The Narrative of Redemption

Have you every considered that the Gospel is a part of a much bigger narrative? I was reminded of this when I considered how much of Jewish history was passed down through oral tradition. This is why when you read the Bible that much of the history is presented in narrative form. Unlike a history book, the Bible doesn't gives you dates & facts. Instead, the writings tell a story. During this holiday season, I want you to consider the coming of Christ as crucial to the narrative of man's redemption. The WORD was made flesh & dwelt among us.

Rather than retell the story, I want to help you with the perspective. The Incarnation of Christ set in motion events that would change everything in the world. Your story is tied to His in more ways than you may understand. Jesus is the hope of the world, not just the Christian.

I want you to consider being born into a Jewish family during biblical days. The story of man's creation, fall, and the promise of the coming Seed would be a practical part of your upbringing. The hope of a coming Messiah who would deliver Israel once & for all would be commonplace to your faith. They had heard the promises of God. They knew that the Seed of the woman would one day crush the head of the serpent. They had heard the stories of a coming Savior. This was normal faith during the days before Christ.

The narrative after the coming of Christ changed dramatically. The story of man's creation & fall would still be a part of the narrative. However, the promise of the Father & the prophecies of His servants had been fulfilled. The promised Seed had come & the serpents head had been crushed. The virgin had conceived & delivered a Son. He had lived a perfect life in relationship to the Father. He died a cruel death and was raised from the dead. His death, burial, & resurrection ushered in a new age for humanity. We had been redeemed.

When you begin to look at the Gospel in narrative form, you can clearly see how Jesus changed everything. You begin to see the coming of the Christ as a child, the taking on of flesh, the life He led, the ministry He performed, and His finished work in a whole new light. What Jesus did, He did for all of humanity. Period. What Jesus accomplished, He accomplished for all of us. It may not fit neatly into our doctrinal stances, but it fits perfectly into the narrative of God. This is why Paul could write the words, "before the foundation of the world..." God always had a plan. He knew the fall of Adam & Eve would take place. The promise of the Seed was not a reaction to their sin, but the response of His will. If the Father were telling the story, He could easily say that He created them - they fell - but I redeemed them.

The Apostles & the Early Church carried this message of the Good News. IT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED!!! The Seed has come. The enemy has been crushed. We have been reconciled to the Father. The question still remains: Will you believe?

What is so important about believing?

What you believe determines how you live. You can rest in the finished work of Christ or you can somehow try to be reconciled to the Father through your own efforts. You can eat freely from the Tree of Life or you can try to work it out. You can embrace the Father's demonstration of love through Jesus, or you can embrace a religious system. It is quite a game changer. The Father knew humanity was lost. He knew that were trapped in the darkness. He knew they were separated from Him in they way they thought. He came to restore, to redeem, & to rescue.

I ask you to look at the Gospel as a part of the narrative of God & humanity. The Gospel is the GOOD NEWS portion. When you do that, you understand why the coming of Christ was announced as "Good Tidings of Great Joy that will be unto All People." If mankind were left to our own devices, our own way of thinking, & our own systems of religion, the narrative would look much different. However, in the Father's narrative of His creation, Jesus changed everything.

Religion today has robbed the narrative of its power & beauty. It has kept us bound in the fall of Adam & fails to see us in the light of Christ's finished work. It makes us the center of attention rather than the centrality of Christ. This is especially true in our Western Culture. It's time for us to recapture the wonder, the sheer excitement, and joy of the Father's heart. It's time to see ourselves included & invited to participate in relationship with the Father. May we no longer be unbelievers of the Father's goodness, but my our hearts burst with gratitude for His unfailing love. It's the narrative of our redemption. It is the Greatest Story ever told.