It all began with God, who is love, “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.” 1 Jn 4:8. Knowing those who truly love must share that love, God created mates, “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” Gen 2:18. God created man and everything man would need to participate in the plan God had seen for all creation, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Gen 1:1 & “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Gen 1:27. We know He planned everything before He began creating because He told us, “Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” Is 46:10. He also told us that if we do not believe the Bible, we will not believe the truth before our own eyes, “And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” Lk 16:31 & “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” Jn 20:29. Instead, we would believe in fables created by man, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 2 Pet 1:16 & “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Tim 4:3-4.
His plan calls for us to choose whether we want to be part of His eternal family, or not, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” Deut 30:19. Those who choose to be part of His eternal family will experience the expected end He has planned, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jer 29:11.
So, we are here to make a decision with eternal consequences, “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom 6:23. When we choose to reject God’s offer, we live our life in opposition to His law of love, which by definition means we are sinning, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Jam 4:17. So, what is His law of love? “And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.” 2 Jn 5 & “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Gal 5:14 & “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” Matt 7:12 & “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.” Rom 13:8.
We make the decision to follow Jesus into eternity by believing and admitting He rose from the grave, followed by our repenting and baptism, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” Rom 10:9 & “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:38. He never calls us to blind faith, He asks us to use the beautiful brains He gave us to reason with the truth of His resurrection. There were witnesses to everything Jesus did those last three years, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 2 Pet 1:16-17 and after His resurrection, “And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.” 1 Cor 15:4-7 and His ascension. “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9-11. So, ignoring all God has done to prove He loves us means we will have decided our own fate on the day of judgment, “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” Acts 17:31, leaving God no choice but to forbid us entry into heaven.
Once we decide to follow Jesus into eternity, our journey begins in earnest, “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:” 2 Thes 2:13. Our journey will be marked by a continuous transformation, from who we were before our rebirth, to the person God had seen when He first began creating, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Rom 12:2 & “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” Jer 1:5. Jeremiah choose to become that person God had seen and God gifted Jeremiah for that purpose, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Eph 2:10. Everyone of us has the choice of becoming a child of God, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” Jn 1:12. All we have to do is surrender to His love and enjoy the journey God has planned for us.
The story ends with God living with His people for all eternity in a world full of love.