The Trilogy: Part 2 of 3
The Context: The Big Picture of What God is Doing
The Big Question: If God is in control, why does the world look so broken, and what is the actual point of our time here?
If you haven’t already, start with Part 1, “The 6-year-old picture story”. It provides the foundation for the bigger picture we are about to explore.
Most people misunderstand what God is doing because of two common assumptions: 1) They think earth is supposed to be a preview of Heaven where everything goes right, and 2) They think getting to Heaven will be based on if “we were a basically good person.”
Neither of those is true.
To see what God is actually doing, we have to look at the full timeline of existence through the lens of our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
The Timeline: Past, Present, and Future
Think back to the parent-child relationship: a wise parent gives advice, allows freedom, lets consequences happen for growth, and delights in the child when they trust guidance. God is doing this on an eternal scale across three phases:
- Eternity Past (The Choice): People often ask why God didn’t just set things up so we couldn’t cause ourselves problems. But God knew something better: we understand “truth” deeper when we reject it and experience the consequences, and we understand “love” deeper when we fail and see a loving hand reaching out to pick us up. God knew giving us “free will” would inevitably lead to pain, but He also knew it was the only path to a loving, trust-based relationship.
- Earth Now (The Training Ground): This life is a blink of an eye in our eternal existence. With our natural human tendency to focus on self, we easily corrupt our relationships, creating all the strife and mess we see in this world. This time on earth exposes the downside of free will and should drive us to trust His ways over ours.
The Rescue – A Relationship, Not a Performance: No loving parent wants their child to think they are only loved when they are “good.” Neither does God. He doesn’t accept us because of our performance; He accepts us because He loves us as His children. Because we could never “earn” our way back, God sent His Son, Jesus, to take the consequences for all our wrongs (sins). This completely clears the path, showing us His grace and redeeming our relationship with Him without the heavy burden of trying to earn His love.
- Eternity Future (The Destination): Just as a parent looks past a child’s temporary struggles to prepare them for adulthood, God is using this brief training ground to prepare us for eternity. Heaven will be a place of caring, wholesome relationships because the people there have learned to trust the counsel of their wise and loving Heavenly Father.
Look around us. We live in a world filled with remarkable examples of love, generosity, courage, sacrifice and kindness. We also live in a world filled with greed, anger, violence, jealousy, pride, betrayal and broken relationships.
Why? One of the biggest reasons is that we have a natural tendency to put ourselves at the center. And focus on “self” corrupts relationships.
The Two Rules That Summarize It All
God gives us guidance not to restrict our fun, but to help us find a purposeful and rewarding life. He boils His entire purpose down to two greatest commandments:
- Love God and trust His counsel: Just as a child benefits from trusting a loving parent, trusting God’s wisdom leads to a much more purposeful and rewarding life.
- Love others as much as yourself: Shifting our focus away from pure self-interest and toward helping others is the secret to discovering that “it is more blessed to give than to receive.”
What This Means for You
God loves to bless us right now when we trust Him. But His primary goal for your brief time on earth isn’t just temporary comfort—it is preparing you for an eternal life of caring and wholesome relationships.
If we look around and see the mess created by us “doing what is right in our own eyes” and “focus on self” (which corrupts relationships), it should drive us to look for a better set of values from our Heavenly Father.
Read The Trilogy: Part 1 “The 6-year-old picture story”
Read The Trilogy: Part 3 “Heaven: Greatly misunderstood”
Back to FAQs
Bible references:
- Revelation 20:11-15 All will come before God for judgment. We often ask why God allows bad people to continue. He tells us it is because He is giving everyone full chance to change, but there will an endpoint to that. It will have nothing to do with “being a basically good person” – just trusting a loving and wise parent.
- Revelation 21:4 “God will wipe away every tear” We will no longer have the problems we encounter in this world that make us sad. And the pains of this world will fade in our memories as does our pains of when we were 6 years old.
- Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God… (This is what a wise and loving parent does and it sometimes includes some tough love.)
- John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life
- 1 John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
- Acts 20:35 – It is more blessed to give than to receive
- James 4:1-3 What is the cause of your quarrels. Is it not your lust and envy things you do not have? (God is letting us know that a primary focus on “self” corrupts relationships and is hollow in the end.)
- 1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully. (God gives us a glimpse of eternity, but let’s know that you will not really grasp how good until you are there.)