FROM CREATION TO NEW CREATION
By Tim Chester
Paternoster Press. 175 pages
ISBN 1 84227 204 7
Bible overviews are a growth industry. Unlike the situation 25 years ago, it is easy to find books, written at a popular level, that paint 'the big picture' of God's plan of salvation as it unfolds in Scripture. The latest edition of the FIEC's Table Talk discusses the benefits of Bible overviews in the light of several relevant publications currently available. If Tim Chester's book From Creation to New Creation had appeared in time, it could well have figured in the Table Talk list of recommended reading.
Chapter 1 of this book recounts the sublime story of our redemption from Genesis to Revelation. The next four chapters cover the same ground thematically by tracing the development of promises concerning God's people, a place of divine blessing, king and kingdom, and blessing to the nations. The approach is somewhat reminiscent of Graeme Goldsworthy's Gospel and Kingdom; but it is not simply a rehash of the same material.
Links between promise and fulfilment are shown at appropriate points, and there are plenty of diagrams giving the reader a bird's eye view of all or part of the Bible story from different angles. Scripture passages are helpfully interwoven with the exposition.
A second edition could correct some 20 misprints and include the index of Scripture references in the table of contents. Perhaps, to avoid possible misunderstanding, it should also rephrase one important sentence: 'Trusting the law and living accordingly brought salvation just as trusting the gospel does' (page 100).
This book will be of real value to any Christian who desires to grasp 'the big picture'. It provides a reliable road map through God's Word, with a fine balance between broad brush treatment and illuminating detail. Is anything more uplifting than seeing how our heavenly Father plans to take his people from creation to new creation?
Derek Bigg,
Haywards Heath Evangelical Free Church
