The StoryChanger (An Introduction) (eBook)

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The First Story

Most stories begin with a happy, idyllic situation, before a villain appears and ruins everything. The middle of the story, and the majority of it, is about how the hero of the story fights the villain, reverses the ruin, and, at the end, returns to the original ideal—or even to a better one. That, in a nutshell, is the plot of Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and most other movies and books.

If that’s the usual structure of a story, what will happen if we start reading it halfway through or start watching the movie an hour after it started? Without knowing how it began, we won’t know what’s going on, who’s who, what’s happened, what’s wrong, or where the story is going. We’ll be confused and disoriented, and probably give up on trying to figure out the plot.

That’s where many of us are when it comes to the story of the world. We’re living in the middle of the world’s story, but we’re confused and disoriented because we have no idea how the story began. Perhaps we haven’t read chapter 1 and therefore don’t know what’s happened, who’s who, what’s gone wrong, what’s going on, or where the story is going. The world is a bewildering and perplexing place for anyone who doesn’t know how it began. So, how did the story of the world begin, and how does that impact our story for good?

Let’s go back to the beginning of God’s Story, to Genesis 1 and 2, to learn how the story of the world began. By doing so, we’ll grasp not just God’s ideal Story, but what’s going on now and where and how God’s Story will end. By figuring out the beginning, we’ll get a better handle on the messy middle and uncover the route to a happy ending. Confusion, disorientation, and despair will be replaced with clarity, direction, and hope. And that will put us in a much better place to have God rewrite our story with his Story.

Background

God’s Story of the world begins with the beginning of the world. The first chapter launches with “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). It ends with “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day” (1:31). It’s a beautiful scene of an ideal world populated with ideal people. Let’s take a closer look at both.

What did God’s ideal world look like? It looked idyllic.

God’s Story Begins with an Ideal World

Genesis 1–2 paints the world God made as full of bounty and beauty.

God Made a Bountiful World

When God made everything, he didn’t just sprinkle a few samples of this and that here and there. He created an abundance of everything. He produced a plethora of planets, stars, and galaxies. He fashioned a profusion of animals, fish, and birds. He made a myriad of trees, plants, and herbs. He went big with land, sea, and sky. He multiplied elements, materials, chemicals, and crops. The world was full to the brim with the goodness and generosity of God. There was nothing tightfisted or miserly about the Creator’s creation. No one could look at the first world and say God was a penny-pinching skinflint or a minimalist barbarian. Rather, the whole creation said God was lavish and copious with gifts, teeming and overflowing with kindness.

God Made a Beautiful World

When God made the world, he didn’t make just a functional world, but a beautiful world. “God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31). It was so good that God took a whole day off from creating to study and enjoy his creation and invited us to join him in this celebratory rest (Gen. 2:1–3).

The universe didn’t just work well; it awed deeply. Lovely landscapes, pretty petals, fresh flavors, super sights, amazing animals, flying fish, tall trees, and majestic mountains—all revealed the beautiful mind and character behind it all. In God’s wonderful world, we gaze upon God’s gorgeous wisdom, goodness, sovereignty, power, creativity, and glory. We see this in the macro and the micro, with the telescope and the microscope. Ugly wasn’t just invisible; it was inconceivable. The beautiful world of Genesis 1–2 portrayed and presented a beautiful Creator.