Knit Together – The Bible always has a bigger picture in mind than we do: each book of the Bible, each story in every book, and each paragraph of every story is part of something larger than themselves. Additionally, the Bible should be read through a Christocentric lens.

The Bible has 66 books with over forty authors written over 1,500 years covering the entirety of human history – and if we ignore the fact that each book fits with the overall story we’re missing some really big ideas!

2 Timothy 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

Genesis 3:14-15
14 So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”

Infidels.org
“Snakes, while built low, do not eat dirt.”

Luke 10:18
[Jesus said], “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

Revelation 12:9
the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Example of Knit Together:
The Bible begins in Genesis with a story about a snake being crushed and it isn’t fulfilled until thousands of years later in the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John when Jesus dies and rises again.

Deuteronomy 10:14
To the Lord your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.

Matthew 4:8-9
The devil took [Jesus] to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

Psalm 115:16
The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.

Deuteronomy 22:9-11
9 Do not plant two kinds of seed in your vineyard; if you do, not only the crops you plant but also the fruit of the vineyard will be defiled.
10 Do not plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together.
11 Do not wear clothes of wool and linen woven together.
12 Make tassels on the four corners of the cloak you wear.

Tony Evans
The common theme in these verses is the mixing of unlike things. Teaching the Israelites to recognize distinctions would help them see the importance of being holy and distinct in a sinful world. Paul uses a similar idea to Do not plow with an ox and a donkey together when he warns believers not to enter into partnership with unbelievers…

2 Corinthians 6:14
14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

Theological terms: A shadow is a fuzzy picture of the reality. The Old Testament contains many shadows (or “types”) of the REALITY shown in the New Testament, or to be shown in Heaven. These shadows are real-life metaphors, analogies, etc.

Christocentric: Part of the Bible being “knit together” is understanding that Jesus Christ is pointed to, alluded to, and the point throughout all of Scripture. He is the reality of many shadows and to understand Scripture we should look through his eyes.

William Estrep
For all Anabaptists the Bible was the only rule of faith and practice for discipleship and the church. Biblical revelation was held to be progressive. The Old Testament was preparatory and partial, whereas the New Testament was final and complete. All of the Scriptures, they insisted, must be interpreted Christological, that is, through the mind of Christ.
The Anabaptist Story, p196

To properly understand Scripture we must see Jesus as the pinnacle of both Old and New Testaments, and all Scripture pointing towards his life, death, and resurrection as the way of life and belief for us.

Genesis 22:2
Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.”

John 3:16
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Why did God command Abraham to sacrifice his son? Foreshadowing that is supposed to make us horrified: “Why would he sacrifice his only son whom he loved? That’s a huge loss!” Then we’re supposed to look at Jesus and realize “God sacrificed his only son whom he loved FOR US!!!” It shows us the depths of the sacrifice (plus God actually stopped Abraham before he did it).

PRACTICAL:
If I want to go deeper I should buy a commentary, or get the Logos.com software.

If I want to get into deep waters I have to have the right equipment. Some good beginner equipment is the Quest Study Bible. I can find more at http://truthrevolution.tv/know-the-bible/

When I find something difficult to understand, I should look for connections between parts of the Bible.

If people are finding weird connections and “hidden meanings” that is not good and not what knit together means.

I should see all Scripture through the “red words” of Jesus Christ. He is the pinnacle of it all.

John 1:3-4
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

Acts 13:39
Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

Colossians 1:15-20
The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.