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Sunday, December 21, 2008
Christmas And The Greater Story
Once we consider God's plan unfolding through history, centering on the arrival of the Messiah, does it strike you as an exaggeration to say that we live everyday in a great drama--one of higher stakes than anything we might see in an episode of 24 or a spy novel? Why or Why not?
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I think it's too big for most of us to comprehend. It's like standing alone on a dark mountaintop looking into the night sky filled with stars and feeling really, really small and insignificant. That is kind of the feeling I get when trying to imagine this God's time drama extending throughout history. It is awe inspiring but sometimes hard for my little human mind to grasp on a daily basis. So though yes, we are living everyday in a great drama centered on Christ, it is hard to keep that really big picture in the forefront of our daily living. I'm not sure I'm explaining myself very well but I guess it's like being a tiny speck on God's timeline and wondering if we even matter in the story. That's scary so it's easier to focus on the more personal God relationship we have.
Kelly,
I can relate to what you're saying. It is overwhelming to consider how our seemingly small everyday experiences could fit into the grand story of God's plan unfolding in history.
But think about this: The state of the world under the reign of God's Messiah (AKA the kingdom of God) is such that sick people get healed, hunger and poverty are abolished, and generally a place where all people live in a family relationship with Christ.
So when we invest the strengths and gifts God has given us in healing the sick, feeding the hungry and generally pointing people to him, the source of all peace and comfort, we are playing an important part in the story of God's plan of setting the world right. This is why I can't conceive how a sincere Christian who knows his or her gifts could ever feel as if life has no purpose.
To me, this is unspeakably profound and exhilarating: God calls us to play an active part in the advancement of the plan he is enacting over the ages to make the world how he wants it to be.
When I feel lost in the vastness of the world and all God is doing in it, I think of what Paul says in Colossians 1:26-27 about what Jesus gives us: "the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory."
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