Power of Stories: Unforgettable Stories That Reveal God’s Truth
- Instead of a theology textbook, Scripture unfolds God’s self-revelation through true stories that show who he is and what he has done in history.
- Through the Bible’s grand metanarrative—origin, fall, redemption, calling, and destiny—God reshapes our identity as his adopted sons and daughters.
- Over time, these stories form our loves and obedience, drawing us toward our heart’s true home and sending us to love God and people through disciple making.
I can only think of one thing that would motivate me to knowingly allow myself to be crucified, and that one thing would be love for my family.
In the beginning was a family: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That’s the best way we can understand them. This family, from all eternity, overflowed with love and light and life. And if you have that much love among you, you want children.
So they took eons of time to prepare everything: angelic servants, a universe, an improbable planet, a beautiful garden with a tree of life, then beloved children from that first couple, birthed in their own image. These children were destined to rule and reign in keeping with their royal family resemblance. These were children blessed, and they were commanded to be fruitful and multiply. 
“I can only think of one thing that would motivate me to knowingly allow myself to be crucified, and that one thing would be love for my family.”
Our family album, the Bible, details our family’s story, our grand metanarrative, and it includes our heritage and origin, our fall, our redemption, our calling, our mission, and our destiny. This family album tells us that joining the rebellion was not the end. We have a Redeemer through whom we are chosen and adopted back into our eternal family. It assures us that we are now sons and daughters of Abraham, that we have been called out of Egypt just like the children of Israel. The Law and the Prophets were given for us. We have been given the incarnate Word and the written Word. And part of our heritage is the martyrs, the trailblazers, guides, friends, and all the intercessors through the ages.
And that’s not even all of it. The love between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit now transforms us. We are being recreated to live in our hearts’ true home, this eternal relationship of love, waiting to welcome us back to our prepared place at the family table.
Going through life, as our relationship with our Father grows, our deepening love for Him and for others reveals its health. Life becomes a process where we are becoming more and more conformed to the image of Christ for the sake of others. This is what we were made for, and it’s who we are.
Our great commission to make disciples, based on the great commandment to love God and people, means nothing less than creating a new heaven and a new earth—the restoration of all creation to God the Father through the Son in the power of His Holy Spirit.
