November 25th, 2025
Most of our lives are lived with a limited perspective. This is true of our faith lives especially. It might be troubling for us or challenging, but it is not to God. God's been dealing with human limitedness since creation. What's troubling, for us and God according to the Biblical narrative, is when we in our limitedness can't see a wider perspective, insisting we have the right or total perspective.
The magnificent story of the gospel is something that is beyond our human capacity to fully understand. And yet, God draws us in more deeply through his beauty, goodness, and revealing his truth to us. And the story of the gospel has been understood and told from many different angles throughout Christian history. It is so magnificent that we need to listen to, or be reminded of, the whole chorus of 2,000 years of Christian living and thought. There are some ancient Christian perspectives that just might be clearer than what we know or think 2,000 years removed. This is what the book, The Magnificent Story is trying to do. Our understanding of the story of God is all the more magnificent when we allow ourselves to read, listen, and reflect without fear or judgment.
After all it's a story about the Father, Son, and Spirit who have made us in their image. Our rebellion and the power of sin are no deterrent for God, and so God entered into our humanity to give us life and restore us through Christ. This was not for us to avoid punishment; the story is not about us and our destination. It's about God and God's goodness and glory, from beginning to end. It's about God bringing life into death, light into darkness. We are restored in Christ because our purpose is to reflect God's glory. This is what we were made for; this is what God has always planned. The end of the story is the beauty, goodness, and truth of God on full display in new creation and in us! Until then, we wait...our lives are on the magnificent journey toward new creation!
Just as it was the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
The magnificent story of the gospel is something that is beyond our human capacity to fully understand. And yet, God draws us in more deeply through his beauty, goodness, and revealing his truth to us. And the story of the gospel has been understood and told from many different angles throughout Christian history. It is so magnificent that we need to listen to, or be reminded of, the whole chorus of 2,000 years of Christian living and thought. There are some ancient Christian perspectives that just might be clearer than what we know or think 2,000 years removed. This is what the book, The Magnificent Story is trying to do. Our understanding of the story of God is all the more magnificent when we allow ourselves to read, listen, and reflect without fear or judgment.
After all it's a story about the Father, Son, and Spirit who have made us in their image. Our rebellion and the power of sin are no deterrent for God, and so God entered into our humanity to give us life and restore us through Christ. This was not for us to avoid punishment; the story is not about us and our destination. It's about God and God's goodness and glory, from beginning to end. It's about God bringing life into death, light into darkness. We are restored in Christ because our purpose is to reflect God's glory. This is what we were made for; this is what God has always planned. The end of the story is the beauty, goodness, and truth of God on full display in new creation and in us! Until then, we wait...our lives are on the magnificent journey toward new creation!
Just as it was the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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