Page 3 - Biblical Theology Textbook - masters

Biblical Theology
Written and edited by Kris Bjorgen, Ed.D.
Randy Whitman, Jr., M.Div

Study Section 1: God’s Mysterious Plan

1.1 Connect

Some people really enjoy mysteries on television. They try to figure out “who done it.”
Normally during the show, several people are suspects and generally it is the least likely
suspect that ends up as the bad guy. But if you are really smart and observant, you might
be able to guess “who done it” earlier in the show.

In a sense, the history of mankind is a mystery. Some say “history repeats itself; it like a huge cycle,
repeating going over and over again. Nations rise, conquer, then fall. Then the next nation repeats the
same pattern. But actually, history is linear. It has a beginning and will have an end. It is under the
sovereign control of the Lord God. And He has a plan. He has had a plan even before He created the
universe. His plan has been unfolding for thousands of years and will be fulfilled in the future. The
mystery is that He has not told us all of what He is doing or has done along the way. His plan is revealed
slowly and progressively in His time. He has a plan to redeem mankind from his sin. Let’s see if we can
figure out the mystery…

1.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to identify the multiple ways God has revealed Himself to
mankind.

2. The student should be able to able to explain the meaning of the Greek word, logos, at
related to the Bible and Jesus Christ.

1.3 God’s Mysterious Plan

Biblical theology seeks to understand the relationships between the various eras in God’s
revealing activity recorded in the Bible. It is a study of God’s progressive revelation to man from
Genesis to Revelation. In this course, we will learn about how God planned to save mankind
from sin even before the fall of Adam in Genesis 3. God had a plan before He created the
world. God is not only sovereign over all, but He is omniscient; He knows everything, past,
present, and future. He knew that if He created Adam and gave him free-will to obey or
disobey, that Adam would choose to disobey and that the entire race of man would inherit a nature to
rebel from Adam. Adam’s rebellion would pass to all his children and their children, bringing pain and
suffering into the creation. Romans 5: 12 puts it this way:

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through

sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned!

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