A Summary of the Bible - Summary of the Bible

By John Alfred

In memory of John M.

Preface

Our hearts are restless until they rest in You
—(Augustine 354–430)

I was raised in a family that did not practice any particular faith. Consequently, I had no understanding of what the Bible was about nor what the Jewish or Christian faith was about. By the time I was in high school, I did not believe that God existed. Like Zeus, God was another storied myth.

Then came a turning point. Between my first and second year of college, I had a powerful experience. It was like an awakening; I realized that God existed. From that time forth, I was seeing with new eyes. I could look at the stars and know God was out there. I also knew there was some kind of spiritual world.

A few months later, I saw a book on my childhood bookshelf that I never read: The Story of Salvation. The book turned out to be a summary of the Bible. For the first time in my life, I learned what was in the Bible: how it began with God creating the world, how man was created, and how God has been and will be directing human history to its end. When I finished the book, I understood who the Jewish people were, who Jesus was, why Jesus was crucified, how he rose from the dead, and how the world will eventually end with a final judgment.

Knowing that people would be sent to hell at the final judgment frightened me to the core; I did NOT want to end up there! Who Jesus was and why he died on the cross made sense to me, but I had no idea what to do next. A couple years later, I attended a church and learned what it meant to follow Christ. Convicted, convinced and compelled by God, I asked Jesus to forgive me for all my sins against God and others and made the commitment to follow him as my King.

Over the last forty years, I have grown in my relationship with Jesus Christ. Over the last thirty years, I have read the Bible from cover to cover every year. Over the last twenty years, I have studied theology. Given what I have learned from reading the Bible repeatedly and from the teachings of widely respected theologians throughout church history (e.g. St. Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Jonathan Edwards), I was comfortable to express the Bible’s overall message in the form of this summary.

From my studies, I learned that there are three elements of having a saving faith. The first element is the informative stage, where the person learns who Jesus is, why he died on the cross, and how he rose from the dead to be King of all creation. The second element is the agreement stage, where the person agrees that the information about Jesus is true. The third element is the trusting stage, where the person trusts in what Jesus did on the cross and commits his/her entire life to follow him as his/her risen King.

The purpose of this summary is to help readers with the information stage and understand how they can be saved by God and from God’s impending judgment. Whoever reads this summary should know that having this summary in his or her hands is not a coincidence. God calls us and draws us to Himself (I Cor. 1:26, John 6:44). My prayer is that God will bless this Bible summary to readers by revealing who Jesus is in the Bible and why he died on the cross. I further pray that God by his great mercy and grace will make it clear to readers their need to make their peace with him, and, as a result, their hearts will finally find their rest in him. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17 ESV). Without a doubt, to make peace and commit to an intimate relationship with God is the most important decision anyone could make. Indeed, such a decision is a matter of eternal life or eternal separation.

Another purpose of this summary is to be a resource to those who know they have been saved by Christ. Saved followers of Christ realize and embrace their duty to spread the good news to others. They also understand and trust that God will work through their efforts to achieve his eternal purposes.

Without holiness no one will see the Lord
—Hebrews 12:14 ESV, Written in a letter to believing Hebrews circa 60 A.D

S tarting from the first Book of the Bible—Genesis:

The Bible begins with how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit created the visible and invisible universe as we know it and everything within. Out of nothing, something was created by something not of the universe, something self-existent and mutually exclusive from the universe—God. It is a logical impossibility for the universe to create itself. Natural science will not be able to explain the supernatural.

Included in God’s creation was his creation of the first man, Adam, and the first woman, Eve. They had physical bodies that were created to exist for eternity; their bodies would not decay nor die. Different from all the other creatures on the earth, Adam and Eve were made in the image of God. As pure image bearers, they were to be a reflection of what God is like. This includes having the capacity to relate, think, plan, manage, create, etc.

Our first parents were placed in paradise here on earth (Eden—somewhere in the Middle East), and every day, they lived in the presence of God. Among the fruit-bearing trees, there were two particular trees: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve were allowed to eat from any tree; however, God commanded them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Should they disobey God’s command, they would experience physical death; their bodies would no longer be eternal. This is known as a conditional covenant of “works”. Adam and Eve would live forever as long as they kept the one command.

Among God’s creation were angels. They are eternal creatures but do not have physical bodies like mankind. Angels are mentioned numerous times in the Bible, sometimes in person, sometimes in visions, but they are mostly unseen and continue to exist in our physical world. One of the chief angels, Satan, rebelled against God. To this day, Satan, whose power exceeds any human power on earth, along with a host of other demonic angels, exist in this world but are under God’s sovereign rule.

Satan deceived our first parents into thinking that if they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they could be like God. Satan flatly lied to them by saying that they would not die if they ate the forbidden fruit. The idea of being like God became extremely attractive to them, and so they ate. Instantly, they realized their guilt of breaking God’s command and became ashamed.

In futility, Adam and Eve tried to hide from God; but God knew exactly where they were and confronted them. Although they tried to pass the blame, our first parents knew that they disobeyed God’s command. God pronounced his judgment: from dust they were created, to dust they would return. No longer pure and blameless, i.e. holy, they could no longer live in God’s presence. Death and decay would now happen. Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden of Eden and therefore no longer were given access to the tree of life. Our first parents would continue to relate, think, plan, manage, and create but not without pain, suffering, and the looming certainty of death and decay.

And so the human race began under these dire terms. Everyone born thereafter has the sinful inclination to be their own god, to decide for themselves what is good and evil. They do not trust nor obey nor rely on nor acknowledge God. God is not in the forefront of their thoughts. They have suppressed any truth about God and who he is. Instead of worshipping the Creator, they worship themselves and the creation (Rom. 1:21–24). They have no holy reverence of God and take his grace and mercy for granted (Ps.36:1–2). They do not realize that God, who is perfectly just, could end their lives instantly (Ezek. 18:20).

Adam’s and Eve’s sin in disobeying God resulted in the Fall of mankind. Humans thereafter are born with the inability to perfectly keep God’s commands. We sin because we are sinners; we are not sinners because we sin. We have critically marred God’s image in us, are no longer capable of living a holy life (Rom. 3:10–12), and deserve God’s justice (Eph. 2:1–3).

BUT God, who is merciful, longsuffering, and full of compassion, provided a solution to restore his eternal fellowship with human beings to once again live in his presence. That is, God provided a way to satisfy his judgment against mankind’s innate sinful nature to be their own god and make mankind holy and pure again without any trace of sin. This is commonly referred to as God’s plan of salvation. This plan would take time to reveal and would make it very clear that this plan was indeed from God.

As the human race grew in numbers, God’s providential hand was at work to unfold his salvation plan. Throughout history, God chose, inspired and entered into a solemn committed relationship with certain individuals to foreshadow what his plan would be. These individuals had faults and failures like us today, but God by his divine grace worked through them to achieve his ultimate purposes.

Enoch was the seventh generation after Adam. Although not blameless and pure, Enoch nonetheless entered into a solemn committed relationship with God. He trusted God for who God was and depended on God to be the one who gave him life. By God’s sovereign power, God took Enoch before Enoch experienced death.
A few generations later, there was a descendant of Enoch named Noah. By God’s sovereign plan, Noah was chosen and inspired by God to build a huge boat to save his family from God’s punishment of mankind for their sinful nature. The punishment was a flood that put to death every human on earth, except Noah’s family of eight.
A few generations later, there was a descendant of Noah named Abraham. Abraham lived circa 2000 BC and was chosen and inspired (called) by God to leave his homeland to settle into a new territory (geographically around Israel). God promised Abraham that he would start a great nation and would be the father of many nations (Gen. 12:3–4). Abraham and his wife, Sarah, were ninety and eighty years old respectively. Sarah was well beyond her childbearing years, and therefore, it seemed impossible for her to bear children. Nonetheless, Abraham trusted God to fulfill his promise. Ten years later, they miraculously conceived and had one child, a son named Isaac.
Later on, God instructed Abraham to sacrifice Isaac in the land of Moriah (the same area where the temple of Israel was later built in Jerusalem circa 1000 BC). Abraham obeyed; he believed God could raise Isaac from the dead to make Abraham into a great nation through Isaac. (Heb. 11:17–19). Being pleased with Abraham’s obedience, faith, and trust in God, God provided and substituted a ram to be sacrificed instead of Isaac.
Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Before they were born, Jacob the younger was chosen by God to inherit God’s blessing and promises to Abraham and to be part of God’s unfolding plan of salvation. Jacob had twelve sons, which was the start of the Hebrew nation. God changed Jacob’s name to Israel, meaning “struggled with God”.
When Jacob’s clan grew, one of Jacob’s sons, Joseph, was sold into slavery by his other brothers and ended up in Egypt. About ten years later, Pharaoh made Joseph to be the second most powerful person. Due to a severe famine, Jacob and his clan ended up in Egypt and were taken care of by Joseph. Though Joseph’s brothers did evil by selling Joseph into slavery, God meant it for good.
About 100 years later, the Hebrew nation grew so large, Egypt eventually made them slaves to keep them under control. About another 300 years passed (circa 1500 BC), God chose, inspired, and entered into a solemn committed relationship with an individual named Moses (a descendant of Levi, one of Jacob’s twelve sons) to follow God’s lead and to be his spokesperson. To prove Moses was His spokesperson, God performed signs and wonders through Moses. With God’s authority, Moses commanded Pharaoh to let the Hebrew nation (referred as Israel) leave the land. Pharaoh responded, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go?” (Exodus 5:2 ESV). But through many predicted plagues, Pharoah gradually realized God is to be revered.
The last plague was the death of all the firstborn children in the land of Egypt. To prevent this plague from happening in the nation of Israel, the Hebrews were to sacrifice a lamb and put the blood on their doorposts. The Angel of Death would see the blood and “pass over” the house without killing the first born. To this day, “Passover” is celebrated by people of the Jewish faith.
By God’s sovereign power, grace, mercy, and choice, he delivered the entire nation of Israel (about a million Hebrews) from being slaves to the Egyptians. When they left Egypt, they came to the Red Sea. Even after the devastating plagues, Pharoah changed his mind and pursued the Hebrews with his vast army. But God caused a strong wind to part the Red Sea that enabled the Hebrews to pass through to the other side. The pursuing army, however, was destroyed when the waters returned to normal.
Now saved and delivered by God, Israel began their journey to the “promise land”, the same land God promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit. It was at the beginning of their journey when God gave Moses the following Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–17) to be obeyed by the Israelites:

You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.

Along with the Ten Commandments, God gave other commandments and laws regarding moral behavior, worship, government, diet and disease. God also instructed Moses to construct a “tabernacle”. This was a portable “tent of meeting” where God would dwell to be among his people.
Having this tabernacle and these regulations (known as the Mosaic Law) distinguished the nation of Israel from all the other nations. By God’s grace and providence alone, He created the Hebrew nation and made a covenant specifically with them (Deut. 7).
Similar to Adam and Eve’s situation, God’s covenant with the Israel nation was conditional, i.e. if the Israelites kept the Mosaic Law, their life would be blessed including having the blessing of living in the promised land. However, like Adam and Eve who were exiled from Eden, if they disobeyed the commands, they would be exiled from the promised land.
Because God is perfectly holy and just, God required animals without blemish to be sacrificed as an atonement for the sins the people committed (Lev. 17:11). “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (Hebrews 9:22b ESV). There were two particular sacrifices that were performed annually. In the spring, there was the sacrifice of the Passover lamb to remind the Jewish people of their deliverance from the land of Egypt. The other annual sacrifice was the Day of Atonement.
The Day of Atonement was the only day out of the entire year when the high priest was allowed to enter the “Most Holy Place”. Located within the tabernacle and separated by a veil, this most sacred room held the “ark of the covenant”, a wooden box covered with gold that contained the Ten Commandments written on stone. On the Day of Atonement, one goat was sacrificed as a sin offering. The other goat was used as a symbol to bear all the sins of the Jewish people and was sent out into the wilderness. This is where we get the term “scapegoat”. Today the Jewish people celebrate the Day of Atonement on the holiday named Yom Kipper in late September or early October; however, they do not use the two goats.
The conditional terms of the covenant are part of the Torah, the first five books of what is now commonly referred to as the Old Testament. The Old Testament altogether has thirty-nine books written by various authors. Of the other thirty-four books, some provide Jewish history in noticeable detail. Other books, known as books of wisdom, shed profound insight on prayer and human behavior. The final books were written by prophets chosen and inspired by God. These books mostly indicted yet encouraged Israel to keep their covenant with God. Within these books are prophecies, patterns, visions, and symbols of what God was going to do further along in history. Remarkably, all thirty-nine books are historically interlaced and reveal who God is.
The historic book of Joshua goes into detail of how the Israelites eventually arrived and took over the “promised land”, the same region where Israel is today. The historic book of Judges goes into detail about how certain Jewish leaders ruled and led the nation of Israel for about 500 years after crossing the Red Sea (circa 1500 BC to 1000 BC). Throughout the Book of Judges, Israel as a nation struggled to stay faithful to serving God. The book ends with this verse: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25 ESV). Circa 1000 BC, there was a descendant of Judah (one of Jacob’s twelve sons) named David. David had a close relationship with God and was prophetically told by Samuel (another God-inspired person and the last of the judges) that David would become the king of Israel. When David was king, he wanted to build a permanent temple to hold the sacred ark. Nathan (another God-inspired prophet) responded with this word from God: “I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish his kingdom forever…And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:12–13,16 ESV).
As a theocratic (God-led) nation, the Israelites as a whole began turning away from their relationship with God. They did not keep up their end of the agreement with God, and thus, the covenant was broken. They eventually were exiled from their land and the temple was destroyed 586/587 B.C. (2 Kings 25). For a few hundred years between the reign of David to the last king through David’s lineage, various prophets as recorded in the prophetic portions of the Old Testament foretold the coming of a Messiah (a Hebrew word that means “the Anointed One”) and that the Messiah would restore all things. This is how the Old Testament ends.

The prophecies of the coming of the Messiah in the Old Testament revealed that God was going to make a dramatic glorious change in human history. This epic change included many foretold events including the following three:

That God was going to make a new covenant with Israel where he would “write his law on their hearts”, have a personal relationship with each person, and forgive their sins forever (Jer. 31:31–34). God was going to give them new hearts and put his Spirit within them and cause them to follow and obey him (Ezek. 36:26–27);
That this new covenant included the “gentiles”, basically everyone else who were not of the Jewish descent. (Gen. 12:4b, Isa. 2:1–4, 56:8, Hos. 2:23);
And that there was going to be a “suffering servant”, someone who was going to bear and be punished for our sins. (Isa. 53)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
—John 1: 1–2,14 ESV, written by the Apostle John

The second half of the Bible, known as the New Testament, has twenty-seven books written by those who lived in the first century, most of whom were eyewitnesses of Jesus Christ. The New Testament begins with four Gospels (the word Gospel means “Good news”) written by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John:

About one thousand years after King David, there was a descendant of King David named Joseph. Joseph was engaged to Mary. Both Mary and Joseph were visited by an angel named Gabriel (not a fallen angel but a chief angel) to let them know that Mary, who was a virgin, was going to miraculously become pregnant by the power of the Holy Spirit. Natural science will not be able to explain this supernatural event. This miraculous creation is known as the incarnation of the Son. By doing so, the Son, who is fully God, became also fully man, a second “Adam” who was pure and without sin. Gabriel instructed Mary to name this God-man “Jesus,” because “He will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21 ESV).

While on earth and like the first Adam, the Son was also tempted by Satan to break God’s commands. Unlike Adam, the Son lived in perfect obedience to the Father. He went on to preach and teach about the Kingdom of God and having eternal life. He warned
about the final judgment when all souls who lived on earth will be either saved from or condemned to spending eternity in hell, a place of darkness, torment and anguish. He talked about the necessity of being born again (more on this later) with the ability to recognize and enter his kingdom (John 3:3,5).

Similar to Moses, who performed signs and wonders as an attestation that he came in the authority of God, the Son also performed signs and wonders. He completely healed anyone who came to him. He multiplied a few fish and a couple loaves of bread to feed thousands of people. He raised people from the dead, walked on water, controlled the weather, and cast out demons. The Son performed supernatural miracles that only something other than this universe could do—God.

The Son proclaimed that he came from heaven and that he was the promised Messiah. (The Greek word for Messiah is “Christ”. This is why the Son was referred to as “Jesus Christ”.) He also made it clear that his kingdom is not of this world and that he must suffer first. Furthermore, Jesus said that he did not come to abolish the laws of the Old Testament, but to uphold and fulfill them (Matt. 5: 17–19). Throughout his earthly ministry, Jesus often referred to the writings of Moses and the prophets to show how they pointed to him (Luke 4:18–21, John 5:46). Among his teachings, the Son made the following astonishing claims about himself.

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35 ESV).
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12 ESV).
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9 ESV). “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11 ESV).
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (John 11:25 ESV).
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6 ESV).
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1–2 ESV).

(The phrase “I am” is the same phrase used by God in the Old Testament when Moses asked God what name he should use for God and God replied, “I AM WHO I AM…I AM has sent me to you”. Exodus 3:14 ESV)

As Jesus approached Jerusalem for his last time, he repeatedly stated that he will be handed over to the Romans, will be crucified, and will rise again (Matthew 16:21, 17:22–23, 20:17–19, 26:2). His followers could not understand why he would die; they, like everyone else, were expecting an earthly king to deliver Israel from the Romans. They didn’t fully realize until after Christ’s resurrection that the Son first needed to be the “Suffering Servant” and take the Father’s punishment for our sins instead of us taking the punishment (Isa. 53).

On the night before the Son’s crucifixion, the Son shared the Passover meal with the Apostles, twelve men whom the Son called to be with him at the beginning of his three-year public ministry. The Son said these words as he broke the bread, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19 ESV). After breaking the bread, the Son then took a cup of wine and said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20 ESV). This act of breaking bread and drinking from the cup is known as communion and is still conducted today among believers.

That same evening (known as “Maundy Thursday”), the Son told the apostles about how he would be returning to heaven to prepare a place for them (John 14:2). He explained how he was going to send the Holy Spirit to be with them forever (John 14:16) and that the Holy Spirit will teach them while they continued their lives on earth (John 14:26). He further explained that, because of their allegiance to him, they too would face persecution but not to be afraid. He has been given by the Father to have full authority over heaven and earth. As declared by God in the Old Testament, the Son will rule and reign as the sovereign King, not as an earthly King, but a heavenly King. (Psalm 2)

At the end of the evening, Jesus was arrested, tried, and found guilty of blasphemy by the Jewish leadership (Matt. 26:65–66). They then turned the Son over to Pilate, the local Roman governor, to be charged with sedition because the Son claimed to be a king. Although Pilate did not find anything worthy of death, nonetheless, he conceded to the will of the crowd and sentenced Christ to be crucified (Matt. 27:11–26). Though man did evil by crucifying the Son, God meant it for good.

By way of crucifixion, the Son, whom John the Baptist declared as the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29), was sovereignly sacrificed on Friday during the Jewish Passover week, the festival that celebrated their freedom from Egypt. Before Christ took his final breath on the cross, he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30). The earth quaked and the veil that separated the Most Holy Place in the rebuilt temple was symbolically “torn in two, from top to bottom”. (Matt: 27:51). The Son rose from the dead three days later on Sunday. The Son still had a human body, but the body was transformed to be an eternal one, i.e. the Son’s body would not experience decay and death.

Soon after the resurrection, the Son appeared multiple times to the Apostles (minus one named Judas who betrayed the Son to the authorities and later committed suicide in deep regret). The resurrected Son also appeared to others who followed the Son during his three years of earthly ministry. The Son instructed them to wait for the Holy Spirit to descend upon them to give them strength and courage to be a witness of his resurrection and to proclaim who the Son is.

Fifty days later, on the day of Pentecost, the apostles and other followers of Christ experienced the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and were never the same afterwards (Acts 2). They became bold to proclaim to others about the good news: The Son came to fulfill the writings from the books of Moses and the Prophets, was crucified as God’s final sacrifice, and rose again to be the Messiah who rules from heaven forever and ever.

Before the Son ascended into heaven, he foretold to the early followers that he would return again. Unlike his first appearance, which was discreet and from humble beginnings, his return would be in great power and glory. All will see his return, but no one knows when it will happen. It will be a total and shocking surprise. At his second coming, the earth and universe as we know it will end (more on this in a few paragraphs).

Both the Hebrews and the gentiles experienced a radical change within their hearts. God indeed was saving people from all nations (Acts 11:18). This is known as having a “born again” experience. It is a new creation that solely comes from God. Because this is a supernatural experience, natural science cannot explain how this happens. As the Son explained, “that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:6,8 ESV).

No one can buy, earn, or join a church to have a born-again experience. Nor can this experience be inherited from parents. God alone determines if and when this experience happens. To some, it happens early in life. To others, it happens later in life. And to others still, it does not happen at all (John 1:13, 8:41–44).

With this born-again experience, people are given “eyes that see”, “ears that hear”, and opened hearts to receive and obey God’s word. (Matt. 13:16). Apart from being born-again, human beings would remain spiritually dead in their sinful state (Eph 2: 1-3). Like the Son said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3 ESV). With this new nature, the words from the Son and what is written in the Bible resonates as the truth. The words in the Bible begin to have a profound effect on them.

With God’s divine help, people are able to understand and believe in God’s salvation plan; a faith and trust in who Jesus is and what Jesus did on the cross develops and grows. Indeed, having this faith is a gift from God (Eph. 2:4–9). Furthermore, God gives people the grace, conviction and new desire to turn away from living a life for themselves and their sinful habits and instead start living a new life following and obeying Christ, their new King (Romans 6). Like Abraham and others in the Old Testament, they too are called by God to have a solemn committed relationship with him and to be led by him. They realize that this world is not their home but instead, like Abraham, they are pilgrims who are seeking not a land on earth but an eternal permanent home built by God. (Hebrews 11).

To signify and publicly declare the death of their old self and the life of their new self, the early believers were baptized by completely submerging themselves in water (a practice that continues to this day). Just as God chose to deliver the Israelites from being in bondage to Egypt to lead them to the promise land, God is calling and delivering new believers in Christ from the bondage of sin to lead them to heaven (Rom 8: 30).

The new believers devoted themselves to worship, prayer, studying the scriptures, doing good works of service, and spreading the message of God’s plan of salvation. Although their present bodies would continue to struggle against sinful inclinations and experience pain, suffering, decay, and death, they understood that they would someday receive a new eternal body, one like the Son that would be perfect, holy and without any trace of sin (I Cor. 15:47–49).

The first group of Hebrews and Gentiles eventually called themselves Christians; they associated themselves as servant followers of Christ the Son. Because they were spiritually reborn and made holy by the Son’s sacrifice, they became part of his invisible kingdom known as the church. The English word “church” is a translation of the Greek word “ekklesia” which means “called out ones”. Instead of God dwelling in a physical temple, he now dwells among his people, identified as “living stones”. (II Cor. 6:16, I Pet. 2:5). Because the Son was raised from the dead on a Sunday, the early Christians would assemble together on Sundays to celebrate the resurrection, to worship, and to take communion. This is a practice that continues today.

The time between the first appearance and the second appearance of the Son is known as “the last days” (Matt 24:5–8, 2 Cor. 11:14, 2 Tim. 3:1, 2 Pet. 3:3). During this time there will be a growing intensity of darkness filled with violence, plagues, natural disasters and wars. There will also be an increase of sexual immorality, witchcraft, hatred and other signs of moral decline coupled with prevailing spiritual deception, false teachers and worldly worship of idols. Adding further confusion between the invisible kingdom of light and the earthly kingdom of darkness, Satan disguised himself as an angel of light to infiltrate Christian churches to spread false teaching which leads to false doctrine, false belief, and consequently, divisions within the church. (2 Cor. 11:14)

The ever-travailing world finally ends when the Son, the Ruler of all creation, returns to bring judgment to every single human being who lived on the face of the earth (Matt. 25:31–33). The books of their lives will be opened and reviewed (Rom. 14:12, Rev. 21:12). The souls of mankind will be divided into two groups.

One group will be those who were born of the Holy Spirt and consequently understood and trusted that the Son was sacrificed and became their scapegoat. During their lives on earth, they were granted by the Father the transaction where all their sins were transferred to the Son, and the Son’s spotless perfection was transferred to them. At the final judgment, God the Father will see the Son’s perfect righteousness in this group of people. Their names will be found written in the book of life (Luke 10:20, Phil. 4:3).

This group of people did not depend on themselves nor anything that they did. They did good works not to earn their salvation but as a response and testimony of God working in their lives. Because this group placed their faith in Jesus Christ to be their King and Savior, they will have eternal incorruptible bodies and live forever in the presence of God. This group also includes everyone who lived prior to the Son’s first appearance and who trusted God for their salvation. Those in the Old Testament times and in the New Testament times shared the same mandate from God: “The righteous shall live by faith” (Habbakuk 2:4 ESV). With the Son’s sacrificial atonement for sin, their salvation is now complete.

The other group of people will be those whose names were not written in the book of life. (Rev. 20:15). As the Son stated, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into
the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:18–19 ESV).

All the souls in this group will be blemished and stained with sin (Matt. 22:11–14). The transfer of the Son’s spotless perfection did not happen with them. Instead, they remained unholy and not justified. Without justification and without holiness, there will be a permanent separation from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Instead, they will be condemned to eternal damnation, joining Satan and a multitude of demons. They will be forever tormented knowing that they have been permanently exiled to hell, a place of excruciating anguish and darkness, completely separated from those in heaven. Such pain and suffering will continue forever and ever (Luke 16:24–26, Rev. 21:8).

As foretold by the prophet Jeremiah 2,600 years ago, what the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit accomplished 2,000 years ago is known as the New Covenant. Unlike the conditional covenant of works that gave Adam and Eve eternal life, the New Covenant is an unconditional covenant of grace that gives us eternal life (John 6:39, 10:28, Rom. 8:31-39). People are saved from God’s impending justice by God’s grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone revealed by scripture alone for God’s glory alone (Rom. 11:36, Eph. 2:8). As the Son said, receiving eternal life “is impossible with men, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26 ESV).

As Adam and Eve first started, we too will have access to the Tree of Life in a new created world, a new type of Eden, a new promise land. There will be no more death nor decay nor pain nor suffering. There will be no need of the sun, for God himself will be the light (Rev. 21: 1–4, 22: 1–4).

This concludes a highly condensed overview of what is in the Bible.

Addendum

“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9 ESV).

Dear Reader:

Did reading this summary make any sense to you? Do you believe that Jesus is who he says he is? Do you have any conviction in your heart that you are indeed a sinner no matter how great or how small your sins? Do you agree that all of us are sinners and are in great need to be forgiven and made pure again? If so, praise God! He is giving you ears to hear and eyes to see! Unless we truly see ourselves as marred, soiled, and unholy, we will never be able to see Jesus Christ as our Savior. Having the deepfelt conviction of our sins is truly a gift from God!

But, here’s the challenge, one that God the Holy Spirit will help you meet: You need to fully surrender your life and make Jesus your Lord and King. As Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:34–35)¹ “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3: 36 ESV). It is imperative for you to know that our King and Savior requires us to place our faith in what he did on the cross and to obey him as our King. Believing without repenting is not a saving faith.

God knows your heart, dear reader. He has known it even before you were born and will know it until you take your last breath on earth (Psa. 139: 13–16). If you are ready to confess, repent, and commit, which I sincerely hope you are, then please get on your knees and bow your head before our holy, benevolent, gracious God, and ask Jesus Christ to forgive all your sins and for living a life of being your own king, “doing whatever is right in your own eyes”. Let him know that you are ready to make him your King and do whatever is right in his eyes.

As the verse above promises, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. As Jesus has promised, “whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:34 ESV).

Please tell someone else who is a follower of Christ that you made the commitment to follow Christ as well. Jesus, your faithful King and Shepherd, will lead you and guide you to a place in his church where you can grow in truth and grace. You were designed to be in his church; you need his church and his church needs you (I Cor. 12:15–30).

Vital to your new life in Christ is reading his Word, the Bible. As it was recommended to me in my early walk with Christ, I recommend that you start reading the New Testament over and over again in your first year, starting with the Gospel of John. This will help you put into context how the Old Testament points to the New Testament. The primary means that God communicates with you is through his Word for he is the Word (John 1:1).

Coupled with daily reading is daily sharing your inmost thoughts, burdens, cares, and praises with Christ your King and God your Father. As his dearly beloved child, your heavenly Father and King long to hear from you all day long. The Holy Spirit, who knows your heart along with your weaknesses will help you to pray (Rom. 8:26-27).

I look forward to seeing you in heaven.

Yours gratefully in Christ,
John Alfred
www.SummaryoftheBible.org

¹ A common objection/question regarding Christianity is, “What happens to those who have never heard the Gospel message?” The answer is that none of us deserve God’s mercy. If God was obligated to give mercy, then this is not mercy. The fact is that all of us deserve God’s judgment and punishment. We can trust that God, who is perfectly just, will judge rightly. (Gen. 18:25) No matter where we are on earth, we ought to be bowing our heads and pleading for God’s mercy. Hearing and rejecting the Gospel only makes us more accountable in the final day of judgment (Luke 12:47–48).

About the Author

John was raised in a family that did not practice any particular faith. Consequently, he had no understanding of what the Bible was about nor what the Jewish or Christian faith was about. By the time John was in high school, he did not believe that God existed. God was a myth to him.

Between his first and second year of college, John had a powerful spiritual experience. It was like an awakening; he realized that God existed. From that time forth, John was seeing with new eyes. He could look at the stars and know God was out there. He also knew there was some kind of a spiritual world.

Thanks to the help of a book that summarized the Bible, John understood what the Christian faith was about and eventually became one forty years ago. Over the last thirty years, he has read the Bible from cover to cover every year. Over the last twenty years, he has studied theology. Given what he has learned from his own reading and from widely respected theologians throughout church history, John was comfortable to express the Bible’s overall message in the form of this summary.

John’s hope and prayer is that God will use this summary to help many others to know who the Son is and why he came to earth and that they would come to a faith and trust in the Son, the Lamb of God, the Risen and Returning King, for their salvation.