The four main themes that interconnect the history of the Christian worldview are the four parts of the Christian biblical narrative; creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.

The four main themes that interconnect the history of the Christian worldview are the four parts of the Christian biblical narrative; creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.

Creation

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1, ESV). God is the Creator, and He creates a place that can be described with the Hebrew word ‘Shalom.’ Peace. The earth was full of God’s peace, with everything working according to His intention (Stetzer, 2012). God specially designed the living things and suited them perfectly for a created order where neither suffering nor death was present (Chapman, McNamara, Reiss & Waghid, 2014). Humans are the apex of God’s creation, unique and made in the image and likeness of God to be in an intimate relationship with Him (Genesis 1:26-27, ESV).

The Fall

In Genesis chapter 3, the creation story quickly changed. The devil took the form of a serpent and tempted Eve to disobey God. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit which God had commanded them not to eat, they disobeyed God. Sin entered the world, and all of creation fell. The rebellion of man against God was far-reaching in its effects, damaging everything, not just the living things, but also the natural world. The result of the fall included human death, and the originally good creation became under severe damage and prone to disaster. The fall affected the human race profoundly, and they lost the capacity they once had of being in perfect communion with God, as the sin separated them from God. However, they still have the image of God in their make up and still have the purpose of knowing God and loving and serving their fellow human being and the world where God placed them (Chapman, McNamara, Reiss & Waghid, 2014).

Redemption

After the fall, human beings alienated themselves from God and each other, rejecting God over and over. Nonetheless, God steadily invites humanity back into communion (Bryan, 2013). God intervenes in the problematic world in a new way when he called Abram and made a covenant with him. The focus of the narrative shifts from the sinfulness of humanity to God, who reveals himself as a covenant God. Through Abraham, God chooses a people for Himself, the nation of Israel, to bring back the whole humanity to Himself. He promises the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to be the Redeemer of humanity to bring them back to God in perfect communion (Glaser & Bock, 2018). The Lord Jesus Christ enters the narrative in the New Testament as the Redeemer, coming to reverse the effects of the fall through His life on earth and majorly through His death on the cross, the atoning sacrifice. He resurrects from the dead, and this is the first fruit; the redemptive process begins that will ultimately lead to the complete restoration of everything that was lost in the Fall (Chapman, McNamara, Reiss & Waghid, 2014).

Redemption

The ultimate redemption will not happen until the end of the age when Jesus Christ shall return, and the earth will be regenerated. Jesus will bring peace to the earth and establish a new heaven and a new earth, thus restoring creation to the state where it was before the fall. Revelation 21 gives a glimpse of what the restored creation will look like.

The Implications of the Christian Biblical Narrative

From the above narrative, the nature of God is clearly revealed as a loving God. Although we were alienated from Him, He has the boundless yearning to have us back.

From the narrative, it is evident that sickness and disease are derived in part from Genesis Chapter 2. God had warned Adam that if he ate from the tree of knowledge, he would surely die. When Adam and Eve disobeyed, they were condemned to die. Because of their sin, sickness, disease, and suffering became a reality in the world. The Old Testament has several instances when illness and death were a punishment by God for sin. There is, however, the story of Job where a righteous man suffers, not for sin, but by God’s will, showing that not all the cases of sickness, disease, and suffering were a punishment of sin.

From this narrative, one can find comfort and hope in the light of illness. The four parts of the narrative indicate how God loves humanity despite being the ones who rebelled against Him. God created humans being in His image and likeness, showing how special humanity is to God. Through the redemptive plan, God is restoring us to the original position and purpose, where there will be no suffering. In His ministry on earth, Jesus healed the sick of their diseases. Even now, there is still healing in the Name of Jesus. He came to redeem humanity, and as He lived among them before His death, He showed a lot of compassion towards those suffering, healing them of their diseases and showing every kind of care. He still cares for everyone even today, and in redemption, there will be no more suffering.