I am sitting at a coffee shop….a regular occurrence…. studying for the current series of messages i am giving called ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told”- if you have not heard any of them, you can download on our podcast at: http://unccornerstone.mypodcast.com/index.html. That sounds self-gratifying to point you to messages that i have given, but i point you towards them because i have learned so much in preparation if nothing else.
I am presently reading about the life of Abraham as he will be the focus of the next message the first week of class. I am reading and reflecting on the plan of God as history moves from Creation and Fall, now to the story of Redemption which begins immediately after the Fall as i have mentioned- we hide, God seeks is the story of the rest of the Bible! I have to tell you that i am also listening to Cold Play and an interesting song came on as i was reading the book, ‘According to Plan’ by Graeme Goldsworthy. It is hard not to be in a Melancholy mood listening to Cold Play of course and so i have to warn you that is where i am at. In fact tears came to my eyes as i was reading about the great plan of God in Abraham’s life while listening to Chris Martin express the longings of life deeply felt. Abraham points towards the one that will truly meet our greatest longings. Yet the fact that the pursuit of our longings leads us away from ourselves and allows us to point to the one that is greater than us all the while freeing ourselves from they tyranny of self consumption!
Abraham was no one special. His regular appearance in the Bible might lead us now to think that he was. He had little to offer God. In fact he messed it all up so many times. Yet God brought him to the place where he trusted the plan of the Almighty in such heroic ways that he was ready to sacrifice his only son. He had learned to live in obedience knowing that God had something great in store. Again, while we might be tempted to proclaim Abraham’s greatness, it was not Abraham’s greatness, but God’s that lead him to this place. It was a lonely place on a mountain side that served to unfold the ever expanding plan of God that would result in the glory and honor of His one son, Jesus himself!
The story of the Bible is truly the greatest story ever told. It amazes me and leads me to worship and awe of the God who would reveal it to us in such a gracious and ever clearer way. I promise you that if you see what God is doing, who God is, the story, Jesus Himself will change you as you are lead to worship. As i write these thoughts i stand in awe of the task to help reveal the story to us that will indeed capture our hearts and minds. But that thought brings me full circle. It is God’s plan to reveal his glory and he will do it as He has been about doing since the creation of the world. Who am i to think that i could hinder such progress.
Join us the rest of the year as we explore God’s revealing of Himself and pray for us as a movement that the story, the true story, would change us and cause us to be a blessing to the campus and the world.