Where are we in the story?

Knowing the story that we are woven into and where we are within it helps us to make sense of what is happening around us.

By first acknowledging that we are created in God’s image, we are reminded of who we are striving to faithfully represent. By remembering that since the very first couple, humanity daily rebels against the ways of God, we can recognise and resist the pride, arrogance and sin that daily seeks to ensnare us.

Knowing that God has been faithful to his promise to Abraham by its fulfilment in Jesus and who now continues to fulfil it in and through us in order that every nation would come to know Him, gives us security. And knowing that through Jesus’ resurrection, ‘new creation’ was inaugurated, and that we are called to live in this new reality, which will find its fulfilment at Jesus’ return, gives us purpose.

This grand sweep of the biblical drama gives us the lens through which we are called to view our whole life and the world around us. To inform the way we live, work and play. To tell us what powers are really in play on the world stage and who we must obey instead. It helps us to see at a distance the hope that is there, when oftentimes we can’t see it outside our window.

It’s through this world view that we think about and respond to both little things like how to respond in love to the everyday pile of ‘not-my-dishes’ left once again on the bench, or to big things like the current humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Most of all, we acknowledge that Jesus has not left us as orphans, but sent us a helper, the Spirit, who binds us together as His church and guides us as we navigate the sometimes-difficult conversations we are called to have as His faithful representatives.

Colleen