THE PLAY’S THE THING

So that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace… Eph. 2:7

God has authored an epic drama of cosmic proportions set in a theater that is grandiose beyond the scale of human comprehension. Scientists speculate that there may be 100,000,000,000 galaxies in the Universe—each of which has 100,000,000,000 stars as immense as our sun. These “points of light” are separated by distances so vast that they must be measured in unimaginable units of “light years.” Yet, the center of dramatic activity is an otherwise inconspicuous blue rock that orbits a mundane star on the outer rim of the spiral Milky Way galaxy. In Moses’ account of cosmic origins, only six lines are devoted to the stellar hosts (Gen.1:14-19)—but 39 chapters (Gen.11-50) are allotted to a single human family! 

It is not “arrogant” to regard Earth as exceptional (as atheists commonly charge). This planet ALONE is populated by sapient physical life-forms created in God’s image (Gen.1:27) whose flesh has been assumed by God (Heb.2:14-16) for the purpose of securing their redemption. When the Savior completed His atoning work for the sons of Adam, He sat down (Heb. 10:12)—He will not “re-incarnate” elsewhere for the sake of some mythical “E.T.!”

The theme of this drama is its Author’s own glorious attributes (Eph.2:7, Rom.9:17,22-23). The production concludes, of course, with the Great Playwright Himself appearing on stage to accept the standing ovation of angels and men: “AUTHOR! AUTHOR!”  

The title of today’s devotional is from Hamlet; in context, the “thing” about drama is its power to move men’s hearts to the point of response. Has your heart been stirred by the fact that even YOU have been granted a role in such a grand epic? Perform well!

Terry Reese