One: An Eternal Story
When you trusted in jesus…
Have you ever been completely drawn into a story? Maybe it was a compelling character, an unexpected plot twist or an inspirational ending—something that captured your mind, heart and imagination. Whether found in a book or movie, the news, or simply a family member or friend sharing something from their life, stories are everywhere. Yet the greatest stories, whether true or fictional, often have a hero that makes a sacrifice on behalf of others to save, redeem or protect them and their lives. You have probably experienced this narrative countless times, with stakes from the small and personal to the fate of the world, universe or even multiverse (looking at you, superhero fans). These stories help us to understand the world around us, inspire us, and communicate deep and profound truths and history. And while many of the most memorable and popular stories are fictional— in made-up lands, times and realities—there is one story with unimaginable stakes, sacrifice and redemption that also happens to be… true. Not only that, but you are a character that finds themselves within this grand narrative. When you trusted in Jesus, you became aware of the greatest story of all time.
This is the story of God and His relationship with us, His creation. Although the Bible consists of 66 separate books—written over thousands of years in several different literary genres—at its core, it tells a single, unified story. This story, about God and His Creation, covers not only the past but also the future, and we are presently seeing it unfold all around us every day. Just like most great movies, our story has a hero faced with an imminent threat to those He loves, requiring great courage and sacrifice to save the day.
In this case, Jesus is the hero and we—those whom He loves—are in eternal danger from our rebellion and sin against God and the selfish ways we abuse and sin against others. Our rebellion and sin have created a rift between us and God, a rift that only our hero can fix. Since there was no way for us to save ourselves, the only solution was for God to take on human flesh, live a perfect sinless life, and take upon Himself the punishment and death we deserved. This is the gospel, the good news of how Jesus, our hero, saved us from our helpless situation. He was crucified on the cross, dying a criminal’s death, even though He was the only truly innocent one. In that moment, He took our place of punishment that we might receive forgiveness and be restored in our relationship with God. Saved from our rebellion. Saved from our sin. Then three days later, He was raised to new life, conquering our greatest enemy, death.
At the current moment of our story, those who trust in Jesus not only experience the power of His saving work, but they also take part in the privilege of sharing it with others. Each day, we get to walk in our restored relationship with God and see Him working all around us, in us and through us, seeing others saved and restored. Yet, amid this great news, there is still much brokenness, and our mortal bodies will still eventually die, but God has revealed another part of the story as well. When we die, He has promised that we, too, will be raised to new life with Him into eternity. Not only that, but in the future, Jesus will come again to fully restore this broken world forever. This is the grand Eternal Story of which you are a part, each and every day!