Stories resound within us – they strike a chord within our very heartstrings. Sometimes they fill us with yearning; other times, with fear. We feel that good should win with such intensity that our hearts ache. Yet even when good does win, there’s a small part of us that is sadly cynical – because things aren’t like that in “real life.”
But why can’t they be? Well, there’s a Story for that, too. It is the First Story, the original, if you will; and all our tales are pale reflections of this Story…
The Lover and the Beloveds
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth” (Gen. 1:1) and put wonderful, marvelous things upon it. The crowning glory of His creation was man and woman – the first personal love-story in the midst of His overarching love-symphony (Gen. 1:26-31).
In between the making of man and the making of woman, however, there is an interlude. God forms the Garden of Eden – with great care and love – and places the man in the Garden. But in the Garden, there is a tree whose fruit will cause death if it is eaten (Gen.2:15-17). This warning is given right before the woman – the man’s beloved – is created.
God, the Lover, then creates the woman, completing His Beloveds by giving the man a beloved in return.
And now the stage is set: there is a pair of lovers in a paradise with a potential tree…and an adversary to match.
For every good story has it’s villain that must be overcome, and this stems from none other than God’s own Story. Into Eden came the serpent, and he does what every adversary after him will do: he goes after the Beloved.
The serpent deceives the woman into choosing to eat the dangerous fruit; the woman gives the fruit to her husband (“who was with her” the whole time), and he chooses to eat the fruit as well (Gen. 3:6).
An Impossible Task
The one rule is broken. The Beloveds die. Granted, they do not die the death they thought they would. Their death is a spiritual one, but it is no less painful. The Beloveds are cut off from their Lover. Even though they Yearn for each other, there is no earthly way to repair the damage…
But there is still hope! In our tales, the lover always comes for the beloved, and so it is in God’s Story. God immediately promises a Savior to crush the Adversary and redeem the Beloveds from Sin and Death (Gen. 3:15). Every story in the Old Testament reaffirms this promise and highlights God – the Lover – as He fights for His people Israel. He is preparing the world to receive His Chosen Warrior who will save us, His Beloveds.
Finally, born under the rule of Caesar Augustus, our Savior comes. Jesus lived a perfect life according to every Law, died a sacrificial death to redeem all humanity, and rose again to defeat Death and Sin. He had the most impossible of tasks – and yet He fulfilled them all. What is more, He made a way for the Lover and the Beloved to be together.
And like all good stories, the love between the Lover and the Beloved is stronger because of the trials they endured to be together.
