4. Unity: The Plan of Redemption (1)

Many Books, One Story

The 1970s blockbuster Star Wars trilogy ended in 1983 with the last installment: The return of the Jedi. At the end of the 1990s, writer/producer/ director George Lucas decided to make a so called “prequel” to Star Wars. This trilogy of three new Star Wars films would deal with the events that unfolded before the original 1970s trilogy, explaining how the bad “empire” came to power, how the Jedi’s were initially defeated and how Darth Vader turned to the dark side of “the Force.” The original trilogy where renamed episodes IV, V and VI and the new movies were entitled episodes I, II and III for a total of 6 films. Episode I, The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, and episode II, Attack of the Clones followed in 2002. Before the release of the last movie (2005) of the series, episode III, Revenge of the Sith, the expectations were high. Obviously George Lucas had to think of a plot that would link episode II perfectly with the beginning of episode IV.  Lucas had to make sure it would be one flow of events, one story, and no open ends nor contradictions.

The above illustration may help us appreciate our Bible even more. Like the Star Wars series, the Bible is not one single book, not even a collection of six books, but sixty six books. And like Star Wars, it tells one complete unified story. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible explains to us how God, before He created us, already had a plan to redeem, or save us through His Son, Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:11, “This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord”). This plan of redemption is the consistent and unique theme of the Bible, written over a period of 1,500 years by at least 40 different men from 3 different continents in 3 different languages (Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic). These men came from various backgrounds, different cultures, lived in various eras and most never met each other. Their writings cover history and prophecies, as well as poetry and proverbs, with each book reflecting a unity of facts, teaching, and purpose.  All of history unfolded around God’s plan of redemption, and each book of the Bible is a single thread of purpose woven into this incredible tapestry.

Comparing this to our Star Wars illustration: it would be as if a total stranger, without knowledge of any of the other Star Wars movies would have written the last installment, Episode IV, and it would perfectly bridge the earlier and later episodes. If you think that would be amazing – now consider having the story line written for sixty six books independently of one another that compliment, and support one another completely – each dovetails with the others … that is the amazing evidence of the unity of the Bible!