Betwixt and Between…God’s Story

GOD’S STORY: “BETWIXT AND BETWEEN”
THE BEGINNING

In the very beginning
great God Himself
spoke His powerful Word
and created the world,
He began to tell His
most wonderful story
putting on display for all
to see His glory . . .

He spoke into being
the heaven and
the earth; the sun for the
day, moon and stars for the
night, the seas and the
mountains, animals
and birds, and then in His
image, human kind . . .

. . . a man and a woman
to live in His
garden to tend and to
enjoy, the fruit from each
tree except for the one—the
one they were told to
beware and avoid,
leave it alone . . .

. . . and yet they were tempted
and disobeyed
and lost their innocence
and hid from their God who
came searching, He knew where
they were and why they were
hiding  and what they
truly had done . . .

and so God continues
searching for us
and inviting us to
join Him through Jesus His
Son, who gave His own life
because of His Love,
forgiving all our sin,
calling us Home. . .

This week I want to share with you one of the most effective tools missionaries use in the world where so many cannot read. These people learn orally through stories carefully crafted by their elders to pass from one generation to the next crucial cultural information. When these stories are told in the mother tongue or heart language—the language children first hear spoken, they respond with deep appreciation and understanding. So, missionaries have prayerfully crafted God’s Story, using such stories to share the Gospel and basic Biblical teaching about for living the Christian life. We saw this work effectively in Nigeria. We taught such stories to folks from local churches who used them successfully to share the Gospel in villages where most people could not read. Did you know that worldwide, there are vast numbers of oral learners who need to hear the truth about Jesus just as they would hear from their mother or other family members the most important of their family’s historic and cultural stories? As you read, imagine you are such a person, and rejoice with them as if you were hearing God’s Story for the first time.

1 Chronicles 16:26 ESV
For all the gods of the peoples
are worthless idols,
But the LORD made the heavens.

(Before I wrote my own version of this story of all stories, I refreshed my memory by reading through the International Mission Board’s sample version found on their website at imb.org/goimpacts.)

Think of this as God’s Story. He is the Most High God. His story is written in the Bible. The words in the Bible are God’s words. They were not written by people, but by God Himself, directing them to tell parts of His Story. All of these parts fit together perfectly. They tell us about the One True God who is more powerful than our ancestors, our rulers, or any false gods in other stories. We can believe God’s story because it is the Word of the Most High God.

The Most High God created everything. He was God before there was anything. He made all things in Heaven and on earth. He holds all power over all things. God created all things by speaking words. He spoke and all things came into being. He made angels to worship and serve Him. He made angels very beautiful. He made everything we see. He made the sky, the land, the waters, the mountains, the oceans, the sun, the moon, the stars, the plants and all animals. Finally He created people in His His image. God made people to enjoy all that He had made. God made it all and it was good.

Genesis 1:27 ESV
So God created man in
his own image,
in the image of God
he created him;
male and female
he created them.

God put man and woman in a beautiful garden to live. They enjoyed being with Him and each other. He told them to care for the garden and to enjoy everything around them. He gave them one command: They could eat from every tree in the garden, but one. If they ate from that one tree, He told them they would die. At first,  man and the woman obeyed God and enjoyed their time with Him in the garden.

Among the angels God made, one was smart and beautiful. He was also very proud. He wanted other angels to worship him, not God. But only God should be worshipped. God cast Satan, this bad angel, out of Heaven. Satan tempted the woman to eat the fruit from the tree which was forbidden. She listened to him and ate the forbidden fruit. Then she gave it to the man and he also ate the forbidden fruit. They both disobeyed God. This disobedience is sin. Because God is righteous and holy, He must punish sin; so God put the man and woman out of the garden. They had broken their relationship with God. People were then separated from God. Since then, all men and women have disobeyed God. They are separated from God. Our disobedience results in the punishment of hell. Because of sin, we cannot live forever with God.

The number of men and women on earth multiplied. God still loved them and wanted them to love Him. He gave them ten commandments to obey. Because God is perfect and holy we must be perfect and holy to live with Him. The Ten Commandments teach people how to live with God and other people. Here are some of them: Do not worship other gods or make idols. Honor your parents. Do not lie, steal, or commit adultery. Sadly, no one was able to obey all of these commands.

When men and women disobeyed, God allowed them to seek forgiveness and turn away from sin. They could do this through a blood sacrifice. This sacrifice must shed the blood of a perfect animal, such as a lamb. If men and women turned from their sin, and offered this blood sacrifice, God would forgive them. Men and women failed to truly turn from sin so their sacrifices did not change them. God became tired of their failure to change their lives. They remained separated from God. On our own none of us can come back to God.

God loves people. He wants them to love Him and trust Him. So, He sent Jesus to bring people to Him. Who is Jesus? He is God’s Son. He is God’s only Son. He became a person like us. He came as God in the flesh.

Jesus lived as a man and He faced temptation to sin just like us. Still, He never sinned. He remained obedient to God throughout His life. Jesus had great love for people. He especially reached out to those with no hope. He was a wise teacher. He worked many miracles as He proved Himself as God’s Son. Jesus proved He had power over nature, over disease, over evil spirits, and even over death.

John 1:29 ESV
“Behold the lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.

Many people truly loved Jesus. They believed in Him and followed Him. Some religious and political leaders were jealous of Jesus and hated Him. They planned to kill Him. Jesus allowed Himself to be arrested, tried, and condemned to death. Soldiers nailed Him to a cross. Jesus’ blood flowed from His hands, His feet, and His body. He suffered terrible pain and died on the cross. Jesus did not deserve to die. God sent Him to die on the cross to take the punishment for the sins of all of us. He died on the cross in our place. It is only through His sacrifice and shedding of His blood, that we can be forgiven of our sins.

Jesus demonstrated His love for us when He died on the cross. Still, His story does not end there. Jesus was placed in a secure tomb after He died. On the third day Jesus rose again and appeared to His followers. Jesus proved that He had power over death. Then He returned to God, His Father, in heaven. Jesus took upon Himself our punishment for sin, and through His resurrection offers a way for us to return to God.

God wants you and every person to return to Him. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice . He is the only way to bring us back to God. Jesus actually said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”  (John 14:6) We must go through Jesus to get to God. How can you go through Jesus? You must admit to God that you have sinned against Him. You must believe that Jesus died in your place. Then you trust Jesus to bring you back to  God and give you eternal life as God’s son or daughter. Then you take Jesus as your Master and obey His word. Do you want to ask Jesus to bring you back to God?

Today, Jesus does His work in the world through His Spirit leading His followers. God has set a day when Jesus will return to earth and judge all people. He will welcome His followers and will turn away those who reject Him. His kingdom will never end. For now, His followers pray and work together to see God’s will done on earth. We carry the good news of Jesus to others and serve Him in all we do.

GOD’S STORY: “BETWIXT AND BETWEEN”
THE END

. . . In His glorious Home
we will see Him
resplendent on His
Throne and we will love Him
and serve Him and delight
in His Presence as He
has cleansed us and healed us—
made us His own

There will be laughter and
singing and grand
adventures for us
all, and we will forget
every tear, every pain,
every heartache as we
rejoice forevermore
in His Loving Presence.