The Biblical metanarrative has interested theologians for many years, primarily because it embodies a perfect plan that establishes and replicates itself from Genesis to Revelation. In Genesis, the Bible narrates of God’s creation of the world and humankind. God created the earth and intended for mankind to live eternally on it, ruling over everything as they tend to it. However, mankind later rebelled against God’s instructions, which resulted into their dismissal from the Garden of Eden and instant acquisition of mortality. The fall of mankind also propelled punishments on Adam, Eve, and their offspring, but was accompanied by a promise for future redemption. Throughout the Old Testament, God continues to orchestrate His plan for redeeming mankind from the fall at the Garden of Eden and sustains the promise through various prophets and heroes. Finally, in the New Testament, God appears to mankind through Jesus Christ to save them, making them a new creation as repeatedly insinuated in the last books of the Old Testament. Throughout the Bible, authors have the same storyline; God created Adam and Eve who rebelled through the fall, but would be redeemed in the future, making their offspring a new creation. The extensive examination of the Biblical metanarratives shows how it is a story of hope and love. Through the analysis of the metanarratives, the Holy Spirit as the unifying inspirer of Bible authors is revealed as the creation, fall, redemption, and new creation of mankind narrations remains constant from one Bible author to another and from Genesis to Revelation.
Major Movements of the Biblical Metanarrative
The Biblical metanarratives encompass the creation, fall, redemption, and new creation stories, intertwined with hope and love.
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Love in the Creation Metanarrative
The creation story in the Bible explains the origin of every living and non-living being on earth. According to the Bible, the earth was a formless void in the beginning, before God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit transformed it to be habitable. The Bible states that the trinity created every being on earth within six days, and it was good. In Genesis 1:31, “God saw everything He had created on earth, and behold, it was good” (New International Version). The creation story also states that God created man and woman, named them Adam and Eve, and accorded them dominion over the earth and everything on it. Theologians believe that in creating everything good, God demonstrated His selfless love ( Rawlings, 2019) . The love of God is unconditional, limitless, and measureless, as demonstrated by the creation story ( Patterson, 2016) . Moreover, God demonstrates his love for Adam when He gives him Eve as a helper. In the creation story, God is love; He demonstrates the same through awarding man eternal life and appearing in the Garden of Eden to have fellowship with him daily. The creation story was written by authors inspired by the Holy Spirit and throughout the Bible, snippets of the same account appear in other books. As other Bible authors retell the creation story even though not in full account as indicated in Genesis, they demonstrate their unity with the Genesis writer, having being inspired by the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the creation story is a narrative of God’s love, as explained.
Love in the fall of Mankind Metanarrative
After God created mankind, He placed them in the Garden of Eden, where they had access to the tree of life and the forbidden fruit. God warned Adam and Eve from touching the forbidden fruit, or else they would face harsh consequences. However, theology states that Satan entered the snake and then it enticed Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. Immediately they ate the fruit, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and their offspring was disqualified from being God’s friends. God ceased being close to the fallen mankind and banished them from the Garden of Eden. Mankind’s spirituality was rendered dead on the day of the fall ( Rawlings, 2019) . However, God demonstrated His love for Adam and Eve by clothing them in leaves and punishing the snake for deceiving mankind. Additionally, God promised Eve that through her offspring, a redeemer would be born, who would help to restore God’s relationship with mankind. As God tells Eve that her offspring would redeem mankind even after the fall, He gives her hope ( Patterson, 2016) . Adam and Eve have hope that even though they had fallen, their offspring would be redeemed in the future. The fall of man story is also retold severally in the Bible from other authors, indicating that all Bible writers were unified by the Holy Spirit’s leading as they wrote the Holy Book.
Love and Hope in the Redemption of Mankind Metanarrative
As explained, God had promised Eve that her offspring would redeem mankind in the future. God’s promise is consistently repeated in the Bible through Old Testament prophets, such as Isaiah who frequently reminds Israelites of the promised Messiah. In Genesis 3:15, the Bible says,”…he will crush your head…”, while addressing Satan and the serpent. Adam and Eve are hopeful their offspring will be saved. God fulfills the promise to Adam and Eve through sending his son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of mankind. When Jesus dies on the cross, he atones for mankind’s sin transferred from Eve and Adam through thousands of generations until His time on earth ( Rawlings, 2019) . Mankind’s relationship with God is restored and while previously, human beings relied on priests to make their request known to God, they can directly access Him after Jesus’ death. The love of God continues being illuminated in the redemption story, as written in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave his son…” (New International Version). Through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, mankind’s hope for the restoration of their relationship with God as was in the Garden of Eden before the fall is satisfied. God’s plan, as told in Genesis, is fulfilled in the New Testament. The consistent recount of the redemption metanarrative from Genesis to the New Testament shows the unifying nature of the Holy Spirit in guiding Biblical authors to write the Holy Book.
Love and Hope in the New Creation Metanarrative
After the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, mankind begins to enjoy a close relationship with God. Mankind becomes a new creation, but under the condition they believe in the hearts that Jesus Christ is the savior of their hearts. In 2 Corinthians 5;17, the Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old is gone, the new is here.” (New International Version). The “old” mentioned in the New Testament is the sinful nature mankind acquired after the Fall of Adam and Eve, and the “new” is the salvation enjoyed after mankind is restored through redemption. As new creations, human beings qualify for God’s unconditional love, as written in I John 3:16, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us...” (New International Version). Therefore, as a new creation, mankind’s hope to have a direct relationship with God is restored through His unconditional love demonstrated by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christians. The New Creation perfectly completes God’s plan in Genesis to redeem mankind, and considering the consistency of the narrative from Genesis to Revelation, then it would be wise to assume the Bible was written by authors unified in mind and led by the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
The creation, fall, redemption, and new creation metanarratives in the Bible explain God’s love for mankind, advanced through a promise that inspires hope. In the creation story, God demonstrates love for mankind by placing them in the Garden of Eden and having a close relationship with Adam and Eve. Furthering in the fall of mankind, God gives Eve hope that her seed would redeem her offspring in the future. Moreover, in the redemption narrative, God fulfills his promise by sending His son to die for mankind’s sin, which a demonstration of love. Finally, under the new creation, mankind’s hope to be restored to God a close friends is attained through salvation. Worth noting is that in the Biblical metanarrative, authors from different generations and time frames give the same account, which means their thought process was unified by the Holy Spirit.
References
Patterson, R. D. (2016, April 29). Faith, hope, and love . Bible.org | Where the World Comes to Study the Bible. https://bible.org/article/faith-hope-and-love
Rawlings, J. W. (2019). The Grand Narrative Worldview: A Narrative Inquiry into the Impact of Biblical Metanarrative Teaching in Liberty University’s School of Divinity Global Studies Program [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Liberty University. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1604&context=masters
