What is it about stories that everybody loves and has loved, ever since humans existed?
My niece recently got married and at her evening wedding reception she had booked a storyteller who came and told an ancient story, as I, along with everyone else in the room was drawn into the story, you could hear a pin drop at the poignant parts of the tale.
It’s probably the reason why the film industry is so successful. Imagine each year, how much money people around the world spend on, Cinema tickets, DVDs, subscriptions to internet streaming services like Netflix, satellite and cable TV not to mention books, audiobooks and digital books.
It must be trillions of dollars!
Not to mention how popular songs that are ballads are and how long they endure for, Like Johnny Cash’s songs The Gambler, The Highwayman, The Ballad of Jesses James, to name but a few by just one artist.
We live in a world where life is NOT fair, it never has been and never will be, so for someone who thinks they deserve the very best, and should not have to bother with problems, pain, illness or difficulty, bad times leave them with a massive chip on their shoulder.
Unfortunately, life is not like most of the fairy stories we were taught as children, where everyone lives “happily ever after.” Life is messy and we all need help “No man is an island.”(John Donne)
The Good News is that The Greatest Story ever told is a true one and tells us that God Himself came to earth and lived as a human being for 33 years in the person of Jesus Christ.
God Himself experienced life in all its “earthly glory;” pain, poverty, hardship, rejection, bereavement, disappointment, betrayal, isolation, slander, hatred, humiliation, violence, mockery and eventually crucifixion on a wooden cross.
Not only this, but He knew what He would experience, before He came…. and He still came.
His Story is found in the pages of The Bible not only the New Testament but also in the pages of The Old Testament that prophesy His life, ministry, and death.
It is The Greatest Story because He did all this for you and me. Jesus came into this world to reveal God’s love for you and Rescue you from an eternity without Him, something you and I are powerless to ever do.
The Revd Calvin Julian-Jones, minister of Sindlesham Baptist Church, writing on behalf of Churches Together Wokingham
