The Plotline: Christ’s Suffering and Glory

What is Bible study? Bible study is learning from God about the line that connects His eternal purpose to the completion of that purpose at the end of time as we know it. Bible study is the Spiritual act of seeing more clearly and grasping more deeply the plotline of God’s story of redemption in Christ. The story is not static, but dynamic. It is not monolithic, but multifaceted. It moves. It develops. It has stages like a seed to sprout to sapling to shade treed. There is always unity in what God is doing, but there is also diversity along the way. The more we grasp this plotline, the more we will grasp God’s will for our lives. As we grasp His will for our lives more and more, we, by faith and the Spirit’s power, are empowered to live for Him more and more. First we must hear God’s Word. Then we can live according to God’s Word. Both the hearing and living come from Christ. Both are gifts to be enjoyed by grace through faith.

Think of a novel with one main point or a play about one major event. The chapters are not all the same. The acts and scenes differ from each other. But all the diversity does not do away with the story’s unity. The diverse steps and scenes, rather, serve the story’s unity. They explain the one main story in an unfolding way. They move in a meaningful and purposeful way toward a conclusion. The Bible’s story works this way also. There are different eras, or epochs of redemptive history. From era to era, God moves closer and closer, with purpose and careful design, to fulfilling his eternal purpose and dwelling with his people forever. The eras are distinct but related one to another.

Jesus helps us begin to think about these eras in a simple way. He used two simple concepts, two “steps” to summarize the Bible’s story at the most basic level. Jesus summarized the Bible’s plotline as the story of His suffering and glory. This is a good place to begin. The story of redemption in Christ unfolds in a story about Christ’s suffering unto glory. In the Old Testament, it is promised, predicted, and prefigured. In the New Testament, it is fulfilled and realized.

What does the Bible say? It says about Jesus’ teaching, “‘Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ ²⁷And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:26-27; cf. Luke 24:44-47). Peter likewise explained how the Prophets, “predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories” (1 Peter 1:11; n.b. 10-12; cf. Acts 3:13-18). The author of Hebrews uses the same framework to summarize Christ’s work. “For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10; cf. Hebrews 5:8-9; 9:24-26). Finally, John sees a symbolic vision that communicates the same thing. He “saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain” (Revelation 5:6), that symbolizes “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, [who] has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” He saw, in other words, the One who suffered unto glory to accomplish God’s purpose of redemption. These are but the clearest examples.

Christ Jesus suffered unto glory to save sinners. This summarizes the two most basic concepts, or “steps” in the Bible’s plotline. This is how the story unfolds. This is how redemption in Christ is accomplished.

Step one, Jesus endured suffering on earth.

Step two, Jesus entered glory in heaven.

This gives us a good footing for further Bible study. This is how Jesus summarizes the plotline that connects God’s eternal purpose with the end of time as we know it.

Conclusion

Remember that the Bible tells the story of redemption. We think about Jesus’ suffering and glory, therefore, as redemptive in nature. Jesus experienced redemptive suffering. Second, Jesus experienced (and still experiences) redemptive glory. This means that his suffering and glory are the very things that achieve God’s purposed redemption. They fulfill God’s purpose. They save sinners. They bring the end of the world as we know to our doorstep. Jesus suffered and was glorified for the glory of God and the salvation of sinners.

Where does eternal life come from? Eternal life comes from Jesus sharing his glory with undeserving sinners. It is the glory of resurrection life. It is Jesus giving you and I that which he earned. Ineffable mercy! To say this gift is profound does not scratch the surface. It is immeasurably undeserved and immeasurably wonderful. Thank you, Jesus (Ephesians 2:7; 3:18-19)!