Telling the STORY of Jesus

I’m afraid that we (me included) sometimes try too hard to break the Bible down into a series of facts and timetables. 

We probably do this because facts and talking points are handier to win arguments. And too often, winning arguments and being right is what religion is about for a lot of people. 

But it’s in that story that we not only see the facts, but we see the personality of God. And through the stories we can truly see the love that God has for us. 

For example, how popular would Superman be if he were intruced as a strong guy who could run and jump?  Nobody would care. 

But when Superman is introduced as the Man of Steel who is faster than a speeding bullet and can leap tall buildings in a single bound….THEN we pay attention. 

And among the facts that Jesus became a man and died and gave us some things to do after He left is a story. 

And it’s that story that we should be preaching. Jesus became flesh. He lost friends and wept. His friends slept while He grieved. He worried about his mother as He hung dying on a cross. 

And He did all of that because His creation had a debt that it couldn’t pay. Because God is righteous, He couldn’t pardon that debt. So rather than than dispense justice, He paid that debt with his own blood in a horrendous death. Rather than see us die as we deserved, He died for us. And He died for us while we were still in rebellion against Him. 

Then after He died Jesus promised that if we would live a life that put all of our faith in Him, a life that put our dependence in Him….He would bring us to Heaven to live with Him forever. 

That’s the story of Christ. And among all of the argument-winning facts, we can’t ever stop telling that story.