[Sermon from Vineyard Columbus, Ohio] [Click HERE for the audio of the sermon]

I love stories! Don’t you just love stories? I love movies that take you on a marvelous adventure beyond your wildest dreams. I love books that you just can not put down because you just have to find out what happens to your favorite character. I love songs that tell wonderful stories. Believe it or not, my wife Angela got me into country music. I fought it with all my heart for years, but some of the stories in the songs were just so funny and outrageous, I just could not help but fall in love with it. I mean with song titles like these how can you not love country music?

• I Gave Her the Ring, and She Gave Me the Finger
• I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well
• I Want a Beer as Cold as My Ex-Wife’s Heart
• I Would Have Wrote You A Letter, But I Couldn’t Spell Yuck!

Whether it’s a memorable movie, a great book, a touching song, or just simply sitting down together with family and friends to talk about the week, I love stories.

The author Karen Blixen says this:

To be a person is to have a story to tell.

And the author Barry Lopez says this:

If stories come to you, care for them. And learn to give them away where they are needed. Sometimes a person needs a story more than food to stay alive.

You hear the words, “Once upon a time…” or “In a galaxy far, far away…” or “A man walks into a bar…” you hear these words, and you know that something good is coming.

And there is this strange thing that happens when you hear a great story. Whether you are watching a show on TV or reading a great book, the really powerful stories invite you to become a part of the story. Somehow you are able to connect at this deep level with the characters and what they are experiencing, and you find yourself in the story. You are just sucked in. Powerful stories do that. And I think this is one of the reasons that Jesus often used parables in his teachings.

And in a very real sense, you and I are all living out a story. We are all living out a story. As one anonymous author writes:

Life is a handful of short stories, pretending to be a novel.

It may not be a conscious decision, but oftentimes, what drives us, what compels us, what moves us forward in life is a story – an image of what we think our life should look like. And very often, these images come from stories that we read, movies that we watch, songs that we hear, and conversations that we have. The story that we are living out impacts the kinds of jobs that we look for, what clothes we wear and cars we drive. It impacts the kind of people we hang around and the types of conversations that we have. We are all living out a story. So let me ask you today, what story are you living out?

Are you living out the story of the great American Dream? Is the driving force of your life’s story the American Dream, to have a spouse, a well-paying job, one sedan, one minivan, a dog, a house with a white picket fence, and 2.3 kids?

Or are you living out the story of “The Office”? Maybe you are working that 9-5 job that you really don’t like very much, with quirky co-workers and a boss who is completely out of touch with anything that resembles reality? You know that you are capable of doing so much more than what you are doing right now, but why change when change is so hard?

Or maybe you are living out the story of the “American Idol”? The driving force in your life is to become rich and famous, to be on that grand stage of life before millions of people, to be adored, to be praised, to have people everywhere recognize who you are, tell you just how gifted you are. This is what drives you.

We have been doing a series entitled, “A Vision for Life: Seeing the Big Picture.” For the past two weeks, Rich has been teaching from the book of Colossians and the goal of the series is to help us see the bigger picture of what life is meant to really look like, to step back from the daily grind and routines of our life and ask ourselves the all important question, “What story are you living out?”

In any given moment, there are two stories being lived out: One, the story of our lives and two, the Story of God. And the story of our lives will only make sense, it will only find its true and ultimate meaning, it will only find its deepest pleasure, when we see how the story of our lives intersects with the Story of God.

Rich will be back next week and he will pick up where he left off. But today, we are going to take an interlude from the study in Colossians to highlight one important theme that Rich touched on last week, and that is the Glory of Christ. It is a marvelous and hearty topic for sure. And we will see today, that this Glory of Christ is indeed the ultimate climax in the Story of God. I’ve entitled my sermon, “The Glory of Christ and the Story of Our Lives.” Let’s pray.

Five Elements of a Great Story
We’ve all learned in elementary school that a story is comprised of many different ingredients or elements. But the truly great stories, the really memorable stories, the exceptionally powerful stories all share five crucial elements. And The Story of God, to be sure, has these five elements.

1. The Setting
The first element for a great story is the setting. The setting of any story is the backdrop in which the story takes place. For instance, in “The Wizard of Oz,” the setting would be the Land of Oz. Or in the show, “Prison Break,” the setting would obviously be the prison. Simply put, the setting is the backdrop in which the characters of the story can move and interact with each other.

So what is the setting of the Story of God? Well, we get the answer in Genesis 1:1:

Genesis 1:1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The setting of the Story of God is the heavens and the earth. It is the creation of our God, the work of his mighty hands, the heavens and the earth. And this setting, to put it mildly, is absolutely stunning.

Our galaxy is comprised of over a hundred billion stars. And our galaxy is just one of billions of other galaxies. You know, let’s say that you were bored one day and you decide to drive to the sun, and you were somehow able to do this in your dilapidated 92 Ford Escort. And let’s say that you were speeding like crazy going 150 mph, which is no small feat for the 92 Ford Escort. In this car, traveling at 150 mph, if you drive nonstop, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, get this, it will take you 70 years to reach the sun. And you thought driving to Ikea was bad! And let’s say that once you reach the sun after 70 years, and you get ambitious and want to travel some more, and you decide as your destination Alpha Centauri, the next closest star system. You’ll need 15 million years to make that trip!

And for those of us who just don’t have that kind of time, but maybe have some money, and you were able to fly in a private jet that flies at 600 mph, it will still take you 16.5 days to reach the moon, it will take you 17 years to pass the sun, and it will take you 690 years to reach Pluto. And this is all still just in our solar system!

And not only are the heavens and the earth that God created beyond our comprehension in its vastness, but also its minute details are magnificent!

The cosmological constant, which represents the energy density of space, is as precise as throwing a dart from space and hitting a bulls-eye just a trillionth of an inch in diameter on earth. The sun makes life possible on earth only because it is exactly the right mass, exactly the right light, exactly the right age, exactly the right distance, exactly the right orbit, exactly the right location. If any of these constants are thrown off by even just a minutia, life on planet earth would not be possible. The gravity that we feel on our planet is fine tuned to one part in a hundred million billion billion billion billion billion. That is 1 with 53 zeros!

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And it is marvelous indeed! And so we have the first element of a great story, the setting.

2. The Tension
Now, let’s look at the second element of a great story, which is the tension. Tension can also be called conflict, and it is often personified by the antagonist. It is usually some struggle between good and evil, right versus wrong, life versus death. Often times, it is precisely this tension that that makes the actions of the characters really meaningful.

So, for instance, there is the movie, “Lord of the Rings.” At the heart of the story of the Lord of the Rings, is this epic battle between good and evil. And the tension, who will win? This tension is the theme that drives the entire story.

And of course, the Story of God also has a tension, and we can identity these as sin, suffering, and Satan. We recognize that there is sin, suffering, and Satan. Actually, you would have to work pretty hard not to recognize sin, suffering, and Satan in our world. Just turn on the news. On every channel you turn to, you are struck in the face with sin, suffering, and Satan. This is the tension in the story of God.

Not too many verses after the glorious story of creation we read in Genesis 1:1, we read the not-so-glorious story of Adam and Eve and their falling into sin by listening to the lies of the serpent, Satan. And ever since then, an element of suffering has been introduced into the story.

25,000 children die each and every day due to poverty. 660 million people live without basic sanitation. 1 billion people in the world live on less than $1 a day. 400 million children have no access to safe drinking water. 790 million people in the developing world are still chronically undernourished, almost two-thirds of whom reside in Asia and the Pacific. 143 million children in the developing world are orphans. 1.2 million children are sold into sexual slavery every year. There is tremendous suffering in our world.

Well, let’s make it a little bit more personal. We may be sitting here in the church today with nice clothes on our back and a perfect smile on our face, but how many of us here today are battling addictions, brokenness, temptations, failures, broken relationships, life-threatening diseases. And whether we want to admit it or not, we are sinners through and through. While we desire to do what is good, we fall short again and again and again. We are sinners through and through. And the Apostle Paul understands this sin nature:

Romans 7:15-19
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

Verse 19:

Romans 7:19
For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.

How true is that? Every one is affected by sin. There is no one who does good, not even one! All of mankind is tainted by sin. Paul says in Romans 3:23 that:

Romans 3:23
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

All have sinned, every single one of us has sinned, and we fall short again and again and again. Sin taints how we think, how we act, how we feel. There is nothing in us that is not impacted by sin. And there is nothing that you and I can do about it. Our mental, physical, emotional capacity simply is not powerful enough to battle sin.

And of course, there is Satan. We read in 1 Peter 5:8:

1 Peter 5:8
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The tension in the story is not merely our sinful nature and the suffering in this world. There is a very real enemy, Satan, who is prowling about, seeking someone to devour. In the face of sin, suffering, and Satan, what we need now is a hero, a savior, which is the third element for a great story.

3. The Hero
The hero of the story is the protagonist. The hero is usually the main character who gives the audience a point of view or a perspective through which we are to understand the story. So for instance, in the movie “Braveheart,” the hero is the great William Wallace played by Mel Gibson. Or maybe for some of you ladies, maybe your idea of a hero looks more Elle Woods, the hero from “Legally Blonde.” And maybe for others of us, the hero that we’re looking for doesn’t really have the look or the feel of a typical hero, like the one-of-a-kind “Napoleon Dynamite.”

The hero in the Story of God is Jesus Christ, and he came to seek and save that which was lost.

In the face of sin in our lives, suffering in our world, with Satan seeking someone to devour, the great savior, the great hero, Jesus Christ emerges in the Story of God. And let me tell you just a little bit about him.

He is the incomparable Christ. He is the Christ who fed the 5,000 with two fish and five loaves. He is the Christ who made the blind see and the deaf hear. He is the Christ who casts out demons. He is the Christ who redeems and reconciles. He is the Christ who makes all things new. He is the Christ who was crucified on the cross. He is the Christ who was raised from the dead. He is the Christ who is called Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is the Christ who is called the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. He is the Christ and there is no other. He is not just any hero, but he is the hero of heroes, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. He is the incomparable Christ!

4. The Epiphany
We have the setting, the tension, and the hero. And now the fourth element of the great story is the epiphany. Another way to describe epiphany is the moment of awareness, or the “Aha!” moment. It is that moment when the light goes on. It is the moment when a lie is exposed the truth is revealed. It is the moment in the story where there is a dramatic shift because something extraordinary happens.

For instance, one of my favorite movies is “The Matrix.” And the epiphany in “The Matrix” is when Neo is offered by Morpheus these two pills, a blue pill and the red pill. And Neo chooses the red pill and he discovers just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

You can say that epiphany is that moment in the story where the eyes of the character is opened and thus he is able to see something that he wasn’t able to see before.

So what is the epiphany in the Story of God? Well, it is the “Aha!” moment that happens in our lives when we realize that we were created for the glory of the hero in this story; we realize that the Glory of Christ is why we were created.

In other words, the reason that we exist, the reason that you and I were created, the reason that we are in this story is to glorify God. Let me explain what I mean by that.

Since its beginning, the Christian church has sought to instruct its followers both in the ways of faith and practice. What is it that we should believe as Christians and how should we live this faith out? Very important matters, for sure! And one of the ways that this has been done was through the use of creeds, such as the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed, and also through the use of catechisms which are basically manuals on the doctrine of Christian faith. And one of the most influential catechisms is the Westminster Catechism which was written in 1648. And here is the very first question that the Westminster Catechism asks in seeking to instruct Christians in the ways of faith and practice: What is the chief end of man? In other words, “Why are we in the story?” And the answer, well, it’s written on this gigantic banner in our auditorium, so let’s read that together, shall we: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

In this short sentence comprised of just 13 words, a foundation is laid that has ramifications towards every aspect of faith and life. Man’s highest goal is to enjoy the ultimate good. And that ultimate good, the greatest good is God, in whom we find our ultimate fulfillment. Pastor and author John Piper says this:

The created universe is all about glory. The deepest longing of the human heart and the deepest meaning of heaven and earth are summed up in this: the glory of God.

Everything exists to glorify God, to give glory to Christ! “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”

So what exactly is the Glory of Christ? The Glory of Christ is the image of the greatness of Jesus the hero, his splendor, his beauty, and his magnificence. Both sacred and dangerous, the Glory of Christ combines both awe and terror, and it simultaneously invites approach and distance. To encounter the Glory of Christ is always awe-inspiring. To see the Glory of Christ is to experience the awesomeness of God. It causes awe and wonder! And when we see the Glory of Christ, there is really only one proper response: We fall face down.

The prophet Ezekiel encounters the Glory of the Living God, and here is how he describes his experience in Ezekiel 1:28:

Ezekiel 1:28
When I saw it, I fell facedown…

Ezekiel sees the Glory of God and he simply falls facedown. Likewise, Daniel sees a vision of God whose face shines like lightening and whose eyes blaze like flaming torches. He is completely undone by this divine encounter, and this is how he describes his experience:

Daniel 10:15
I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless.

In the book of Revelation, in the very first chapter, John encounters the risen Christ, whose face is shining like the sun. In response he finds himself on the floor in reverence, fear, and awe. A few chapters later, we see that the elders are falling face down before the Glory of Christ. And in Revelation 7:11, we read these words:

Revelation 7:11
All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God…

To encounter the Glory of Christ is to experience the otherness of God, the otherness of God. We come to the humble and profound realization that he is God and I am not, that he is God and there is no other!

Have you ever fallen flat on your face before God? One of the biggest mistakes that we make in church, I believe, is that in our desire to make God approachable and intimate, we’ve eliminated this otherness of God. We’ve come to see God face to face as a friend, but we’ve lost sight of the fact that this friend is also the King of Glory. The great pastor and preacher A.W. Tozer said this:

Left to ourselves we tend immediately to reduce God to manageable terms.

But here is the thing: Our God is not manageable! He is not just some better version of us. He is not like us. God says in Isaiah 46:5:

Isaiah 46:5
With whom will you compare me or count me equal? To whom will you liken me that we may be compared?

In other words, “I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me!”

And that’s why if we want to begin to understand this God of Glory in his complete otherness, we look to Jesus. We look to Jesus! We read in Hebrews 1:3 these words:

Hebrews 1:3
The Son [Jesus] is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

And here is what we read in John 1:14:

John 1:14
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only [Son], who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

And it is the desire of God that everyone will see the Glory of Christ. Listen to the prayer of Jesus in John 17:24:

John 17:24
Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

“The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” This is the epiphany!

5. The Transformation
And now we come to the final element of a great story, and that is the transformation. And transformation is the direct result of the epiphany that we just covered. In stories, the transformation can look like a man and woman who always saw each other simply as friends falling madly in love with each other, like Ross and Rachel in the TV series “Friends.” Or another great example would be what Neo experiences towards the end of the movie, “The Matrix.” This is the point in the story where Neo begins to realize who he is what he is truly capable of doing. Why bother dodging bullets when you can just stop them? This is the transformation.

And in the Story of God, the epiphany that we experience in realizing that we were created to glorify God results in three transformations in our lives. The Glory of Christ leads to three transformations in our lives. The first transformation is that we become a People of Worship.

We Become a People of Worship
To see the glory of Christ in all his splendor, we can not help but worship. And in worshipping Christ, we are giving him his due worth. Worship is literally “worth-ship.” We are giving him what is due him. Worship is the forgetting of ourselves in remembering God. Worship is the confession of John the Baptist who said:

John 3:30
He [Jesus] must become greater; I must become less.

Worship is the movement from apathy to awe. And as we worship, we become more and more like what we behold. It is not about us. Worship is not about us. Worship is God-centeredness. Worship, from start to finish, is all about God, all for God, and all to God. Worship begins and ends with God. To see the Glory of Christ is to be transformed into a People of Worship. That’s the first transformation. And the second transformation is that we become a People of Missions.

We Become a People of Missions
We become a people of missions. As John Piper so beautifully puts it:

Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

“Missions exists because worship doesn’t.”

Missions is the means by which we make the known the Glory of Christ from our backyard to the ends of the earth, so that man might glorify God and enjoy him forever! Missions is the instrument by which we make Jesus famous so that people will worship him from every tribe, tongue, and nation, and declare in unison:

Psalm 117:1
Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!

Worship is the goal. Missions is the vehicle. To see the Glory of Christ is to be transformed into a People of Missions. And the third transformation is that we become a People of Perseverance.

We Become a People of Perseverance
We become a People of Perseverance. In other words, as you and I glorify Jesus Christ through worship and missions, we will find strength for today and hope for tomorrow.

As we glorify Christ, as we take our eyes off of ourselves and see Christ lifted high above the earth to be worshipped, to be given the worth that is due his name, to see every tribe, tongue, and nation bow before him and declare that he is Lord, we find strength to endure whatever cross that God has given us to bear, and we find hope in the knowledge that he holds our future in his hands. To see the Glory of Christ is to know that God is able to raise the dead. To see the Glory of Christ is to know that God will make all things new. To see the Glory of Christ is to know in our heart of hearts that there is nothing, absolutely nothing that can separate us from his love. To see the Glory of Christ is to know that though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil for he is with us. To see the Glory of Christ is to know, that one day, we will see him face to face, and hear him say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant. Enter into your rest!” To see the Glory of Christ is to know that a day is coming, a glorious day is coming, when Jesus will return, and every knee will bow before him, and every tongue will confess that he is Lord! He is God and there is no other!

This is the Story of God! This is the Story of God! There is no greater story, for all other stories are merely sub-plots in this greatest story of all stories. And this is the story through which we are to understand who we are, why we are here, and what is expected of us. This is the story through which we are to interpret life, meaning, purpose.

As I’ve shared in the beginning of the sermon:

To be a person is to have a story to tell.

And it makes all the difference in the world what that story is. Won’t you today, please, let the story of your life merge with the Story of God. Won't you today, please, let Jesus be the hero in the story of your life? Because when Jesus enters the story, everything changes! Let’s pray.