How Can I Determine Where I Belong in the World?
The Whole World is a stage.
Shakespeare famously penned, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women only act” (As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII).
He wasn’t the first to mention it, but he was correct. Shakespeare wrote those lines forty years before John Calvin referred to the cosmos as God’s “majestic stage.” So, the world is more than just a stage; it is God’s stage, where everything shows how amazing his knowledge, power, and love really are.
Life is the “play” that has been played since it made its debut because the universe is a theater for God’s glory. God the Father created life, God the Spirit directed it, and God the Son (Jesus) is the main character in its story.
You and I, along with everyone who has ever been born, have been cast in life as supporting players. In a sense, we were born to fulfill our roles. We were not cast despite our exceptional skills. There were no talent hunts, screen tests, or casting calls. No, the author, director, and actor merely assigned us a minor role in life so that we could experience the unending happiness that comes from knowing him.That is the purpose of life.
Playing a role
But what role do we play? How can we determine what to do? The Bible is the screenplay that the author, director, and actor have given us. The Bible gives us the information we need to play our roles, including character descriptions, action locations, lines to learn, stage directions to follow, etc. The Bible reveals the real story of the whole world and everyone who lives in it. The screenplay even provides us with the necessary background information on the writer, director, and actor, describing who he is, what he’s like, and where he plans to take the narrative.
This is where we both fit in. We must be familiar with the author, director, and main actor, as well as the play’s script, in order to perform our roles well.
As we’ve previously said, God is the play’s author, director, and main actor. His narrative is history, as many people have said. (How corny, yet how true.)But God doesn’t write and direct the drama behind the scenes from a distance. No, God has inserted himself into Jesus’ life narrative. “He [Jesus] is the precise image of God’s essence and the light of his splendor” (Heb. 1:3).
We must comprehend the tale that the play Life conveys in addition to understanding who authored it. What transpires? What’s the purpose? What does it all mean? The Bible presents the narrative of life in five acts as follows:
The big drama Life has assigned you and me as supporting players. In a sense, we were born to fulfill our roles. How do we determine where we fit in the world?
Creation and Rebellion, Act I
God made everyone and everything so that they might know him and enjoy his kindness eternally (Gen. 1:1; Psalm 16:11; John 17:3). Everything good originates with God, and everything was created by and for him (Col. 1:16-17).However, the first two performers believed they could enhance God’s screenplay. They aspired to take God’s position as the Author/Director/Starring Actor in Life by choosing to disobey God’s stage instructions (commands), and every actor after them has done the same. Instead of bringing peace and pleasure to everybody, our actions have caused conflict and selfishness, and we are unable to repair what we have done wrong. As a result, the peace between us and God has been shattered.
Second Act: Israel
God’s ultimate rescue strategy began with the creation of a cast of characters who would trust him, uphold him, and share his message with the world. God then spoke to a man by the name of Abraham and made a promise that one of his descendants would undo the effects of sin and bring blessing to all of creation (Gen. 12:1-7; Gal. 3:16).
But many things had to occur beforehand, including the enslavement of Abraham’s descendant Israel, their liberation by amazing miracles, and the giving of even more stage directions (commands) for their roles by God. But regardless of everything God achieved for them, Israel constantly showed their unwillingness to obey God’s instructions. They would ignore God’s plan, and many calamities would strike them, yet God continued to save them. Each time he helped someone along the way, it was a sign of the final rescue he had promised to Abraham.
Third Act: Jesus
Jesus, the lead actor in Life, makes an appearance. In a sense, Jesus, in a sense, had been there the whole time, working behind the scenes with the Author and the Director to make sure that everything was ready for his triumphal entry “when the fullness of time had arrived” (Gal. 4:4). Because Jesus is the promised Son of Abraham, He came to make right all that we had wronged.
But how? By correcting those who have erred in every way, of course.Jesus came to bring about our healing, purification, renewal, and reconciliation with God and one another. He decided to restore and make up for all the harm our sins had caused to the majestic theater of God’s majesty. Jesus freely laid down his life for ours and then took it back up again (John 10:11, 18) to pay the high price, allowing God to forgive and accept us.
Fourth Act: The Church
After Jesus had fulfilled his role, he sent his disciples out into the world to fulfill their roles as well, educating people about the purpose of life and all that Jesus had accomplished for them.
When actors recognize their need for Jesus, they are “awakened” to the role God intends for them. They get a new heart that wants to obey God’s plan—not out of self-righteous pride or out of fear, but out of confidence in and love for Jesus. This cast of players is referred to as “the church.” They don’t always play their roles flawlessly, but they are aware that their transgressions are wicked and improper and that the church itself serves as a message to the outside world that Jesus will bring about a complete transformation of all things (Rev. 21:5).
Act V: The Finale
By dying on the cross (Col. 2:13–15; 1 Cor. 15:23–26), Jesus condemned all that is bad, twisted, and wrong in the world. ““Condemned,” says the notification. Destruction is imminent. condemned in the sense of “This is incorrect, awful, dreadful, retrograde, stupid, harmful, and deadly.” Destruction is coming, like when someone says, “I’ll be back to get rid of these things for good.”
That brings the tale to a close. When Jesus arrives, everything marked with a condemnation notice will be destroyed. Everyone who persists in attempting to retain illness, grief, sin, and death in God’s theater is also permanently removed. The church will rise again, just like Jesus, to be a part of God’s new creation. There, they will spend their whole lives learning what “happily ever after” really means.
That is the world’s real history. Are you carrying out your role?
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