C.S. Lewis once wrote, “No doubt all history in the last resort must be held by Christians to be a story with a divine plot.” This is exactly right. Unlike so many other religions, Christianity has a deep respect for the facts and the story of history. A great deal of the Bible is historical narrative, and the whole story the Bible tells demands to be set within that context. The truths of history are absolutely crucial to the Christian message, for if God did not enter into human history in a unique way through Jesus of Nazareth then the Christian faith is nonsense.

The New Testament writers are quite clear about this. Consider how Luke describes the birth of Jesus. The whole event takes place “in the days of Herod, king of Judea,” “when Quirinius was governor of Syria,” etc. And then everything that follows is presented as a record of carefully studied historical fact. (See Luke’s introduction in 1.1-4 of his book.)

But Luke’s account of the birth, life, ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ was not the end of the story. He then picked up the continuing story of Jesus in the book of Acts, which tells the story of the Christian church. After a similar introduction, again insisting on the importance of historical truth and accuracy (Acts 1.1-3), Luke launches into an amazing account of the progress of the gospel, as Jesus’ disciples take the good news of what Jesus accomplished from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, into Samaria, and ultimately to the whole Mediterranean world.

But the funny thing about Acts is that it doesn’t really end. It doesn’t come to a conclusion; it just stops. And it stops very abruptly with loose ends dangling and a number of issues unresolved. But here’s the thing—Luke had a theological reason for this. The reason is this: The story he is telling has no ending that he can write. This story will never come to an end before the end of this earth. The Holy Spirit of God will continue to work out God’s loving purposes to bring redemption to a broken humanity through the men and women and boys and girls who share Luke’s faith in Christ. So Luke realized the closing of the New Testament era was not really the end of the story… it was just yet another beginning.

Today we are called to pick up that story and continue the glorious work of the church in our own generation. But to enter into that calling with mature understanding, we need to know that story. So, to help us know it better, we’re going to occasionally visit little snippets of “The Story” here on the Cornerstone blog. I hope you’ll join us regularly! Remember, “all history in the last resort must be held by Christians to be a story with a divine plot.”