Outline of God’s Story
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Outline of God’s Story
Morgan Johnson
GLST 220
Liberty University
Prof. Laurie Schweinsberg
4/26/2021
Outline of God’s Story
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Sharing the Gospel with Atfah
Outlining God’s Story
When a Christian begins to tell the story of God with a non-believer, they should not start
at the crucifixion or even what the Lord has done for them. They should start at the beginning.
Yes, we as Christians will witness to others about what the Lord has done for us however when
we start at the beginning it helps the non-believer better understand the whole story and see it all
come together. They will also be able to see how they can put things that has happened in God’s
story to things that has happened in their own lives. By explaining the different topics, stories,
characters, and key elements within the Bible this also will help those non-believers see the light
of what God is trying to show and teach us within his story.
The Outline
The Creation Story
Many Christians know that the creation story starts in Genesis 1. However there are those
that do not think that this is how creation happened and believe more in the Darwinism theory of
creation. But as Christians we tell the truth story of creation as it is in Genesis 1 because this is
where God’s story started “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This right
here shows who we talk to that God was the one that created it and nothing or no one else.
Fall-Sin
The fall-sin story is another one that Christians know how it goes however, to the non-
believer they are not sure. So to tell them about the fall of man and women should be an easy
explanation. The fall occurred because God gave simple instructions to the first man and woman
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and they failed to follow these instructions which in return was the fall which is now called sin.
Sin is what people do to fall out of the grace of God. This disobedience of God is shown in
Genesis 3, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit that God told them not to eat. Because of
this sin God banished Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden which to most people should be
easy to understand with this basic explanation. If people had questions after the explanation I
would use examples of things that have happened in my own personal life to show ways that I
had sinned and fell from the grace of God.
Promise-Covenant
To me this is the hardest part to explain as I have been around Christianity and believe
however, I have not studied the Bible as I should. However, I would think that to truly
understand the Bible is now just a bunch of different stories however it is not just a bunch of
different stories, all of the stories tell the one story of God. This story is told by those that
followed God and followed his word. Each story is its own covenant or promise to those
individuals from the creation to the new covenant of the savior Jesus.
Prophecies
The easiest way to talk about prophecies to the non-believer is to tell them that this is
how God communicates with the people that follow him. In Exodus 4:12, it says “now go; I will
help you speak and will teach you what to say.” God was telling Moses that he did not need to
worry about talking to the people of Egypt when he lead them out of Egypt towards the promise
land because God was there and he was talking to those people through Moses.
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Virgin Birth
Many people know about the Christmas and how it is the day when Christ was born to
the virgin Mary. However, there are those that are sceptics about how a baby could be born to a
virgin. This story is easy to tell though, all we have to tell is that Jesus was born to the virgin
Mary and that through the power of the Holy Spirit Mary became pregnant with Jesus. This story
is talked about in Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:26:38.
In Luke 1:26-38 the story started when Gabriel, an angel of God, came to talk to Mary
about being the mother of Jesus. He told her that God had chosen her to carry and raise the child
and that she would conceive the child as a virgin. Mary asked few questions but ultimately stated
“here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
In Matthew 1:18-25 the story continues with how Mary and Joseph were engaged and
about to move in together when Joseph had found out that Mary was pregnant. Just as Joseph
was about to leave Mary because he thought she had been unfaithful to him an angel appeared to
Joseph and explained the whole situation.
Incarnation
Incarnation is another topic that is difficult for me to explain. From what I have gathered
about it is how God is the divine person and created a union with human nature. Through Jesus
Christ, God became human.
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Deity
The definition of deity is a God or a Goddess, so using this simple definition it makes it
clear that Jesus is the deity to Christians. He has many names that many different religions call
him, but it is still the same that he is the deity to all
Jesus’ Life
Although the Gospel of the New Testament is a big part of the Christian faith explaining
the life of Jesus Christ is a most when talking to the non-believer. Jesus was born over 2000
years ago in a hay barn in Bethlehem, which is in Israel. He was born to a virgin mother, and
God was his father. Both his mother and her husband Joseph were Jewish and lived amongst the
Jews. During his life Jesus performed many miracles, healed people, provided counsel to those in
need, and taught about the teachings of God and his will for all up until his crucifixion.
Jesus’ Death
This story must people know as to why we celebrate Easter. Many think it is just another
reason to get presents and candy. But the many reason is to celebrate the time that Jesus arose
from the grave. This holiday starts on good Friday which is when Jesus was crucified. He was
crucified by the Romans and hung on a cross between two thieves. According to the Gospel of
Mark, Jesus died 6 hours after hanging on the cross. There are several scriptures that talk about
the death of Jesus and they are Matthew 27:34-36, Mark 15: 23-25, Luke 23: 33-34, and John 19:
18, 23-24.
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Resurrection
The resurrection is when we celebrate Easter Sunday. This is the day that Jesus arose
from the tomb by God to sit at his right side. Because of the resurrection we as Christians are
guaranteed to be resurrected ourselves when Jesus comes back to collect all who believes and
follows the Lord. The resurrection is mentioned in Corinthians 15: 3-41.
Ascension
The ascension is where Jesus left the tomb and Earth all together and went up to be in the
presence of the Lord. This great feet happened 40 days after the resurrection. Jesus told his
disciples to stay in Jerusalem and that he would come back in the form of the Holy Spirit to get
them one day. Once he said that he rose to the clouds and then there were two men that appeared
that told them that Jesus would one day come back just as he left and that he had gone to
Heaven. The ascension is mentioned in several passages: Acts 1:6-12, Luke 24: 50-53, and Mark
16:19-20 to name a few.
Return- The Second Coming
Jesus made the promise that he would return which is known as the second coming.
Nobody knows the exact date, some have predicted when the millennium came around that it
would happen then however, it did not. Nobody truly knows but it is known that Christ will come
back. Mark 13:32 says “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the father.” Everyone predicts that the end of days is coming however, in
Revelation 1:7 that every person on Earth will see Jesus upon his return. He will be seen like the
“brightness of lighting illuminating the entire sky from east to west” (Matthew 24:27).
Reconciliation
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Reconciliation by definition is the restoration of friendly relations. As Christians
reconciliation is also the result of atonement or the salvation through Christ. Once we have asked
for forgiveness of our sins and receive the salvation of Christ we have reconciliation with God.
Kingship
In Christianity kingship is looked at as the God as the King of all. He is the King of
Kings and the Lord of Lords. In the book of Luke it is documented that Jesus’ described it as the
Kingdom of God.
Conclusion
As I look at it the outline and what I mentioned above would work well with Atfah to
describe to her about what Christianity is all about. This is the way that I would explain things
that went on over the course of the Bible and why I am a believer in Christ. Being able to explain
things to Atfah in simple terms even though she is very intelligent, is the easiest way for her to
see the love and compassion that God has for his people.
