Fully Devoted: The ConclusionSample

A Story That Leads to Jesus

We’re nearing the end of this journey we began so long ago. We started in Genesis and have now come all the way through Revelation—from Creation to New Creation. Along the way, we’ve been learning what it means to live as fully devoted followers of Christ.

As we wrap up this study, let’s take some time to review some of the big ideas we laid out at the beginning. Looking back will help propel us forward to carry on the mission of partnering with Jesus as He rescues and redeems this broken world.

But first, this week we’re zooming out to think biblically about the Bible so that we can continue to engage with it wisely.

The Bible is a story that leads to Jesus and invites us to become like Jesus.

The Bible is a unified story written by dozens of authors over the course of generations. It’s the story of God and the story of us, the story of Jesus and His Church, the story of God’s good world fractured by sin and the coming renewal of all things.

It’s a story that reveals the truth about who God is, who we are because of Jesus, how the world really works, and what it looks like to live rightly in relationship with others.

Almost half of the Bible is written in the form of narrative: The idea of “story” is central. And it’s important not to miss how all the other genres of literature found in the Bible—laws, letters, sermons, poetry, and prophecy—all serve to expand, illustrate, and clarify the bigger story the Bible is telling.

God’s primary way of communicating to us is through story. Why is that? What makes stories special?

Stories communicate information, provide meaning, create connection, inspire change, and invite participation.

“Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form.” —Jean Luc Godard

Stories communicate information.

After the Jewish people were liberated from slavery in Egypt, God didn’t give them a list of adjectives to communicate to them who He is. He gave them a story. Through the Genesis creation account, God revealed three key things to this newly formed nation of former slaves. First, who God is: a loving Creator. Then, who they were: beings created in the image of their divine Creator. And finally, the purpose they were created for: to partner with Him in caring for and overseeing Creation.

Stories provide meaning.

When the early followers of Jesus sat down to explain the meaning of what God had accomplished through Jesus, the Messiah, they didn’t write a dry report. They wrote a story. Throughout the Gospels, the true meaning of the Jewish Scriptures is revealed through the stories of Jesus announcing the Kingdom, calling His disciples, casting out demons, healing the sick, performing miracles, and teaching with an authority that no one had ever witnessed before. The four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, didn’t put together a dissertation on how God brought about the reconciliation of all people to Himself, instead they told the story of the Savior of the world suffering and dying on a Roman cross. The true meaning of the death and resurrection of the Messiah can only be captured in the form of a story.

Stories create connection.

Throughout the book of Acts, as the apostles are inviting people to return to God and be adopted into His family, they don’t draw up a list of pros and cons. They tell the story of Jesus’ resurrection from the grave. Because of Jesus’ victory over sin, hell, and the grave, the Church has been launched. People from every tribe, nation, and tongue are being brought back to God as a new humanity. This is the power of stories. They bring people together by helping us see past our surface-level differences and into our shared experiences as human beings.

Stories inspire change.

When Jesus was teaching His followers about life in the Kingdom, He didn’t give them an e-book with ten steps to living a more godly life. He told them short stories known as parables. He used these stories to paint a picture for His followers of what life is really like when God is in charge, and to inspire them to live according to this new kind of life. Throughout the ages, these parables of Jesus have been told and retold from one generation to the next because of the way they transcend time, language, and geography with their miraculous ability to captivate and transform their hearers. This is what stories do. They inspire change through their unique ability to provoke different ways of thinking and new ways of seeing the world.

Stories invite participation.

The invitation to follow Jesus isn’t just an invitation to agree with the terms of service on an app. It’s an invitation to join in on the story of God’s redemptive plan to rescue humanity from sin and restore Creation. This is what the story of the Bible has been pointing to all along: human beings returning to God and their rightful place as His partners. Every stage of the biblical story brings us closer to the moment when heaven and earth will be reunited, we’ll finally see our heavenly Father face to face, and all of Creation will be made new. And in every stage of this journey, God invites us to play our part. It’s an invitation that begins with repenting and believing that Jesus is King and His Kingdom is coming on earth as it is in heaven.

This is the power of stories to communicate information, provide meaning, facilitate connection, inspire change, and invite participation.

God is a storyteller. And you have a part to play in the grand narrative He is writing.

“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world.” —Robert McKee

Journaling Questions

• What verse or verses stand out to you in today’s reading? Write them in your journal.
• What is a story that has impacted your life? Journal about it.
• How does that story create connection, invite participation, or motivate you to action?

Memory Verse

“’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31 NIV