Ranchgirl’s Weblog

For: The Institute Of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Blue Online Worship Theology Course with Dan Wilt

  Before  anything, there was GREAT GOD, Triune God setting the stage for the GREAT STORY.  The story is one of love, justice, redemption, faithfulness, and mercy from a God who creates, reigns, relates, and acts.  The stage He built for His story was unique; two-dimensional; heaven and earth, where in a sense these two stages could overlap or intersect with each other.  The stage was grand, seemingly perfect and complete, and yet something was missing; for always in the heart of God was this desire for someone who would join Him in the story.  So God took dust from the earth stage and breath from the “God” stage and formed those who would participate in the story.  It would be man’s vocation to express God throughout the earth as the “Imago Dei,” the image bearers of God. 

This newly created man greatly resembled his Creator until one day when man became dissatisfied with the vocation that God had given him.  He wanted to be God.  Strangely, he no longer resembled his Creator.  LIfe drastically changed for man as He found himself alone on the stage; now a single stage; a stage not connected to the heaven stage.

The story continued: going away, coming back home again; slavery and exodus, exile, and restoration.  God longed for the likeness to return, for man to join Him again in the story, so He sent His Son to reconnect the stages of heaven and earth.

The Son, Jesus, Servant King, lived, died and was resurrected, and in so doing, rescued, freed, saved, and gave life to the lost man.  Through Jesus, man could rediscover some of the greatest acts on the stage: justice, spirituality, relationship, and beauty.  The spiritual stages of heaven and earth were rejoined through Jesus’ establishment of His kingdom on the earth.  Through the Holy Spirit, this kingdom resided in the hearts of those who chose to follow Jesus.  

As the guild of actors who have taken the stage with Creator God return to God’s original purpose, the scene is set for expressing the heart of God on the earth.  Contrary to popular belief, God will not take us away from the grand stage that He created; instead the stage will be remade along with the people.  Physical heaven and earth will be reunited; the great sphere will be unseparable.  This curtain call will be an exciting one; names will be read outloud.  There will be applause.  There will be bowing.  And never again will we be onstage alone.