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Metanarrative Essay
Cari Stone
Liberty University
THEO 104
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Metanarrative Essay
Introduction
A biblical metanarrative is unifying story that covers the significant four parts of the Bible.
These crucial points are the creation, the fall, the redemption and the new creation. The Bible is
more than just a collection of stories but is a handbook for life and is crucial the message is
interpreted correctly. The metanarrative helps us to fully understand God’s plan and allows us to
preserve our union with God. “And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy,
God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are
described in this scroll.” (Revelation 22:19 KJV). God’s plan for humanity is unmistakable
Biblical Metanarrative
story that unifies the vast diversity of the Bible. With having 66 books written over thousands of
years by dozens different authors, different times, places and audiences and even including
different genres such as poetry, narrative and songs the metanarrative is an overall story that
unifies such diversity collectively. “So, it would be safe to say that although we typically refer to
the Bible as one book, in reality the Bible is comprised of a collection of books. (Rusty & Etzel,
2016, p.22). The metanarrative’s four parts, creation, fall, redemption and new creation narrates
the spirit of God. The Bible commences in Genesis I & II and details the creation of world and
man. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1 KJV). And while
creating the world and mankind, humanity is made in God’s image. “So God created man in his
own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he him.” (Genesis 1:27
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Metanarrative Essay
KJV). It then goes on to the fall of man that occurred when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s
word and despites his commands, Eve was deceived by Satan. God realized what sin was doing
in the world he had created and had to find a way for man’s redemption and needed someone
worthy to redeem humanity and with that he sent down his only son to fulfill such redemption.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 KJV). God has made a promise to
man kind to restore humanity and restore the world and within the Bible lie the answers of
Example I (Grace)
Though there are many books of the Bible and they are all seemingly different, they all tell the
story of the creation, the fall, the redemption and the new creation of man kind. They all tell us
of God’s grace and his love to all, even those undeserving of it . Without God’s grace salvation
would not be possible. God knew that when he created man kind that we would be incapable of
being perfect and without sin and that he would need to create a way to rid of that sin.
Throughout the Bible there are many stories of those who have sinned, yet God has ultimately
forgiven those sins. “Ephesians 2:8-9 makes this very clear. Paul says, "God saved you by his
grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. (Etzel &
Gutierrez, 2017 p. 10). God’s grace has been evident since the beginning of his time and it will
Example II (Love)
In the Bible, 1 John 4:8 tells us that “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (KJV)
God’s love for humanity is can be witnessed throughout the Bible. Biblical metanarrative’s help
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Metanarrative Essay
to understand how God’s love can be applied throughout the four main parts of the story. The
creation, fall, redemption and new creation all contain stories from Genesis to Revelation and
show suggestive examples of God’s love throughout. Being able to understand all parts to a
metanarrative is crucial to understanding the happenings that’s exist in the world today. “The
Bible is God's delivered "Word" to every human being. It is full of portraits of His beautiful
creation of every person, His unconditional love, His invitation for all to receive His mercy and
forgiveness of sins (see the chapter on "Salvation"), and His ultimate plan for all human beings
who have ever lived upon the earth.” (Etzel & Gutierrez, 2017, p. 39). It is evident of God’s love
for mankind and we see this in his act of sending his son to redeem humanity.
Conclusion
The Bible is not just a collection of books but is the story of God and his plans for humanity. For
us to have a solid structure of understanding with our relationship with God, we must
acknowledge how the creation, the fall, the redemption and the new creation all unifies all
workings of the Bible. No one is free from sin and understanding the Bible helps us to always
have faith in God’s love and grace as we continue to walk through life. Our Biblical view affects
the way we live our lives and influences the decisions we make daily but as we continue to rely
on God, we will always have the tools necessary to make it through anything.
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Metanarrative Essay
References
Etzel, Whitney and Small, Melissa (2016). Everyday Theology. B&H Publishing Group.
Etzel, Gabriel & Gutierrez, Ben (2017). Theology Applied. B&H Publishing Group. Retrieved
from https://app.wordsearchbible.com.