The Greatest Story
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13 (NIV)
When the first characters appear on a blank page, as writers, we fall in love with these two-dimensional people. Under our penmanship, they grow, taking on personalities of their own and making the story come alive. Then the struggles come. For better or for worse, everything builds to the climax until the last period in the final chapter, notifying that the work is complete, releases a swelling pride of accomplishment. It is finished!
To me, an amazing reality to ponder is how we are part of the greatest love story ever told. In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth and everything on the earth. Unbelievably when God created man and woman, He wanted a relationship with us. However, the plot thickens when our free will dampens the perfect world scenario and Adam and Eve fall into temptation and sin enters the world.
There have been countless times I’ve had to erase dialogue or scenes, because my characters no longer sounded or acted the way I first created them. They ended up being something totally different than what I anticipated. But I still had control of the book, and I still worked toward the desired ending. How much more does our Sovereign God have control over His story’s ending!
Nothing in the story of the world took God by surprise. He already had a plan for us in place even though we act out of our own free will. It takes a building up of events⎯prophecies of Jesus, Jesus being born, and Jesus teaching⎯to shake things up. This man claimed to be God in the flesh, the Savior of the world. Though many followed, many became angry. Ultimately, it was necessary for Jesus to die in order to make payment for the sins of the world. Then the climax. After Jesus’ sacrificial death in our place, he rose again on the third day to conquer death. It is finished! Death caused by sin no longer has to have a stronghold on us.
God is the ultimate Author. The story of this world is full of hurt and broken characters with a mind of our own, but God has already written the ending. Believing that God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to die for our sins opens up eternity with a relationship with a loving God. How do you want this story to end?
Dear God, I believe that you loved me so much that you gave your one and only son to die in my place for my sin. Thank you for that love, and help me to see the glorious ending to the story you’ve already written. Amen.
