• In the beginning, God takes an unordered world that is covered in water and brings beauty out of it. Another way to describe this unordered world is “chaos.” Label the beginning of the curve “Chaos.”
• He invites people to partner with Him in cultivating and filling earth with the ways of heaven, starting with the Garden of Eden. Find the first hill with the man and woman on it. Label that hill “Garden of Eden.”
• Humans have a choice to make. Will they trust God’s wisdom in cultivating the earth? Or will they define good and evil for themselves? God tests them by giving them all the trees in the garden – except for the one tree that will cause them to define good and evil for themselves. A serpent enters the story and encourages the humans to doubt God and go their own way. After they eat from the one tree that didn’t belong to them, God has the humans leave the garden for their own protection. (Another word for this is exiled. This is important for a later part of the story). Because they failed the test in the garden, label the first downward slope “Fail.”
• The choice to define good and evil for themselves causes a disaster. Whole cities redefine evil as good. But God doesn’t end the story there. Instead, He promises to put His plan back on track. He promises to restore humans as partners who reflect His character and ways, let us back into the Garden, and partner with us to cultivate earth with the ways of heaven. That starts with God covering the land with water again and rescuing the one family who still wants to partner with him. Label the water at the bottom of the hill with the word “Flood.”
• Next, you’ll see a series of hills and valleys. Each of these hills represents God inviting representatives of humanity to partner with Him in His mission to heal humanity and fill earth with the ways of heaven. We’ll label these after we watch another video.
• The figure with the cloth and bowl represents Jesus. On the line above Jesus, write “Jesus.”
• The stars on the page represent various stories and people in the Bible. Connect the big stars to make an arrow that points to Jesus. This arrow reminds us that the Bible is one unified story that points to Jesus.
• The storyline of the Bible ends with God completing His mission to partner with humanity and fill earth with the ways of heaven. Find the people on the far right side of the page. Write “New Creation” with an arrow pointing to the right. “New Creation” is another way of saying “the complete overlap of earth with heaven.” The renewal of creation began with Jesus. The Bible talks about how if we are “in Christ”, we get to join him in this work.
• Recommended: Put this page in the front pocket of a clear binder and start your own Bible Binder! 

Note: this family guide is longer than our other family guides. It may work best for your family to complete part 2 at a later time.

Part 2: Covenants

Another way to talk about joining Jesus in this work is to say we are in a covenant partnership.

The Bible talks a lot about covenants. It even talks about God’s relationship with humanity in the Garden of Eden as a covenant relationship (see Hosea 6:7).

Each of the hills on our Storyline is centered around a covenant that God made with human representatives. These covenant stories are the key to understanding the rest of the stories in the Bible. 

As we watch the next video, pay attention to the role that a garden plays in each covenant.