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God’s Big Story
Man.
God took one of the man’s ribs and formed his perfect
counterpart – woman. She was his divinely appointed helper.
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With her, they would rule this earth and fill it with more men
and women.
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• The Creator was eternal – He had no beginning, He has no
ending – and humanity is immortal – they had a
beginning, but they were given immortal souls.
There was one thing in the universe that was not flawless. Of
the legions of angels God had also created, there was one who
was not content with his status as a created being, lower than
his Creator. He wished to take God’s place. He was cast out
of heaven along with the other angels who followed him.
And so began the great battle between God and his enemy,
known as the devil or Satan.
As the man and woman tasted that forbidden fruit, they died.
Not physically. They died spiritually. Their souls were now
tainted by evil. They could no longer have a relationship with
God, for He was holy. They could no longer have a perfect
relationship with one another, for they had become sinful.
They were filled with shame and tried to cover themselves
and hide from God’s presence.
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In response to their sin and rebellion, God said that the
physical world would mirror the spiritual death and rebellion
they had brought on themselves. They would experience
physical pain, suffering, and death. The created world, once
flawless, would now be filled with death, decay, disorder,
destruction. Their relationship would be distorted and broken.
Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden and banned from
the presence of their holy and perfect Creator. For sin and
holiness cannot coexist. But they did not leave the garden
without hope – for God promised them that one day Someone
would come who would crush the serpent and make
everything right again.
God decided to wipe the earth clean and start fresh with
Noah’s family – the Truth of God’s Word and promise had to
be protected and passed on. So, God commanded Noah to
build an ark to protect his family and two of every kind of
animal – enough to start over when the flood was ended.
Every other person and animal on the face of the earth was
washed away in the global flood. The tops of the highest
mountains were covered. The entire earth was covered with
water, with one tiny boat floating in the midst.
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After the waters receded, Noah and his family came down
from the ark. They worshipped God and thanked Him for His
provision and protection through the great flood. God
commanded them to fill the earth and subdue it, just as He
had commanded Adam and Eve generations before. They
started over.
Even though Noah and his family were followers of God, the
generations that followed largely were not. They did not fill
the earth as God had commanded. They banded together.
They began to build a city with a tower that would reach to
the heavens. They sought to make themselves famous and
great and secure – rather than making God’s story known in
the earth, they wanted to leave a monument to their own
greatness.
There were not many who followed after God. But one day,
God spoke to one man by the name of Abram [whose name
God later changed to Abraham]. He told Abram to leave his
country and his people and go to a new land that God would
show him. He promised to make Abram’s descendents into a
great nation. He promised them a land of their own. And He
promised that through Abram’s family, all of the world would
be blessed. In other words – the “Someone” God had
promised to Adam and Eve, the One who would crush the
serpent and make everything right again, would come through
the family of Abraham!
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After many years of waiting, Abraham had a son named
Isaac. God re-iterated his promises of a great nation, land,
and the promised “Someone” to Isaac. Isaac had two sons,
Jacob and Esau – God chose Jacob (who was later known as
Israel) as the one through whom He would continue His
blessing and promises. None of these people were flawless in
their journey of faith in God – all were still sinful, just like
the rest of humanity. This fact is well illustrated in the family
of Jacob. Jacob had 12 sons through four women;
dysfunctional does not even begin to describe it! Eventually
he became a true believer in and follower of God, but in the
meantime he made terrible choices and showed extreme
favoritism to one of his children, which left lasting marks on
the family.
The family God had chosen to tell His story to the world, the
family through whom He would unfold His plan of
redemption, the family of the “Someone” who would
someday crush the serpent and make everything right again,
was now living in Egypt and were known as the Hebrews.
They were multiplying and flourishing under God’s blessing,
but they eventually became threatening to a later Pharaoh
who did not know of Joseph. God’s chosen people were
enslaved and cruelly oppressed. The Pharaoh even ordered
that the baby boys be thrown into the Nile river.
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God spared the life of a small Hebrew baby by the name of
Moses who was, amazingly enough, protected and raised by
Pharaoh’s own daughter. Eventually God used Moses to
bring His chosen people out of Egypt. The Pharaoh was
unwilling to let his slave force go free, but after a series of
plagues against the land, people, and false gods of Egypt,
Pharaoh relented.
God instructed Moses and the Israelites (another name for the
Hebrews, as they were descendants of Jacob, also known as
Israel) about who He was and what He expected of His
people. Because God is holy, the people must be holy. He
gave them ten great commandments that formed a basic
understanding of God’s definition of right and wrong – each
law was based on His own nature and the relationship He
desired with His people.
• There was only one true God – nothing and no one else
was to take His place.
• There were to be no idols of false gods or physical
representations of God – God had created the entire
universe, all of mankind. He was the only true God, and
the only authorized “images” of God were the people He
created.
• Because God is holy, His name was to be revered and
used with respect.
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• God commanded His people to work six days of the week,
and devote the seventh day to worshipping Him and
resting – to cease from labor and recognize that God is the
source of every good thing.
• God commanded them to honor their parents, for just as
the people were to have a reverent fear of their holy
Creator, they were to respect and honor the authority set
over them by God.
• God is the author of life, and the people were prohibited to
murder.
• God desired a pure and committed relationship with His
people, and marriages were to mirror that. Just as
marriage reflected God’s covenant with His people,
adultery was a reenactment of idolatry – a broken
covenant, forsaking the true and pure relationship for a
lesser, sinful one.
• Stealing, lying, and coveting (desiring something that is
not yours to have) were also prohibited, as God is the one
who gives and takes away. He is the definition of Truth.
He is the definition of goodness. To act in a way that
violates His nature was and is the definition of sin.
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Thus, animal sacrifice was a focal point of life in the
Tabernacle – for we all deserve death because of our sin. Sin
and holiness cannot coexist. For every transgression, for
every rebellion, something had to die. They would leave the
Tabernacle after offering their sacrifice, go home, and
inevitably fail again. Sacrifice after sacrifice after sacrifice.
It was the only way to cover their sin and allow them to be
near the Holy One.
The Israelites settled in the land. But all was not well.
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And like a loving parent who allows his child to face the
hardship brought on by his own disobedience, God allowed
His people to be oppressed by their enemies, attacked, and
eventually taken captive and carried into exile because of
their rebellion. Even in their rebellion, even in exile, God
sent His prophets to remind His people of the Truth, to call
them to turn back to Him.
“You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to
give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called
the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the
throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of
Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.” – Luke 1:31-33
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The Promised One had come. The One they had expected
from the beginning had arrived. And most people didn’t
realize it. He wasn’t born in a palace and lauded by the rich
and powerful – He was born in a stable and welcomed by
social outcasts and foreigners.
And so, with hearts full of hatred and anger, they had him
crucified. What they didn’t realize was that Jesus’ death was
part of the plan all along.
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And so Jesus came as the Lamb of God – the one perfect
sacrifice. He was fully God, and thus was perfect and sinless,
but He was also completely human and able to suffer and die
on behalf of the people He loved.
On the third day after His crucifixion, the disciples (the men
who were Jesus’ hand-picked followers) found his tomb
empty! They were confused and dismayed and afraid, but
Jesus came to them Himself and erased all doubt that the
unbelievable was true: Jesus was alive again!
And so the disciples took the Truth about Jesus Christ (Christ
is a title meaning “anointed One”) to those around them.
When persecution broke out, the believers in Jesus began to
scatter across the entire Roman world. Peter, Paul, and the
other apostles carried the Truth everywhere they went –
teaching the Jews the good news that Jesus was the Promised
One they had been waiting for, teaching the Gentiles (those
who were not Jews) that God had made a way to have a
relationship with Him.
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That was two thousand years ago, but the story isn’t finished
yet.
The Bible tells us that one day, Jesus will return. There is a
seven year time period before Christ’s return to reign known
as the “tribulation.” It will be a terrible time of wars, plagues,
catastrophes, and global unrest that is unmatched throughout
the rest of world history. The Bible also teaches that the
Church, not specific denominations but all who are sincere
followers of God who have trusted in Jesus Christ as the only
one who can save them from their sin, will be “caught up” or
raptured into heaven. While not all Christians agree on the
timing of this event, I believe that the Scriptures indicate that
this will happen at the beginning of the tribulation period.
At the end of this time, Jesus will return to earth. The Bible
says that the nations will mourn over Him – for this time He
is returning to judge the sins of mankind. Like the world-
wide flood in Noah’s time, only those who are true followers
of God, those who have their sin washed away by the
sacrifice of Jesus on their behalf, will be spared from the
destruction of all those who are in rebellion against God.
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• God loves us and created us to have a
personal relationship with Him. "For
God so loved the world that he gave his one
and only Son, that whoever believes in him
shall not perish but have eternal life." John
3:16
• Our sin keeps us from having a
personal relationship with God. "... for all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God..." Romans 3:23
• Only through Jesus Christ can we
have a personal relationship with God.
"For Christ died for sins once for all, the
righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you
to God." 1 Peter 3:18
• We must personally respond by
trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.
"Yet to all who received him, to those who
believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God..." John 1:12
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