One of my favorite topics to think about and discuss is the gospel. It is the all encompassing teaching of scripture, the ultimate revelation of God. All that God would have us know about himself, the world we live in, and ourselves is contained in it.

With that in mind, it amazes me to realize that the gospel is fundamentally a story. It has characters, a protagonist and antagonist, setting, themes, motifs, and of course, plot. In fact, the stages of the gospel, often described as creation, fall, redemption, consummation, correspond to the fundamental aspects of plot: creation/exposition, fall/conflict, old covenant/rising tension, cross/climax, new covenant/resolution.

The question is, which came first? Does the gospel conform to basic plot structure, or does story flow out of the plot structure of the gospel? It’s obvious that I think the gospel came first. The very possibilty for stories comes from the fact that God’s highest and most eminent revelation of himself is itself a story.