Story - Part 2

Now, the King had a son. This son shared the love for the people that His father had. In fact, so great was His love for the people that He offered to take the punishment that the people deserved upon Himself. The King’s justice had to be enacted. But in order for the son to take the punishment for the people, He had to first discard His own royalty and humble Himself to the level of the people. You see, this was the King’s plan along. Through the humility of His son He would offer a payment for debts, so to speak, for those people who would choose to accept it. Sure enough, His son took on all of the limitations of mankind, and engaged with the rebel lord. In the end, the enemy destroyed the son, thinking he had won against another feeble attempt by the King to take back the hearts of His people. But it wasn’t over. Because of His willingness to suffer for the sake of the guilty, death itself could not hold Him. He returned to His father’s side, leaving behind a handful of people who now knew the truth. These people would begin to tell others of the son’s sacrifice, and the freedom that accepting that sacrifice brought. Slowly, the truth would begin to spread, burning up the deceit and darkness that the enemy had released on mankind. For years afterwards, the Truth would lay low, almost hidden, yet slowly pushing back the seemingly overwhelming tide of deception. The final victory would be long in coming, but slowly and surly the King would raise up His people, in their weakness and vulnerability, to become the very force that would overthrow the reign of deception brought about by the enemy. And one day, the enemy himself will be defeated once and forever, at the hands of the son. Out of defeat, the King brought victory. Out of failure, the King brought success. Out of weakness, the King brought strength.
You see, this isn’t just some fairytale. This is God’s story; the one that He wrote, and knows the beginning from the ending. This is the story of how He, in His wisdom and goodness, raised up, and continues to raise up, His people to overcome the darkness and deception of the enemy. This is the story of how through the apparent weakness, limitations, and vulnerability of His Son, Jesus, the ultimate victory has already been won.
If you remember, I mentioned that I wanted to offer a challenge, a new way to look at life, one that would bring greater purpose and meaning. You know, we tend to live our lives as if we were the only ones that mattered. Oh sure, we love and are loyal to our families and friends, maybe even those we attend church with, those we work with, or those living around us, but in the end, do we genuinely care about those outside of our sphere of influence? Let me put it in perspective for you. So we have the big, overarching story, God’s story, but who is it that make up all of the little pieces and parts of that story? We do. Each of us lives our own story. But not just our own story, because our stories intertwine with the stories of those around us, and their stories intertwine with those around them, until you have one long strand, the small stories of every individual who ever lived, that makes up His story. We are story, and we contribute to the stories of those around us, for good or for bad. We are story, and we are part of a much greater story, one that will last forever. Because when the final chapter closes, and the enemy is defeated, those who stood by the King and His son will begin a new chapter, one filled with joy like we have no idea, and this chapter can never end. This is where all of our individual stories come together for good. This is story.