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Act 3: The Battle For The Heart
Brian Mashburn
February 15, 2009
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Act 3: The Battle For The Heart
We are all trying to find the larger story that we are living in. Too many of us latch onto much smaller stories. Stories that, instead of giving life, steal it, or at best, give us only the shell of a life. In our hearts, we know there is "more", but we are at a loss as to where to find it, or how to get it. We have lost our context. We have lost the Larger Story of God.
In Act One, we learn that there is a God, and that He is glorious Relationship. He created us out of that and invites us into that.
In Act Two, we learn that there is an Enemy, and that he was once God's most glorious subject. He rebelled, was defeated, and has been banished from Heaven.
And now, in Act Three, we are introduced to Creation. An unbelievably beautiful, wondrous, awe-inspiring, dangerous, and inexhaustible idea born from the heart of the God of Act One. We have much to learn from creation, especially from the human heart. Humans were created special. They are Image-Bearers of God Himself. He created them out of love, with love, and for love. He made them like Him.
We also find the Enemy of Act Two present in Act Three. Having failed to defeat God, he turns his malicious intentions towards God's Image- Bearers.
Act Three is about humanity's agreement with the Enemy's suggestion that God is not enough. That God is holding out on us. That we must reach out and do what God "forbids" so that we can be like God. It is tragic.
But Act Three is also the story of God's rescue. We are still in Act Three, and He is pursuing, rescuing, calling, inviting, and battling for our hearts.
The story is not over. Understanding that this is the chapter that you are currently in will help you find your place in the Larger Story that will save you in every way a human being needs to be saved.