It’s hard to process current events if you forget the larger plotline of human history. Reading a news article can feel like walking in on the middle of a movie and watching an isolated scene. You need to consider that scene in relationship to the whole story for it to make sense.
The Synopsis
God created humans to live together in loving relationship with him and each other. At first, everything was great. There was no conflict or confusion about what was true.
God gave them freedom to choose to live by his good design or rebel. This freedom is what makes loving relationships meaningful. They aren’t robotic. They’re freely chosen.
The main choice humans face is whether to submit to God’s authority or to assert their own authority—to trust him as the source for truth or to rely on themselves to determine what’s true, to live by his ways or make up their own ways.
The first humans chose to rebel. When they did, they damaged their relationship with God (they turned away from him). They also damaged their relationship with each other (they turned against one another). This is why there is conflict and confusion about what’s true.
God promised that a Savior would come to heal this brokenness one day. In the meantime, every human that has been born since has inherited brokenness and embedded it into the nations they’ve built.
After several generations, God chose a man named Abram start a new nation. While all the other nations continued the human tradition of defying God and fighting one another, this nation would be different. They would live by God’s rule in restored relationship with him and one another. They would be the renewed vision of humanity, and the promised Savior would come from among them.
They faced the same choice Adam and Eve faced in the beginning: to submit to God or rebel. When they submitted to God, they did well. When they did what was right in their own eyes, they did poorly.
They were the beginning of God’s new people, but the project was not yet complete. Their prophets continually pointed to a time when God would fully restore humanity through the coming Savior.
Finally, after many generations, the long-awaited Savior was born. He came as a King in disguise, announcing that the Kingdom of God was at hand. It was time for God to finish creating his special nation from among the broken nations of the world.
The Kingdom would not come into full power all at once. King Jesus was announcing it in advance to give rebels a chance to be pardoned and granted citizenship. He lived out Kingdom virtues, demonstrated Kingdom power, taught Kingdom principles, and formed a small band of Kingdom emissaries who would continue to spread the invitation.
Most importantly, the Savior-King didn’t establish his rule by killing the rebels, but by dying for them. King Jesus’ death paid the penalty for the rebellion once and for all so that any rebel who claimed Jesus’ payment for themselves could be pardoned and allowed citizenship in his Kingdom. This atonement made a way for humans to be reconciled with God and each other.
After Jesus died, he was buried. Three days later, he resurrected from the dead. He met with is disciples and told them to spread the good news of the Kingdom. As they did, they established the church.
The church is the assembly of Kingdom citizens in localized groups. They spend their days learning how to live their new life in restored relationship with God and one another, experiencing growing freedom from conflict and growing clarity about what’s true. The church is the renewed vision for humanity.
Generations have passed since the Savior-King ascended into heaven, promising to return. There is still time for rebels to repent, receive pardon, and join the Kingdom. In the meantime, Christians are his faithful ambassadors among the rebel nations of the world.
The Scenes
With the whole story in mind, we can see that scenes of evil, immorality, chaos, violence, confusion, and division are continued examples of human rebellion and brokenness.
The fundamental human problem is the broken relationship with God and one another other. The root cause is rebellion against God as the ultimate authority. The only hope is Jesus, the Savior-King who pardons repentant rebels, heals their broken relationships, and grants them citizenship in the Kingdom of God.
Keeping the whole story in mind when we see scenes of brokenness around us will protect us from panicking and give us direction. It will help us represent the Savior-King well together.
