae, she showed me how to meld undertones by standing back to see what the painting as a whole needed, coming in close for precise brush strokes, and then stepping back again to view the overall affect. It didn’t take long before the reds and greens not only looked as if they belonged together, but showed they needed each other for depth and balance.
The Need for Big Picture Bible Studies
Reading the Bible is like painting a picture in our minds and souls. While it’s important to come in close to study passages and books, it’s also important to step back and see how the individual parts explain and deepen our understanding of the whole. Then we can see how all the parts of the Bible belong together and how they need each other for depth and balance—for the whole picture.
In the Bible studies I write with Pam Farrel and Karla Dornacher, the book Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament gives the big picture. Every chapter starts with Genesis and ends with Revelation as it displays an aspect of what the Old Testament promises, prophecies, and types tell us about Jesus. For instance, the chapter “Jesus the King Forever” starts with God’s mandate to humankind to reign over the earth, looks at God’s promise to King David of a descendant whose throne will last forever, sees how the prophets say David was a type of a future righteous King who will reign forever, notices what the New Testament says about Jesus fulfilling these OT passages, and rejoices in what is to come: Jesus reigns forever and humankind reigns under him in the new heavens and earth.
The Need for Close-up Bible Studies
Just as Rae taught me to come in close when painting detail, so we do best when we alternate stepping back for the big picture and moving in for the detail in studying the Bible. That’s why we also write books that move in close, too. For instance, Discovering Joy in Philippians looks with great detail at the apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians. It starts in Acts with Paul preaching the gospel in Philippi and being thrown in prison. But we see that wonderful things happen when he and Silas sing praises to God. Then the Discovering book delves deeply into Philippians and all Paul says about discovering joy in any circumstance.
Discovering Hope in the Psalms is a close-up look, too. It examines ten psalms about the hopes God’s people share. These psalms show us how to pray in a way that helps our hope in God soar, even–or especially–when we encounter disappointment or evil. The psalms point us to the One who gives us hope for now and eternity.
What Are You Looking For?
If you haven’t studied the Bible’s big picture for some time, consider Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament. If you’ve recently finished a big picture study, one of our close-up studies may be a fit for you.
If you haven't studied the Bible's big picture for some time, consider "Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament." Share on X
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- Big picture: Discovering Jesus in the Old Testament
- Detail: Discovering Joy in Philippians
- Detail: Discovering Hope in the Psalms
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What a beautiful and clear illustration of how to embrace the whole of God’s Word. I want to highly endorse the lesson guides Jean E. has written for “The Story.” They are amazing! As always, Jean E. has a lovely way of making God’s message crystal clear and personally applicable!