In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
All things came to be through him
and without him nothing came to be.
What came to be was life
and this life was the light of the human race;
the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not overcome it.
— John 1:1-5
The Word. As Saint John sees it, the Word is the manifested will of God. To mortals, a "word" is a sound that symbolizes meaning. To God, the Word is the loving intelligence that created the universe and set the stage for his plan of salvation to unfold in the fullness of time – "the Word was with God." The Word is His very own eternal invisible being expressed in time and salvation history in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ – "the was God."
The late, great novelist and writing teacher John Gardner used to say there are only two kinds of stories: someone went on a journey; a stranger came to town. Either way, a love story unfolds. Stories and the words from which they are crafted give context and provide meaning. All parts of the Bible – all 783,000 words — come together as one narrative.
What kind of story is the Bible? Certainly it is an epic with characters, settings, events, and themes too numerous to mention. The Bible is a love story, one of connection and disconnection between the Almighty and his betrothed. It is a romantic saga of a God hopelessly and jealously in love with his chosen people, a love-struck protagonist who journeys from the beginning of time to the last days to bring his beloved close to him through his plan of salvation. Through the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord declares, "For I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you" (31:13).
Let us set the scene.
In Genesis, God reveals his central desire: to live with his people in Paradise forever. He tells Adam, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; the moment you eat from it you are surely doomed to die" (Genesis 16b-17). But Adam and Eve disobey God and it looked as though God's plan had gone off course.
Can God restore his relationship with humanity or will evil prevail? All writing seeks to answer a question and this question establishes the central conflict of the story and the major themes. Novelist John Steinbeck — a writer who drew endless inspiration from the Bible — said, "All novels, all poetry, are built on the never-ending contest in ourselves of good and evil."
Despite the sins of his people, God continues to love and care for them and longs for their return. He has a special plan for them. He sends Abram on a journey, telling him, "Leave your country, your people, your father's household, and go to the land I will show you" (Genesis 12:1-3).
Israel becomes enslaved by the Egyptians. The rising action of the story increases as things get worse for God's people. A central pattern is set: God returns to his people; he promises to free them from bondage and restore them to the New Eden. He appoints Moses as their leader, who leads them through the desert across the River Jordan into the Promised Land.
Exodus sets a pattern of connection and disconnection that plays out for centuries. Israel breaks faith with God; he exiles them. The Israelites lament but subject themselves to hardship by their infidelity. God seems aloof but his desire remains consistent-he still loves his chosen ones. He tells the prophet Malachi, "I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord whom you desire" (3:31).
Enter the Messiah. A stranger comes to town. "What sort of man is this, whom even the winds and sea obey?" (Matthew 8:27). The Jews have never seen anybody like Jesus; his coming was foretold. He becomes a cause for division. He bewilders the Jews and challenges the Jewish power structure; they seek to put him to death.
Jesus' journey is difficult. "Who can accept this?" his disciples wonder aloud. Peter denies the Lord and Judas betrays him and the story reaches it climax, the death and resurrection of our Savior. By his crucifixion he defeats death, fulfills God's covenant with Abraham, and reconciles the sins of his people. The central conflict is resolved.
In the epilogue a Jew from Tarsus is converted on the road to Damascus and charged with helping establish Christ's church. Paul's epiphany sends him on his journey to spread God's message of love, which "bears all things, hopes in all things, endures all things" (Ephesians 13:7).
The story of God is one of love and loss, heartache and deliverance, a romantic comedy in which the main characters, the Lord and his chosen ones, indeed, all people, will be reunited in the sequel, the Son of Man's return.
