THE STORY—The Big Bang Roger Pryor—April 26/27, 2014 On the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in Rome is one of the most magnificent paintings I have ever seen. It’s Michelangelo’s masterpiece—a mural that captures the full sweep of history. At the highest point of the ceiling are 9 scenes from the first book of the Bible—Genesis. Then there are the 12 prophets who fore told Jesus’ birth, the ancestors of Jesus, and numerous biblical stories. In all there are 300 characters painted on the ceiling. Each scene tells its own individual story from the Bible. Yet, Michelangelo’s painting tells one epic story, through hundreds of individual stories. And to understand this epic story you have to put on your spiritual bifocals. As you look down through the lower lens, you have your Lower Story, and when you look through the upper lens you see God’s Upper Story. As I mentioned last week, the Lower Story is our story—it’s what happens day-to-day. It’s paying bills, going to work, making money, sitting at 4-way stops, changing diapers, cleaning house, dealing with conflict, attending your kid’s events, being sick, and feeling grief. And it’s there that God shows up to comfort us, guide us in his wisdom, and meet our needs. But beyond that God has a higher agenda—he has his Upper Story. He has an epic plan, a master plot to unveil—God wants to be with you and me. He does so by weaving His Upper story into our Lower Story so we can become an important part of his masterpiece. God’s epic story begins with the first sentence of the Bible. He STEPS UP with a big bang—not the big bang of evolutionary theory where two stars accidentally collide, creating our world. No, the big bang is the creative action of a personal God. Our world is not an accident. God is behind it all or, better, God is above it all. The Godhead made up of Father, Son and Holy Spirit challenge each other to the mother of all science fair projects—creation. Genesis 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. There are no other gods. No competition—just one God who is in charge. And this one and only God created the heavens and the earth. This word “create” is used about 50 times in the OT and it’s exclusively used of God who is all-powerful and absolutely in control. He’s sovereign. Beginning in vs. 3, the God-Head Construction Co. starts creating. On days 1, 2, and 3 God creates places. Light and dark. Sky and water. Land. On days 4, 5, and 6 God fills those places with objects. And at the end of each day, God surveys his work, and says, “This is good.” Granted the creation of the heavens and earth and the other one hundred billion galaxies are impressive. But nothing compares to his one crowning achievement—real art—a people he could enjoy, love, and with whom he could relate. God wants to be with you and me.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Apr 2014 17:01:22 +0000
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