An Epic Love Story

            In the grand story that the Scriptures narrate, more and more of God’s story to mankind is revealed.  Chapter one reveals the God of the universe displaying His power and attributes in His creation.  Chapter two unveils the villain — Satan.  Chapter two describes what happens in the Garden as Satan approaches Adam and Eve.  We learn that Satan continues his rebellion against God through the power of an idea.  This idea is unveiled as Satan suggests that God is holding out on them.  At the heart of the first temptation and sin, Satan insinuates that their choice of disobedience is really a good thing to do.  Satan dangles the suggestion: You will be wise like God. You will know what God knows. You can call the shots like God does.  At the end of chapter two, evil has entered the story in a dreadful form.  Because of Satan’s deception, God’s heart and character are called into question.  Now the stage is set for chapter three.

If chapter one of God’s majestic narrative reveals an amazing God, and chapter two describes a sinister villain, chapter three tells us about God’s marvelous creation.  God’s creation unfolds like a great work of art, a masterpiece in the making.  Just as you can learn about an artist by the art he creates or an author by the stories he tells, you learn much about God as you consider this creation.  This world shouts that God is more creative than we can ever imagine.  When God first spoke this universe into existence, it was described as formless.  While creating this material universe out of nothing is a grand demonstration, God was only just starting.  As God moves and shapes His creation, we see light and darkness, the heavens and the earth, the land and the sea.  Next comes the realms of forest and meadow.  Tulips and pine trees.  Then follows the animal kingdom in its vast array.  Camels, penguins, turtles, and whales give hints to God’s inventiveness.  Then something truly astonishing takes place.  Consider the words of Scripture in Genesis 1:26-27>>Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”  While we live in a world that often takes our breath away, how much more breathtaking must those first days of creation have been?  Let me suggest that our minds, senses, and imaginations have become dulled as we live our lives.  We take so much for granted.  Perhaps it is better said that our enemy, Satan, still works at distorting our vision and hardening our hearts.  This third chapter of God’s epic describes a creation filled with life and potential.

In this chapter of God’s drama, we see God bestowing great glory on mankind.  All of us, men and women, were created in the image of God.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made (as Scripture says).  We are living icons of the Living God.  Those who have ever stood before Him fall to their knees without even thinking.  As we would find ourselves breathless at seeing the Grand Canyon, a beautiful sunrise, or standing on a cliff overlooking the ocean, so it would be if we stood before God.  We have all been told that this world has been cursed by sin and marred by sinful activities.  I think we would be blessed if we took some time to consider the original glory of this world and the blessings that God has bestowed.  Mankind was crowned with glory and honor. Consider: Why does a woman long to be beautiful? Why does a man hope to be noble and brave?  Because we remember, if only faintly, that we were once more than we are now.

God created us in His image, with powers like unto his own.  The ability to reason, to create, to share intimacy, to know joy.  He gives us laughter, wonder, and imagination.  Above all else, He endows us with that one quality for which He is most known — to know and experience love.  The sad truth is that our enemy, Satan, has corrupted what we think about love.  Our enemy works hard to brainwash humanity into believing that they are beyond love.  Let me challenge you to read God’s word and learn God’s grand story.  We are loved not because we are so good; rather, we are loved because God is so good.  We are blessed and strengthened when we take His story to heart.  Keep looking up!