His Story

Even if you've never been in a church or read the Bible, you probably know much of what's important when it comes to the Christian narrative.  For example, you're probably familiar with the fact that we were birthed in a garden, and that that was where the serpent tempted Adam and Eve into sin.  You probably also know the story of the Tower of Babel: men wanted to make a name for himself and build a tower to the heavens, and in response God confused their languages and scattered them to the four corners of the earth.  And you're probably aware of the imagery of the end of the Good Book: all the nations of the world streaming into holy Jerusalem, the streets paved with gold, and the city lit with the very presence of God Himself.

Perhaps these stories are so known that they hardly warrant a second thought.  Well, I'd like you to give them a second thought this morning.  In particular, consider that despite all these twists and turns, God never had His hand forced.  Consider instead that He always had a better ending in mind: even though our waywardness, disobedience, and shame laid ruin to the good He prepared for us, they led to something even more good.  We may have been banished from the garden, but the city he then set everything up to lead to was never meant to be a consolation prize.

In the garden, evil lurked and God came and went; in the city, evil has been decisively vanquished and God's presence is constant and illuminating.  Pre-Babel, we were one people with one language and one aim, which was to exalt ourselves.  Post-Babel, we are again one people, but from many nations and tongues, and again one aim, which is now to exalt our God and Deliverer.

Seeing evil defeated, seeing God's presence, and seeing unity in diversity: these are not just nice things to hope for but fundamental to God's ultimate story for mankind.  Not only do they matter to God but they are central to how He is bending all of life towards.  We who claim to honor Him and seek His will, are we about the same things?