We are all telling ourselves a story. We are the hero of our story; revolving around our journey to get what we want in life.  Maybe it’s significance, or power, or comfort, or love.  We want our stories to have a happy ending.

But that is not the story the Bible is telling about you.

The Bible is definitely a hero’s story.  It’s a journey where the protagonist is going after what he desires.  The story is full of intrigue, opposition, triumph, and tragedy.  And the hero ultimately gets what He wants.

But the hero is God, made known to us in Jesus Christ.  The genre is redemption, the Earth the stage, and, humanity, once friends, are now the villains — the antagonists.  We are opposing God’s desires at every turn, but God ultimately triumphs.

But the triumph now is not by defeating his enemies, but by turning them into friends.  Jesus Christ rescues the villain: the hero gets what the villain deserved, so the villain can get what the hero deserved.

The hero gets what he wants — us — and he lays his life down to do it.  And all those who believe this story are changed. How could they not?

Imagine if you were drowning with no hope of self-rescue.  But the lifeguard appeared and pulled you from your near grave.  Would your life be different afterwords?  Or if you were in a burning building with the flames at your feet, but were rescued at just the right time?  Your story was about to end — your desires snuffed out — but you were rescued.  Would your desires change?

How much more so then when we see the God of the universe laying His life down so we could be with Him forever.  That is why the Bible simply does not work if we first read it as having something to say to us.  We certainly are in the story, we are just not at the center.  And that is the key to a happy ending.