The Power of Chronology
No one would begin watching a movie or reading a novel from the middle. The context of the story would be lost and storyline confusing. However, when it comes to the Bible, because the Old and the New Testaments focus on two different eras, and because Christians are focused on the life and transforming power of Jesus, most people begin with the New Testament.
This non-chronological, or out of order, approach can leave a person with lack of understanding of the backstory - the foundation provided by what came first in the Old Testament.
Ethnos 360 (formerly New Tribes Mission) learned about the power of chronological teaching as God used missionary Mark Zook to reveal Himself to the to the Mouk people of Papua New Guinea. Zook presented God's Word to the Mouk people in a clear and chronological way. The result, documented in the Ethnos 360 videos EE-Taow: The Mouk Story and EE-Taow: The Next Chapter, was that this violent tribe of people was transformed by God and His Word.
As missionaries discovered the effectiveness of chronological teaching, the Lord also prompted an artist, a film-maker and a writer to produce God's Story: From Creation to Eternity using this same chronological approach. By sharing God's transforming message from the beginning and continuing the story chronologically, God's Story allows viewers and listeners to learn of God in the order through which He revealed himself. The context for people's need of forgiveness, redemption and reconciliation with God is established, and the purpose for the coming of Jesus is more clearly understood. This provides listeners with a solid foundation upon which to begin a new life in Christ through repentance and forgiveness of sin.
God's Story proves to be a powerful tool both for discipleship and evangelism. The chronological approach used in God's Story helps reduce syncretism (the merging of two or more different beliefs) because people recognize Jesus as the one and only God.