You Can’t Know God If You Don’t Know His Story
Most Christians own a Bible.
Many read it.
Very few, however, have ever read the story it tells.
Instead, we read verses.
We read favourite passages.
We read devotionals built around carefully selected texts.
And without realising it, we try to know God through fragments rather than through His story.
The Bible Is Not a Reference Book
It’s a Narrative
The Bible is not primarily a book of doctrines, principles, or inspirational quotes.
It is the unfolding story of God revealing Himself to humanity over time.
From Genesis to Revelation, Scripture records:
When we remove verses from that story, we often misunderstand both God’s nature and His intentions.
And when we misunderstand God’s nature, everything else becomes distorted:
The problem is not God.
The problem is that we have lost the context.
God Reveals Himself Progressively
One of the most important truths many Christians miss is this:
God does not reveal everything about Himself at once.
Scripture shows God revealing His nature progressively:
Jesus Himself acknowledged this when He said:
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
This means that some truths in Scripture are meant to be understood after formation, not before it.
When people encounter later theological conclusions—without having walked through the earlier story—they often react emotionally rather than spiritually.
The issue is not rebellion.
It is immaturity created by fragmentation.
Why Chronology Matters
Reading the Bible chronologically changes everything.
It allows you to see:
For example, concepts like sin, righteousness, grace, and immorality do not suddenly appear fully formed in the New Testament. They are introduced, demonstrated, warned against, and lived out across centuries.
By the time Paul writes Romans, he is not inventing doctrine—he is interpreting a long, lived history.
When you read Scripture as a story, God forms your heart before He confronts your behaviour.
Holiness Begins With Knowing the Holy One
Many Christians struggle with holiness because they try to pursue it without understanding God’s nature.
Holiness then becomes:
But Scripture never presents holiness as self-improvement.
It presents it as a response:
“Be holy, for I am holy.”
You cannot respond to a God you do not yet know.
And you cannot know Him deeply if you have only met Him in isolated verses.
Discipleship That Starts With Story
True discipleship is not primarily about:
It begins with encounter.
A simple but powerful approach to discipleship is this:
Read the story of God from beginning to end.
Meet regularly to discuss what you’ve read.
Let God reveal Himself at His pace.
It doesn’t matter how much or how little is read.
What matters is faithfulness, honesty, and openness.
This kind of discipleship removes performance pressure and allows God to do the forming.
Why This Matters Now
Many Christians today feel:
Often, the root issue is not unbelief—but lack of story.
They’ve been dropped into the middle of a narrative they were never taught to read from the beginning.
An Invitation, Not a Demand
This is not a call to abandon church, theology, or teaching.
It is an invitation to slow down.
To stop asking:
“What should I believe?”
And start asking:
“Who is God showing Himself to be?”
When we read the Bible as The Story of God, we stop trying to make Him fit our context—and instead allow our lives to be shaped by His.
Holiness then ceases to be a burden.
Faith becomes steadier.
Obedience becomes relational.
And God is no longer abstract—but known.
Because you cannot truly know God
if you do not understand His story.
Author: Mark Deavall
© Mark Deavall 2026