From Creation to New Creation

"From Creation to New Creation" is a great book! It is a clear and concise survey of the Bible's grand story, helping the reader discern the coherence and unity of God's word from the OT to the NT. Chester helps the reader see the reality that the whole Bible centers on God's promise fulfilled in Christ.

This book is an excellent introduction to Biblical Theology. We so often read the bible piecemeal, particularly the OT, that we lose sight of the massive history, significance and continuity of the whole story. Understanding that story, and our place in it (it's an unfinished work!) motivates and inspires us to faith and courage.

The concept of the Bible as story is a popular one these days. With the publication of The Jesus Storybook Bible, The Big Picture Story Bible, and others like it, parents and grandparents are seeing the cloud of confusion surrounding the cohesion of the Bible begin to lift as they read aloud. Books of this nature geared toward adults are getting attention. Graeme Goldsworthy's book, According to Plan (written on this subject in 1991 before it was popular), is gaining a new audience and D.A. Carson's The God Who is There comes at concept from a fresh angle by drawing the reading to think about his/her place in God's story.Of the books stacking up on the subject, few will have heard of Tim Chester's From Creation to New Creation. This is an unfortunate reality, for it may well be the most useful one to date. What do I mean? While Carson's book makes for an engaging read, sometimes leading one to forget he's reading theology, Chester's book reads more like a syllabus or a manual for understanding the storyline of the Bible. The strength of this approach is in its organization and search-ability. I enjoyed Carson's book, but unless I can commit to reading it all the way through again, I'm not sure how often I'll pick it up. This book, however, makes it easy to pop into a specific motif in the story and get the basic information you need without a lot of sifting.Chester follows the motifs of a people who know God, a place of blessing, a King and a kingdom, and blessing to the nations and brings them all together under the umbrella of God's promise fulfilled in Christ. While not afraid to quote much Scripture, and often longer passages, Chester acts as a guide to the reader, making comments on important texts that highlight these different themes. As I did, many readers will also appreciate Chester's helpful diagrams and his straight-forward, no fluff writing style, but there's one thing that would have topped things off nicely: a conclusion that summarizes the content of the book and shows the cohesiveness of the story themes. The book ended a bit abruptly and I found myself craving a reminder.What I love about Chester's book is that it's great for getting the information. If you need information to be a bit more seasoned for the sake of palatability, you may want to choose another book like Carson's. But for teachers who need user-friendly resources for study and anyone who appreciates simplicity and succinctness, I highly recommend it.[...]

In this book Tim Chester traces the theme of the Abrahamic Promise through the Bible in a clear and engaging manner as he has done with all of his works. What I appreciate most is that Chester takes the complexity of Reformed Biblical Theology (the themes of Promise and Fulfillment and The Kingdom of God) and lays it out where it is simple enough for a new believer to understand and insightful enough for pastors and theologians to enjoy. Chapter 1 begins by laying out the story of the promise of salvation, where the author traces the theme of God's promise through the Bible. This is repeated in the subsequent chapters in regards to the promises of: a people who know God, a land of blessing, a king and a kingdom, and a blessing to the nations. He concludes with a brief chapter on blessing and curse. All of God's promises are fulfilled in Christ our king. For those who are familiar with Neo-Calvinist or Dutch-Reformed literature, Chester summarizes and synthesizes the more complex works of Graeme Goldsworthy, Vaughan Roberts, Albert Wolters, and the missional theology of Chris Wright among others. The book is 170 pages long but it reads relatively fast Chester cites entire Scripture passages onto each page. He also includes helpful charts and diagrams. This is a great read and I highly recommend it.

I have read this book many times and I never grow tired of it. With a Bible in hand, it is one of the best human guides I could recommend as a pastor and long time Bible student.

I am a great fan of Tim Chester’s writings. With a lot of theologians you lose interest as they go on and on and round and round. Tim Chester has the ability to say a great deal in relatively few words and to speak to the heart as well as the head. He is a blessing to the whole Church. I hope he keeps writing.