The Most Epic Tale of All

Epic Proportions

It is no exaggeration to say that the Bible is the most sweeping and engrossing and enthralling epic ever written. It spans the entire history of humanity, from Adam’s first breath in the garden of Eden to the final song of the redeemed in eternity. It tells of kings crowned and deposed, nations created and destroyed, dynasties raised up and brought to the ground. Armies clash, cities rise and fall, priests sing and sacrifice, and prophets point to the future. And through it all—through the triumphs, the defeats, the rejoicing and weeping of ordinary men and women—God is carrying out, step by step, his mind-blowing plan to save mankind from destruction.

God is carrying out, step by step, his mind-blowing plan to save mankind from destruction.

It is not a simple story, at least not in the sense of a reader’s being able to exhaust its depths and meaning in one sitting. No, the story of the Bible is beautifully complex; dozens of themes and hundreds of symbols weave together like a symphony until they all come to rest on the shoulders of one man, a carpenter named Jesus from a little town called Nazareth. And then, just like those who saw him with their own eyes, we begin to realize that this man has been the goal of everything, right from the very beginning. The promises are about him; the crown has been forged for his head; the prophets have spoken about him. As the last prophet himself cried out, “Behold! . . . This is he” (John 1:29–30).

Our True Story

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Bible’s epic story, though, is that it is history, not fiction. It all actually happened. As inspiring and wonderful as stories can be, this one—with all its twists and turns, ups and downs—is greater than any other because it tells what actually is. God really did create human beings in his image, and they really did rebel against his rule, and then he really did send Jesus to save them from their sin. Therefore, the Bible is not just any story, and not just any epic. It is our story, our epic.