The Word for Writers
STORIES COME TO US in many forms. Early mediums included written literature and theatre. Modern forms include film and television drama. But whether the story is about one singular life, a family, a group of friends, a slice from the history of a nation, or the whole of human history, every story contains the same five essential elements: setting, characters, plot, conflict, and theme. These five components, when woven together, become the fabric in which all of human experience is cloaked.
By studying His story, we can discover a great deal about the warp and woof of our own lives. More importantly, we can also learn of God's grander purposes and deepen our appreciation of His design for our world.
God is the center of all things, the great I AM(3). He is the One who makes the nations and directs their courses. As Playwright, Producer and Director, God creates these five story components over and over again with each new human life, with each new nation and with every church, every business, and every session of Congress.
Let's begin with a look at the setting for God's story.
SETTING. Every story must take place somewhere. We live in a physical universe consisting of time, space and matter. But God's story begins outside of these temporal constraints. The few glimpses of the non-created that Scripture provides leave much to the imagination.
"In the beginning, God created..." tells us that before God inaugurated time, He had already conceived a plan. "Let us make man in our image..." provides a peek at the dialog that occurred within the Trinitarian society before God molded man's frame from the dust of the earth and quickened him with His very breath.
Our understanding of His story is of course limited to things created. For our discussion, the setting is confined to His creation, the cosmos. From the outset, God established an orderly, harmonious, universe. He created the heavens and the earth(4). He took great care to craft the perfect environment for mankind.
God made the light, the expanse of the heavens, the waters, the dry land called the earth, and caused the grass and other fruits of the earth to sprout from seed. He divided the light into day and night, and brought forth creatures from the sea, the air, and the land. After each day, God appraised His activities and pronounced His work to be good.
Finally, when all was ready, He crafted man in His image and gave him authority over all the earth and its creatures. He then declared His work to be very good.
Although eternity in God's presence is the destiny of the redeemed soul, creation is the setting for His story. He custom-crafted mankind and earth for one another.
Creation radiates God's glory. Danish author Isak Dinesen, in her book Out of Africa, described the beauty of her home in Kenya.
"I had a farm in Africa, at the foot of the Ngong Hills. ... the farm lay at an altitude of over six thousand feet [and] ... had not its like in all the world. ... The colours were dry and burnt, like the colours in pottery. The trees had a light, delicate foliage... the grass was spiced like thyme and bog-myrtle...The clouds ... struck the side of the hill and hung around it...The hills from the farm changed their character many times in the course of the day, and sometimes looked quite close, and at other times very far away. ...The hill country itself, ...is tremendously big, picturesque and mysterious; varied with long valleys, thickets, green slopes and rocky crags."(5)
Run your fingers through the soil of a newly tilled garden. Go for a walk after a spring thundershower. Drink in the crisp, autumn air and watch the colored foliage drifting to the earth. Stick out your tongue and catch a snowflake. Or if you are really adventurous, go for a walk in the desert, climb up the craggy side of a mountain, or don your scuba gear and survey a coral reef. Whatever hope we hold for heaven, whatever longing we possess to be delivered from this earthly life, we are yet compelled to acknowledge that the earth is good. It is here, on this lush, rich, and sometimes stark planet, that God has set the stage for the telling of His grand story.
..............
(3) Exodus 3:14
(4) Genesis 1:1-26
(5) Isak Dinesen, Out of Africa, (New York, NY: Modern Library, 1983), pp 3-6.
PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
Reader Count & Comments
Date
The opinions expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com. This is especially true with articles that
deal with personal healthcare and prophecy. We encourage the reader to make their own decision in consultation with God, His Word, and others as needed.
This article has been read 1062 times < Previous | Next >
Read more articles by Mark Weaver or search for other articles by topic below.
This article has been read 1062 times < Previous | Next >
Search for articles on: (e.g. creation; holiness etc.)
Read more by clicking on a link:Free Reprints
Main Site Articles
Most Read Articles
Highly Acclaimed Challenge Articles.
New Release Christian Books for Free for a Simple Review.
NEW - Surprise Me With an Article - Click here for a random URL
God is Not Against You - He Came on an All Out Rescue Mission to Save You
...in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them... 2 Cor 5:19
Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Acts 13:38
LEARN & TRUST JESUS HERE
FaithWriters offers Christian reading material for Christian readers. We offer Christian articles, Christian fiction, Christian non-fiction, Christian Bible studies, Christian poems, Christian articles for sale, free use Christian articles, Christian living articles, New Covenant Christian Bible Studies, Christian magazine articles and new Christian articles. We write for Jesus about God, the Bible, salvation, prayer and the word of God.