Last time I started with the statement that concealed within most stories is a single message, stated over and over again. How could that be? How would storytellers, millions of them over the centuries, at the base of it, be telling the same basic story, over and over again, without any awareness they are doing so? Something much greater would have to behind this, driving them, driving them all.

As preposterous as that sounds, we then took the example of DNA, the DNA of all known life on this planet; and pointed out that on a day-to-day basis, very few of us give this much thought either. But it is even a more profound mystery – that there is a molecular architectural plan for every living organism deep within every cell, that is incredibly complex and must have some source; but even more incredible, seemingly, “on their own,” these architectural plans reproduce new creatures, and have since the beginning of time as we know it.

All of life is an incredible mystery, is it not? Where it all came from; where matter came from; and the first living cells; and then the DNA for every species, plant and animal? And not just the science of it . . . but the beauty of it. Take just this planet, oceans and rivers and mountains and forests, and we could go on all day. And outer space! If you have not seen the pictures coming from the Webb telescope, you need to. You can look here!

And please take your time. Look at the headings at the top of the page and try “Prior Year’s Webb Images.”

This life is simply beyond belief, and many of us know this and think about it from time to time. But we should be humbled, so humbled, that we can hardly talk of anything else. Instead, most of us become consumed with the daily details of our lives — not that they aren’t important, but our activities can’t really supply us with the “why’s” of life. Why are we here? What is our purpose? What is most important? Shouldn’t we be thinking about these things more than anything else?

The apostle Paul said that all men are without excuse for not believing in the one true God, and for two reasons.

For the unbelievable beauty and complexity of creation, which had to have an intelligent designer; it makes no sense otherwise. And if He designed and created everything, including us, then we belong to Him, not to ourselves. And only He would know the plan and purpose of our existence. We can only learn these things if we seek Him.

But we also have no excuse, because deep inside there is evidence of Him, for He placed it there. God says that He made us in His image, like Him. Meaning, that He gave all of us a deep conviction of what is important to Him. In one word, it would be love, perfect love. But if we step back, we would see why He cares so much about right and wrong, about good and evil, for that is the only way love can triumph; if we pursue it, and not everything else.

If DNA is deep down in every one of our cells, would it be such a stretch to say that God placed “spiritual DNA” down deep in every one of us as well? We may not feel like it on most days, but He said that we are the pinnacle of His creation. Would this spiritual DNA be the very thing Paul was referring to, what it means when God said He made us in His image, what makes us image bearers?

The history of humanity is a long one, sometimes told in four chapters – Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. But is it possible that most stories, all kinds of stories, from children’s books to the most complex of novels – tell one basic story, over and over again?

What if this is true because down deep we all know there is only one real, true story of our lives? Just like, down deep, every one of us knows the God of the Bible is the one true God. But from the time we are born into this fallen world, there is something else in us resisting this truth, fighting against it. Not just Satan, but something deep and broken inside every one of us.

But . . . the very essence of our spiritual DNA was never contaminated by the Fall. It is the “deepest” part of us. And so, down deep we still know the truth. We have always known the truth. That God is exactly who He says He is, and that His design is best, not any of our own; and because all of that is true . . . we find ourselves in a very great and tragic dilemma.

Our dilemma can best be stated in one sentence, popularized by Tim Keller, but possibly first used by Jack Miller. It is simply this:

I am worse than I ever imagined, but more loved than I ever dreamed.

If true, that sounds more like the beginning of a story, or somewhere deep into the second or third chapter . . . for there is a whole lot that needs to be resolved, right? Who would ever want the story to end . . . there?

Next time,
Sam