Haley Haskin
- May 16, 2023
- 21 min read

The Most Epic Story Ever

Do you know that feeling when you were younger and easily invested, and you walked out of an awesome movie that changed your world for the day? The story was laced with dynamic characters, the plot moved in genius and unexpected ways, the climax had you on the edge of your seat, and the resolution was the most satisfying victory that tied together all the plot points perfectly. It made you feel awesome. It rooted into your imagination and inspired you to see the real world through such a cinematic lens for the rest of the week. Do you remember becoming so obsessed with a movie like this as a kid or a teenager? I do!

I was (and honestly still am) so in love with the Narnia books and movies. I wanted more than anything to find my way into Narnia like all those other seemingly normal children in the books. I tried to feel my way to the backs of closets and my parents’ armoire, just praying the world would open up for me as I tried to be as unexpectant as possible. I would trudge whimsically through the fresh fallen snow in our yard, secretly hoping to stumble upon a faun, and explore any lovely wood I came upon with a modest wish that I might find a pool there I could use to enter. As the years went on, different books and movies filled this obsessive place in my little teenage heart. I remember wanting to act out scenes from my favorite movies with my sisters. We would go so far as to make props and costumes, and buy companion books, because we wanted the worlds and stories to feel real, and we wanted to be a part of this thing that felt so amazing to us.

I suppose that is goal of theme parks, immersive experiences, and virtual realities too - to put you in a place you wish was truly real. It’s true, they do a good job of it. I’ve been to Disney World, Universal, immersive theatrical experiences, and done a couple of VR experiences. Yet while they feel amazing and fun in the moment, I have to admit they lowkey miss the mark on my heart every single time. Because you know how I feel when the experience is over? Like I have to go right back, or like the time I had there wasn’t good enough, or like it felt real for a split second but I wasn’t present enough, or it wasn’t perfect enough, or it wasn’t quite how I imagined, or that the real world is just too depressing to go back to. These experiences that recreate fictional worlds and stories never quite satisfy my desire for authenticity. They never quite scratch the itch. They have always left me wanting and wishing that the world trying to be recreated would just be real, and not filled with a bunch of tourists, or have a time limit, or have a bunch of strings holding it up. In the end it is always disappointing to realize even though the craftmanship and technology is well done, it still isn’t real.

I also remember seeing the Easter Pageant at my church when I was twelve years old. I felt warm inside when Jesus first met His disciples. I felt apprehension when He encountered Satan in the desert. I felt awe when I saw Him walk on water. I felt devastation to see Him hanging on the cross. But what sweet victory I felt to see Jesus rise from the grave with the most radiant light and joyful reunion with His followers. I remember saying of Narnia, Harry Potter, Disney movies, and other things of the like “I just wish it was real!” But this time when I opened my mouth to say those words to my parents, I realized with a victorious surge of joy, it actually is real! This made me positively giddy for a long time after. You can ask my parents. It was 2007 and I had been dying for an aqua ipod Nano at the time, so they told me if I memorized two chapters of the book of Matthew they would buy me one. They may have underestimated me with that deal, but I memorized them in a matter of days because I was so obsessed with this Gospel story that I had for the first time experienced with such vivid realness. The fact that I knew it was real blew my obsessive little twelve year old mind. I’ll never forget that first personal encounter I had with the greatest story ever told.

An Epic Story

I recently finished the book “The Story of Reality” by Greg Koukl. It is an enlightening read for new, old, and non-Christians alike, as it unveils the story of the Bible in a way that is accessible, sensible, and truly eye-opening. In it, Koukl talks about how the Bible is structured like the greatest drama of all time, and how in fact, whether it is out of awareness or not, almost every other story of good vs. evil ever created is modeled after this Bible story, because whether we know it or not, God has placed this story structure in our hearts. This imprint can be used as evidence for His existence, the meaning of life, and Christianity as a not a religion, but as our reality.

To give a brief summary, the creation of the world is the exposition of the story. God created everything perfectly, and Adam and Eve were able to enjoy unadulterated friendship with God, with nothing standing between them. There was no badness in the world, only perfect goodness, as God originally intended.

The fall of man is the inciting moment of the story – The thing that goes wrong. Adam and Eve are tempted by Satan to disobey God’s orders in the Garden of Eden by eating from the forbidden tree, and they become separated from God by their sin. The rest of the world falls with them, and Satan has his reign, bringing death, disease, and destruction. The perfect world God made is now broken. All of humanity is headed toward Hell – an eternity of separation from God and every single thing that is good. This is very bad news.

The rising action of the story looks like constant animal sacrifices to atone for sin as humanity longs to be close to God and understands their need to be saved from their brokenness. But the animal sacrifices aren’t enough to pay for what man has done. God knows that a man (Adam) was responsible for the fall of humanity, so a man (Jesus) must also be responsible for saving humanity and closing the gap. So God sends Jesus to the earth through a humble virgin birth, where He grows up a lowly Nazarene, and begins His ministry, preaching to all who will listen that He is the savior of the world.

The climax of the story is Jesus’ death on a cross, where in those torturous hours, Jesus felt the sins of the world, past, present, and future, on His shoulders, and paid the ransom for each and every soul that accepts Him as their savior. Like the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, Jesus, the light of the world, was slaughtered for our sins as the ultimate and final fulfillment of the law. His blood, the life that was in Him, paid the price for the brokenness for the rest of time. So though humanity was once enslaved by our sin, Jesus set us free from our sins through His sacrifice, that we might be rescued from Hell and spend our eternity with our Creator in Heaven. All He asks to seal the deal on this salvation is that we confess and accept His forgiveness for our sins.

But the story isn’t over yet. Darkness does not win with the death of our savior. Our sins do not keep Him in the grave. The resolution of the story is Jesus rising from the grave after three days, appearing to over five-hundred people in the flesh, and returning to His rightful throne in Heaven, where He will stay until the long-awaited yet unknown day of His promised return. Jesus’ followers rejoice at His resurrection and are sent out to spread the good news that all who come to Him can find salvation and spend our eternity in Heaven instead of Hell. Jesus is the only ticket we need for an eternity of perfect joy and goodness.

Okay… I know I only summarized a 1000+ page book, but what a SAGA! This is an incredible story! Not only is it filled with dynamic characters, crazy plot twists, terrible villains, and awe-striking heroes, but mostly the themes of the story resonate greatly with the human condition. The Bible story is the greatest drama of all time because it is the story of our salvation. It is the story of our past, present, and future. It is the story that gives our lives true meaning and purpose. It is the story that arrests our hearts for goodness and puts evil in its place. It applies to us on the deepest level. This story checks all the boxes of what strikes the chords of our broken human souls.

Hard-Wired for Christianity

Do you see how God’s grand design is the undeniable heartbeat of humanity? The core of this story is subconsciously imprinted on each of our hearts because God made us this way. He designed us to yearn for His goodness, to seek communion with Him, and to desire reunion with Him. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” – Ecclesiastes 3:11.

Of course it makes sense that some of the greatest dramas from the literary cannon follow this structure – a humble hero saves the somehow depraved and restores things to how they were before the evil forces invaded. How many stories mirror this classic war of good vs. evil? Yet none are as enlightening as the real story from which they originated and to which they point. Of course we get a joyous sense of victory when good defeats evil in any fictional, political, social, or spiritual capacity. This morality and yearning for justice is built into us. It is in our hard wiring. We were built for this Gospel. We were built for our Savior. Though we are broken now, we were originally built to hate the bad and rejoice in the good. We were designed for unadulterated communion with God. It oozes out of us because it is where we came from. It is in our blood, our makeup, our DNA. Of course we want to believe in magic. It is the closest thing we can arrive at before acknowledging the supernatural power of God. Of course we want our favorite magical worlds to be real. Like tasty appetizers that do not satisfy, they point us to the most perfect thing we could ever fathom – an eternity in Heaven, where we will at last experience perfect goodness and friendship with God the way Adam and Eve did in Eden. (He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”- Revelation 21:4). I read something interesting once that a liberal view is one that is constantly striving toward something we don’t yet have, while a conservative view is one that is constantly striving to get back to what we once had. At first glance it makes a conservative view sound obnoxiously close minded. It made my skin crawl to think people could be that obtuse. What about progression and developments? Where would we be if we never opened our minds? But if you look at the picture of reality that God has created, the idea of getting back to what we once had doesn’t sound like a such bad idea at all. In this conservative way of thinking, Christians are striving toward a future that looks like our past, because we know that is as good as things are going to get. There is no hope to be found in a progressive perpetuation of the things of this world, where things only get messier. The good is to be found outside of this world – in the place from which we came and to which we will one day return. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. - 1 John 2:15-17 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. - James 4:4 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. - Romans 12:2 (Disclaimer: not loving the world does not mean hating the people of this world. In the Bible the “world” refers to humanity’s broken state, where we were once perfectly whole. Hating the world means hating the broken and evil parts of this world and striving, through the power and goodness of God, to live in the light despite being surrounded by darkness.)

Even Disney Does It

This entire revelation of being hard-wired for the Gospel reminds me of the movie Tangled. Princess Rapunzel had been painting golden suns all over her bedroom her whole life, never thinking they had any more meaning than being lovely to look at. When at last she realizes she is the lost princess, images and memories come flooding back to her in a chilling highlight reel. Suddenly all the golden suns ingrained in her memory make sense. They are the suns from the castle she lived in as a baby. They point to something greater than just pretty things to look at. They are the suns from her true heritage, where she really belongs. They are the mark of her very identity and rightful place in the kingdom of Corona – her true purpose. Rapunzel feels found as she realizes the truth of her life for the first time in forever! (Oh wait, sorry, that’s Frozen).

This same enlightenment is seen in almost every other Disney movie out there too, but while we are on the Tangled train, think about these lyrics: "At last I see the light, and it's like a fog has lifted. And at last I see the light, and it's like the sky is new. And it's warm and real and bright, and the world has somehow shifted. All at once everything is different, now that I see you." Those lyrics in context of the movie are sang about falling in love with a handsome hero, but I think they are giving romance a little too much credit here. Falling in love is wonderful but it isn't the end all be all to life. I think these lyrics do a lot better job of describing the warm, right, and life altering feeling of discovering our identity in Christ for the first time. Feel free to do as I did (or don't because now it feels like a curse) and look at every Disney movie from this perspective, and just notice how wrongly they accredit feelings of being found, saved, learning of one's true purpose, or discovering one's true identity.

Connecting the Dots

Doesn’t it feel like our world has been telling stories that reflect the grand design of life for centuries, maybe never even knowing it was at the root of all storytelling? In almost every story good trumps evil. In many stories a lowly nobody becomes a save-the-world hero, or the protagonist finally discovers their true calling. A secular view might argue it is because these are just the basic laws of life. But then how did the laws get into place? Who decided? A Biblical view would argue these basic laws are a product of God’s design.

It makes sense. God already created the world and everything in it, so humans can’t create any new matter. God has given us creativity, but the most we can do with it is rearrange the building blocks He has already given us. (It is He who made the earth by His power, who established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding stretched out the heavens. - Jeremiah 10:12). His story structure is inescapable because it is the essence of life as we know it. The Gospel story has left a massive footprint on our hearts that seeps out of our subconsciouses whether we acknowledge that we are living in God’s world or not. It leaks into everything we do, from science, to philosophy, to art, to literature! God’s design is the original work to which every other metaphor alludes, and of which every science experiment tries to make sense. It has set humanity on a path of searching for that purpose and enlightenment everywhere we go. It is what we crave, so it informs everything we do.

So in the same deep-rooted way as Rapunzel finding purpose in the golden suns and enlightenment in falling in love, might our longing for joy in this broken world reflect the desperate need for God’s goodness to fill the hole in our hearts? Might that longing for God’s goodness reflect our innate moral compass? Might that innate moral compass reflect that there must be a higher judge of right and wrong? Might our acknowledgement of that judge lead us to believe in an eternity in Heaven or Hell? Might that realization of eternal communion or separation lead us to our life purpose? You see where I’m getting at very briefly. A true apologetic argument for God’s rightful position of sovereignty would take pages upon pages, and maybe I’ll write that book someday! My point is the story of Christianity starts to sound like not just a part of life, but the backbone of it. These ideas start to sound unshakably like not just a truth, but the truth. As Greg Koukl puts it in his book, Christianity begins to sound not just like a religion but a reality. (Your word is truth. - John 17:17; For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12).

Argument for Christianity

So if we are all living in God’s world, we are left with the choice of whether to acknowledge that. As stated in Koukl’s book, those who acknowledge that we are living in God’s world see all the puzzle pieces of life fall into place in sensible order. Those who don’t are left to make sense of only a few scattered pieces of the puzzle they’ve picked up here and there, but without consulting the Bible they will never see the big picture on the front of the box and will be confused. They may even have puzzle pieces from other boxes (other worldviews) scattered in, and will be left flipping, turning, and cramming pieces together with no clear direction on what any of them truly mean.

There are many wildly intelligent and successful people in this world who have what look to be promising leads on the answers to life’s hardest questions. They boast revolutionary ideas that at first seem credible, but when held up to closer examination have no good foundation to hold them up. Without acknowledging a sovereign God and an intentional design, the roof of their ideology caves in. There is emptiness and wandering. (“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” - 1 John 4:1).

A secular conclusion about life versus a Biblical conclusion about life is like a state road that runs parallel to a highway. While at times both roads look like they go in the same direction and may have similar views along the way, the state road will not get you to the same destination as the highway. Not to mention it is full of unnecessary twists, turns, and detours that send you getting lost down backroads with no service. But the highway is an assured straight shot in the right direction, full speed ahead, with plenty of road signs to keep you on the right track, and God’s roadmap to life (the Bible) to give clear directions.

Another analogy is tuning a radio. A life of mixed worldviews that does not acknowledge God’s design is like when you cross a town border and get tuned into multiple fuzzy radio stations at once. The songs (views) cut in and out on top of each other muffled and unclear, all fighting for their spot on the frequency. What you hear is conflicting, chaotic, and meaningless. But when we turn to the word and tune into the perspective of God’s design, we hear the messages He is sending loud and clear, and everything makes sense.

There will always be confusion and unanswered questions when God is left out of the picture, but if God offers us the chance to have all the answers for how to do life right, why not accept them? I know, I know, “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” – Matthew 7:13-14. Well, I really want as many people as possible to find it because its stinking awesome and way better than life without Jesus!

All or Nothing

So we’ve established the Gospel as being the ultimate drama of Good vs. Evil. We’ve established the imprinting of the Gospel story on humanity as obvious evidence that there is a meaning to life. Now what do these claims about God’s great design for life mean for me as a follower of Christ?

This knowledge of the earth-rattling scope of God’s design demands that my salvation not just be a religious hobby. It is not just something that makes me feel super spiritual and lighthearted on a Sunday and gives me permission to use the hashtag #blessed. It is not just a fun a fun fact I place in my bio. It is not something I can put down for a while and come back to when I’m feeling dry and need a little morale boost. It is not something I can pull apart, divvying up the parts I do like, and ignoring the parts I don’t like. (I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm - neither hot nor cold - I am about to spit you out of my mouth. - Revelation 3:15-16).

No, my salvation has to be all or nothing. It is the backbone of my life. It informs who I am and the life choices I make. Either I am in Christ, or I am not in Him. I see no other option than to be utterly broken for Christ. To shrink what He has done to save me down to anything smaller would be a dishonor to His sovereignty and a misunderstanding of the weight of my sins. To box God up and shelve Him into a category of my life that I only occasionally access, would be a big fat unfortunate miss on my end. He must be the center. He is the main course. He must be my main purpose on this earth. (But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. – 1 Peter 2:9).

Christianity is the only lens through which I can see life for what it truly is. It is the only way the complexities of this existence make sense. It is laced into everything I do, whether I recognize it or not, because it has to be. God has commanded it to be this way, and designed us to live in surrender to Him. While it is true that God has given us the free will to choose Him or not, choosing Him is the obvious choice for me, because clearly it is how He designed us to thrive. To choose against Him would be denying everything He designed me to be, and I do not want to miss out on that kind of grand and glorious plan.

Yes, my sinful nature puts up a fight to surrendering my pride and my life to God. It doesn’t always sound fun to be playing by God’s rules when we are living in fallen selfish bodies. The evil one tempts us to want to be our own gods, make our own rules, and live precisely how we see fit. But truth be told, I see no qualifying plan B to living in Christ. The evil one’s schemes lead to destruction and there is no way to do life better or easier by leaving God out of the equation. If the one who created me and the world I live in says He has the key to joy, then I believe Him and I want to be on that train to Heavenly communion with Him. I have a feeling He knows what He is talking about a whole lot more than I do. (Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. - Proverbs 3:5-6; Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. – 1 Peter 5:8).

I don’t claim to be anywhere close to a perfect follower of Christ. No one ever has been, and no one ever will be because we live in a broken world. I mess up one hundred times a day, but I would rather attempt to be close to Jesus and have Him meet me halfway, than be forever lost. As the great news of the story goes, I don’t have to be perfect or even close to perfect, because He is perfect through me, and His sacrifice on that cross has already paid the price for all my mistakes. In a circular way, this good news makes me want to strive to be a perfect follower, even though I know I will never be perfect. That is what makes God’s grace so fulfilling. It allows us to be what we wish we could be but know we could never achieve on our own. He gets joy out of showing us loving grace, and we get joy out of showing Him loving obedience, because we first received His great love. It is a win-win-win and a beautiful upward spiral of growing closer to each other. (For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. – Ephesians 2:8; And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28).

Let’s Digest

The object of God’s sovereignty alone should be enough to send us on our knees in obedience to Him. But I suspect God knew, given the fact that He granted us free will and analytical minds, that we would want some good reasons as to why we should obey and worship Him. Because He is a loving and approachable Father, He has laid these reasons out for us in the Bible and all over His creation. As Ecclesiastes 3:11 states, God is unfathomably good, incomprehensibly knowledgeable, and works in ways that continue to mystify us. We aren’t designed with minds to fully understand Him all at once in this life, because that would overwhelm us, but He has revealed to us the basic concepts we need to point our souls to Him. It takes one look at the beautiful earth around us to know assuredly that there is indeed a God. There are hints of God and the Gospel scattered all over our lives – little things that point to our hard wiring that you can read about here and here.

Like shifting a camera into focus, when these seemingly arbitrary hints are simply viewed in the light of Christianity everything begins to make sense. These clues fall seamlessly into their rightful place on the timeline of the greatest and truest story of all time – a story that was happening, is happening, and will continue to happen for eternity – a story that brings sense to everything else in life – the story of God creating a perfect world, evil bringing destruction, and Jesus saving everyone who accepts His salvation, so that we might live in His perfect creation once more for eternity. (For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. - Romans 1:20).

This is a story that is undeniable, irrefutable, and demands to be participated in. Either we participate or we wander. There is no gray area. There is no my truth. There is no your truth. There is only the truth. May we become arrested with awe for our creator, as we live in surrender to His sovereignty, for He is our roadmap to eternal life, waiting to welcome those who seek Him.

If there is one thing I know for sure in this life, it is that God should be trusted with the short time I have in this world and I should be playing by His rules. He designed me with a grand story in mind, and it is for a higher purpose than just surviving for a handful of years on this fallen earth. Even the best version life on earth is just the cold appetizer to the delectable main course of an eternity with God. We want more because we were made for more. Knowing that I am a part of God’s grand design, knowing that He already knew me from beginning to end, knowing that there has always been a higher plan makes me feel so known and at peace that it makes me want to give up my life to Him. HE is who gives me purpose. HE is who gives me joy. HE is who explains my longings. HE is who gives me hope. HE makes sense of everything else in life. When I look back at twelve-year-old Haley who was elated just to be watching this incredible saga on stage, I can’t say how found I feel to have accepted a role to be a part of the real life version of the only story that will not leave me wanting.

Though on this earth I will experience evil, brokenness, and pain, I know our loving God has his hands on this world as we all head to eternity. 2 Peter 3: 9 Says “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” God is taking His time on the road to eternity, hoping that more of His children might turn to Him before the day of judgement. But the day will come assuredly. He promises us this. As amazing as the story of creation and the Gospel are, for those who are in Christ, life on this side of eternity is just this first chapter of the greatest story ever told.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. - Colossians 1:16 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. – 2 Peter 1:3-4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. - 1 Corinthians 2:4-5 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” - John 14:1-3 They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. – Hebrews 11:13-16 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. - Revelation 21:3