What if we had the whole story...God's whole story? What if God told us His plans for human history...and how we fit into it?
The good news is that He has. The Bible is His message to the human race, and it is an amazing book. It is rooted in tremendous levels of evidence in the long history of the human race, including geographical locations, the movements of nations, and the psychological reality of each human soul, and our terrible need for the meaning that only God can provide.
Imagine it. The first man and woman lived in a glorious Garden. They had lives of perfect rest and happiness. They never had to worry about having enough food, about bad weather or illness or growing old. It was a world of endless bliss.
The story of the Old Testament is a beautiful one. Yet it is sad story. It is the tale of an amazing Kingdom that was invaded by the poisonous enemy of its righteous King. The worst part was that the King’s own servants betrayed Him.
One of the amazing things about the story of the Bible is the way it is grounded in real human history. The places the Bible mentions can be found on a map. The ruins of towns listed by Scripture thousands of years ago are still there.
There are many ways that humans have viewed the world. In our deep hunger for meaning and purpose, we tend form beliefs into systems that make sense of all the different aspects of human life. Are we karmic souls, moving from life to life, that will one day enter into a cosmic pool as a drop of water joins the ocean? Are humans and animals and stars simply masses of chemicals that will decompose at death?
A Day is coming that will be the end of everything...or at least everything as we know it. The timing of the End of Time will not be chosen by rulers in the human realm, national politics, environmental disruption, or a chance collision with meteors from space.
Imagine meeting someone who told you things you had never heard before...things that you somehow knew were true. What if He started doing things that nobody else could do...healing the blind, making paralyzed people walk, bringing the insane to their right minds?
When you read the genealogy of Christ that begins the first chapter of the New Testament, it is like reading a very short version of the history of the whole Old Testament.
When Matthew wrote his book about the life of Jesus, he started by showing how the ancestors of Jesus went all the way back to Abraham. God had promised Abraham that through his descendants, He would bless all the nations of the world.
The book of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. Many believe that when the early Church was deciding which of the Gospels should be first in the New Testament, they chose Matthew because he did such a good job showing the bridge between the New Testament and the Old Testament.
It was a remarkable event. The angel Gabriel was sent by God from the throne room of Heaven to proclaim the Lord’s plan to Zechariah. Zechariah would have a son who would be like the prophet Elijah of old.
When the angel Gabriel came to Mary, she was living up in the north of Israel, in the town of Nazareth a few miles from the Sea of Galilee. When she realized the amazing thing that God was going to do in her, she went away from her hometown.
She had spent her life watching the Lord give other women beautiful children while she remained childless. And then the miracle came. An angel came to her husband and said that she was not only going to have a baby, but that her son was going to have a special role in God’s great, unfolding plan to save humanity from itself.
How strange it must have seemed to Joseph. He was supposed to be engaged to Mary. At that time in Israel, the parents decided who their children would marry. Good parents tried to make sure their child would be happy with their choice. Once both sets of parents agreed upon the marriage, the commitment was legally binding.
It must have been pretty amazing when the shepherds showed up with stories about heralding angels and the light of God’s glory shining all around them. As Mary held the Lord Jesus and washed His tiny hands and feet, what did she think of these grand events?
When Prince William and his bride had their babies, it was on the cover of every newspaper and magazine. The fame and glamour of the royal couple make them fascinating. What is interesting is that they don't actually have a lot of real power or influence.
Imagine it. One evening you are at home with your family and there is a knock at the door. When you open it, there are many strangers standing there. They are not only strange because you have never met them before, but because they look different than anyone you have ever seen.
Have you ever tried to explain something that was so epically amazing that you couldn't quite put it into words? Sometimes I think that's what the Apostle John faced.
What do you do with your words? I've got to admit that sometimes the phrase "talk is cheap" is a good description for the things I take the trouble to say. If the Bible is right (and I believe it is) then we can know that the opposite is true of God.
