I’ve been dipping in and out of this book for the last few weeks, and I’m impressed:

Michael Williams. How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens: A Guide to Christ-Focused Reading of Scripture. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012.

It’s concisely lists four items for each book of the Bible:

1. “the overarching theme”
2. “how that theme ultimately finds its focus in Jesus Christ” and “how this focus in Christ is subsequently elaborated upon in the New Testament” (i.e., “The Jesus Lens”)
3. “what that fulfillment in Christ must necessarily entail for believers” (i.e., “Contemporary Implications”)
4. “ways to communicate those entailments to others effectively” (i.e., “Hook Questions”). (p. 10)

Williams adds,

Available spring of 2012! The course from which this book arose will be available online to visitors at https://www.calvinseminary.edu/continuingEd/openCourse.php. Enjoy a video presentation of the details of each biblical book with music, images, author narration, and in-depth analysis. (p. 10)

Endorsements:

• Douglas J. Moo, Wessner Chair of Biblical Studies, Wheaton College: “Michael Williams has written a book that is badly needed: a survey of all the books of the Bible that shows how they work together to point toward Jesus Christ. While reflecting solid research, the book is readable and attractively packaged, making it accessible to almost any reader.”
• Kelly M. Kapic, Professor of Theological Studies, Covenant College: “To understand God we look to his Word, and to understand his Word we are dependent on the Old and New Testaments. What we discover is that amid the many stories is an underlying Story, which leads us to Jesus, Immanuel. Michael Williams ably goes book by book, offering suggestive and stimulating ways for us to see Christ as the climax of the story; from this vantage point he then offers contemporary implications that should inform our lives. Let Williams begin to shape the way you read the whole Bible, seeing it all in light of Jesus the Messiah.”
• Justin Taylor, Managing Editor, ESV Study Bible: “Average Bible readers—like me—want to answer three overarching questions when they read God’s Word: What’s the big idea in each book? How does each book point to Jesus? How does each book speak to contemporary life? In this concise and well written book, Michael Williams deftly guides us to the right answers. Few books do a better job of giving us an overview of Genesis to Revelation in such a compact way. This is the sort of book I’d love to have in the hands of every member of my church!”
• Ronald Youngblood, Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Hebrew, Bethel Seminary San Diego: “The basic intention underlying this succinct treatment of every book in the Bible is to examine each of them in order to expound for modem pilgrims what Jesus had already explained to two distraught followers on the road to Emmaus two millennia ago: ‘what was said in all the Scriptures concerning
  himself’ (Luke 24:27). In that effort, author Michael Williams succeeds admirably. Using crisp, contemporary, and often humorous language, he invites us to focus our attention on the major theme of each of the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments in a mere four or five pages apiece. The middle section of each of these brief chapters is entitled ‘The Jesus Lens,’ in which Williams zeros in on how every biblical book contributes to the centrality of Christ as the unquestionably dominant and infinitely most important figure in Holy Scripture. To be sure, How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens is a captivating and challenging read in its own right. But I am delighted as well to recommend it without reservation not only because of its impeccable scholarship but also because it is both solidly evangelical and stunningly evangelistic.”