The Greatest Story
Stories are powerful. They convey ideas and shape worldviews. And every good story subscribes to a fundamental outline: setting, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. There is one story, however, from which this framework is derived, and indeed, which every good story mirrors. This story is The Gospel, the Good News of God’s work in mankind. It begins with the setting at Creation, followed by an inciting incident, the Fall, which initiates the rising action of anticipation in the Old Testament. The Old Testament builds up to the climax at the Cross. The Great Commission following the Cross is the mandate that drives the falling action, which resolves, almost climactically, in Christ’s second coming and man’s glorification.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1 ESV).
The first two chapters of Genesis record the setting, the very beginning, the foundation of all but God himself, the creation ex nihilo. He spoke the world into existence, breathing life into every living thing. He made man, with a companion, woman. The relationship between man and woman was harmonious, sacrificial, and submissive. The relationship between man and nature was blessed; man worked the fields joyously, and the ground produced a bountiful harvest. The cultural mandate was a painless and joyful responsibility. And most importantly, man enjoyed perfect fellowship with God. But this is no story; no story can exist without conflict and change. Man leaves this blissful state, starting the story.
The Fall is the inciting incident, the event which prompts the action. Adam, the first man, sinned. He broke the first covenant, or a conditional promise dependent upon works: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying,
You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17 ESV).
But Adam did eat the forbidden fruit. And because Adam was the federal head (“federal” is derived from the Latin, “foedus,” meaning “covenant”) of all mankind, all sinned in Adam (see Romans 5:12-14).
Sin brings curses on mankind; it destroys all that is good. Man and woman will no longer live harmoniously, and man must sweat as he works among thorns and thistles to eat. Women experience pain in childbearing. Among these, the worst consequence is the separation from God: God’s holiness is not compatible with man’s sinfulness. Men know this and shamefully attempt to hide their sin from Him. Ultimately, mankind is condemned to death and eternal separation from God and his goodness.
The story continues with building anticipation throughout the Old Testament. If nothing followed, the story would merely be a tragedy, but it is also a comedy. Man’s fall from grace into sin is the greatest tragedy, but God’s redemptive work is the greatest comedy. At the Fall, man has no hope. He chose sin to be his master and started down the slippery path of destruction. However, God does not leave his Creation in total despair. In fact, before He even pronounces the curse of sin on man, He offers the Seed of hope, which is often called the protevangelium, or first gospel:
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring [Seed] and her offspring; he [the Seed] shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15 ESV, italics added).
This gift of hope does not reveal much, but its truth is clear: though mankind will suffer many of the effects of sin (“you shall bruise his heel”), sin will not be victorious over mankind (“he shall bruise your head”). And this Seed of hope continues to grow throughout the time leading up to its fulfillment.
Scripture continues to reveal more about the Seed, and by the time of David, it is a mature tree. The Old Testament traces the growth of this tree, which is beautifully similar to Jesus’ mustard tree that provides shelter for the birds (Matt. 13:31-32). In the Flood, the consequences of sin are depicted, and the way of salvation is made clear through the Ark. Later, much more is revealed in the Abrahamic covenant. God tells Abraham,
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:2-3 ESV).
Thus, it is clear the Seed will come through the line of Abraham. Further, the symbolic imagery in Genesis 15 demonstrates that God alone takes the curse of sin and failure to keep the covenant upon himself. Moreover, the ram in the thicket (Gen. 22) points forward to Christ’s sacrifice. Much later, when God brings the Israelites out from Egypt after 400 years, as promised, another covenant is confirmed in Exodus 24. When David is king, his covenant is established, which speaks of the Son of David who will establish an eternal kingdom and reign forever. Finally, many prophecies speak of the Seed. Perhaps most notably, Isaiah 53 speaks of one who “grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground” (vv. 2a ESV). The famous chapter paints a picture of a suffering servant who was “pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (vv. 5 ESV). Therefore, at the end of the Old Testament, God’s people, the central characters, are on the edge of their seat awaiting the Seed, whom they call the “Messiah,” or “Anointed One.”
God’s people are left, however, eagerly expecting their Messiah for approximately 400 years, a period called the intertestamental period. At the end of these 400 years, the Messiah does come. Jesus Christ is the Anointed One, and in him is the climax of the greatest story, the most important event in human history. He is the second Adam. He is man’s new federal head, man’s champion, who fought as their representative and won victory for them.
Yet, with irony to which no other story compares, and seemingly anticlimactically, the people who waited these long centuries for the Savior reject him and place him on a cross, the Cross. Indeed, it is on that Cross that the course of human events hinges. It is the fulcrum on which the fate of mankind balances. The greatest truth of this Gospel story is the imputation of man’s sin to Christ and of his righteousness to man. The sins of man are put to death with Jesus in the tomb but are not resurrected with Him. Jesus fulfilled the old covenant and enables men to live according to his new covenant (Matt. 26:28), a covenant of faith in his accomplished work. Nevertheless, not until the years following does the magnitude of the Crucifixion become clear.
Only Jesus’ disciples knew the significance of the Cross, the new covenant it ushered in. They knew the truth that sets men free (John 8:32). Except, the story doesn’t end here. The story continues with the “Great Commission,” which is the cause of the falling action, the gravity. Jesus commands his disciples,
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt. 19-20a ESV).
This is man’s mission and purpose, to glorify God by proclaiming the “good news of great joy.” Currently, the story is here. Man is living in the falling action, the already, but not yet. The climax of the story has passed, but the resolution and ultimate glory are yet to come.
The final part of the story is the resolution, the “happily ever after,” which God invented. When God’s plan on earth has been accomplished, when his people have witnessed him “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8b ESV), “the powers of heaven will be shaken. And then [the world] will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:26b-27). On his return, Christ will gather his people to him; for “those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorified” (Rom. 8:30 ESV, italics added). And it is in this glorification that the story ends. Yet it never really ends, for his children spend eternity rejoicing and praising God, the author of the greatest story.
From The Lord of the Rings and Gilgamesh to Mary Poppins and Horton Hears a Who, all good stories follow the same structure: setting, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The Gospel is no exception: the story begins in the garden and the Fall, leads up to salvation at the Cross, and ends with peace and rest. But the Gospel is exceptional: it is the first story, God is the author, and we are the characters. Lastly, it is a true story.