"Between Tragedy and Happily Ever After"
You ever watch one of those “Previously on…” recaps before a new season drops?
Because that’s what we’re doing today. “Previously on Planet Earth...” Everything leading up to 2026. Or, more to the point: Previously… on the Bible.
Not every detail.
Not every man-jack in the genealogies.
Just the highest level flyover of the storyline.
Because if you ever find yourself in a bad situation, you need to know where you are in the story.
And here’s the big idea that explains almost everything:
“The only difference between a tragedy and a happily-ever-after… is where you stop telling the story.”
If you stop at Good Friday, life on planet earth is a tragedy.
If you stop at the cross, game over.
If you stop at the tomb—death gets the last word on all of us.
But Easter says: “Tune in next time! The story isn’t over!”
Which is always good news—
Because 2025 felt like the kind of chapter where we’d be tempted to cancel our subscription and give up on this particular show.
Wars. Elections. AI deciding whether you’re employable.
Your phone knowing your thoughts before you do.
Everyone angry. Everyone tired. Everyone absolutely sure they’re right.
And God says, “Relax. This story is going somewhere good—it always has been.”
So buckle up.
We’re flying from Genesis to Jesus.
CREATION: “It All Started GOOD”
The Bible opens with this wild idea:
Genesis 1:31
“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”
Something from nothing.
Beauty from chaos.
Not an accident.
Not a series of random events.
We’re told in Genesis that creation is good, ordered, and has purpose.
God makes humans and says:
“Let us make man in our image.”
In other words…
We were made to represent God in His creation—not replace Him.
And everything is cool...
For about five minutes.
THE FALL: “WE CAN HANDLE THIS”
By chapter 3 we think we know better.
We decide we don’t want to trust God’s wisdom.
We want autonomy.
Which, honestly, is still our favorite sin.
We don’t say, “I reject You God.”
We just say, “I’ve got this.” We don’t need no stinking manual.
And the result? It’s like one of those dreams where you realize you’re at school, you can’t find your classroom, and you’re not wearing pants. The first episode of Naked and Afraid.
So they hid.
Genesis 3:7
“Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
Genesis 3:10
“And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid.”
Shame enters. They felt naked.
Blame enters. Adam blamed Eve and God. Eve blamed the devil.
Death enters the story.
And ever since then, we keep asking the same question:
“Why is the world like this? Why is it broken?”
We have the answer:
Because we broke it…
and then try to fix it without God.
Year after year after year.
(Which has gone great, by the way—don’t you think?)
ISRAEL: “SURELY WE CAN DO BETTER”
So God has a plan to make everything good again—He chooses Abraham.
Not because he’s so impressive. The opposite, God wants everyone to know He’s the One who’s going to fix everything, not Abe. He’s an old man. Childless. Just wandering around aimlessly. A very unlikely candidate.
God says:
“Through you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”—you and your offspring are going to fix the world.
His offspring would be called Israel, and Israel was supposed to show the world what life with God looks like. Get them back on the right track. They were the model home showing us what life could be with God. That is not what Israel ever did.
Instead, they show us what it looks like to have God’s word and His blessing but completely ignore Him.
Abraham wasn’t great.
His son Issac was worse.
Jacob and his twelve sons completely lost the plot.
They ended up slaves in Egypt. It looked like the end.
Enter Moses. God rescues Israel from slavery—
they complain about lunch.
They see all kinds of miracles—
and lose their mind over any inconvenience.
God gives them commandments—
they treat them like suggestions.
The Law is given. And here’s the hard truth:
The Law is good.
We are not.
The Law is God’s will for life on planet earth but it doesn’t save.
It exposes how unfaithful we are. How bad we miss the mark.
The Law crushes us.
Because it doesn’t just say “Don’t murder.”
It says “Don’t hate—don’t even get mad.”
It doesn’t just say “Don’t commit adultery.”
It says “Don’t even think about it.”
The Law doesn’t ask if you’re better than someone else.
We don’t get to just compare ourselves to each other.
We have to compare ourselves to God.
The Law asks, “Are you holy?”
And the only honest answer is… no.
Matthew 5:48
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
EXILE: “THIS FEELS LIKE THE END”
So Israel continues to ignore God.
God gives them what they apparently want: He lets them experience life without Him.
Exile to Babylon.
No land.
No king.
No temple.
No freedom.
Psalm 137:1
“By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.”
This is the part where the music gets sad and it seems like the credits are going to roll—like some art film where everyone dies and there is no hope.
But here’s the pattern, if we’re paying attention:
Whenever it looks like all is lost—God’s about to do something bigger.
Joseph in a pit.
Moses in the desert.
David hunted by Saul.
Israel exiled to Babylon and Persia.
Remember this when find yourself in a bad situation,
God isn’t done.
He’s just setting up the next chapter.
JESUS: “THE PLOT TWIST”
It’s been two thousand twenty six years and four days since… What?
Since…
John 1:14
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Since Jesus showed up. This is the plot twist we were all waiting for.
God doesn’t send more advice.
He doesn’t send a self-help book.
He shows up Himself.
If you want something done right, you got to do it yourself.
Jesus lives the life Israel failed to live.
The life you and me failed to live.
He obeys God’s Law perfectly.
He loves perfectly.
He trusts His Father in heaven completely.
And then He does the most offensive thing in the history of the world:
He dies for sinners. He gives His perfect, holy life to fix everything all us selfish, stupid people broke. He gives His life to save you.
Not the cleaned-up version of you.
Not the potential version of you.
Romans 5:8
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
While you were still an unbelieving pagan sinner, Jesus died for you.
That’s the center of the story.
And I know, the cross… we’re used to thinking about the cross as this beautiful thing. We wear it around our neck as jewelry.
But the center of this story is a bloody nightmare.
The cross looks like failure. It looks like hope completely lost. God came down here to fix everything and we killed Him. Game over. It’s pretty depressing and bleak.
But obviously we know it’s victory disguised as loss.
And that’s important to always remember—
Because that’s always how God works.
All will seem to be lost…
RESURRECTION: “KEEP READING”
The tomb is sealed.
Everyone thinks: That’s it.
But Sunday comes.
Matthew 28:6
“He is not here, for He has risen.”
Death loses.
Sin loses.
The Law is fulfilled—and it wasn’t you who fulfilled it.
That’s really good news for you.
That’s the Gospel—for you:
What’s been your worst chapter? It doesn’t get the final word—it doesn’t get to define your life.
Your sin doesn’t overpower God’s mercy.
Your shame doesn’t cancel Christ’s salvation.
That should be inspiring but Jesus didn’t rise from the dead to inspire you.
He rose to justify you. Not guilty. To make you right with God. To give you the promise and the sure hope that death won't be the end for you, either.
Romans 5:1
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus died and rose for you.
In your place.
On your behalf.
Never forget—your story is going somewhere good.
NOW: 2026 & THE STORY CONTINUES
It’s all going somewhere good.
History isn’t random.
It’s moving somewhere.
The headlines never stop saying, “Everything is falling apart.”
The Bible insists, “Everything is being made new.”
Unlike all of us, God doesn’t panic about elections, wars, or technology.
He’s doing what He’s always done:
Saving.
Calling.
Forgiving.
Raising the dead.
He promises…
Revelation 21:5
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
No more death.
No more division.
No more grief.
That’s not wishful thinking.
That’s a promise etched into history by an empty tomb.
APPLICATIONS: GOD’S WISDOM FOR REAL LIFE
Genesis to Revelation—it’s one story leading to Jesus.
One book made up of 66 books, written by over 40 authors, over the course of about 1600 years—telling one story—a story that includes you. Your name is written in the book. Everyone who believes on the name of the Lord will be saved.
This is God’s wisdom for you—no matter where you find yourself, no matter what chapter your life is currently in:
• Stop assuming this moment is the whole story—it’s just a chapter
• Stop trying to justify yourself
• Stop living like your sin is stronger than Christ’s forgiveness
• Stop hiding—because you’re already fully known by Him
• Start calling on His name, start repenting quickly
• Start forgiving freely
• Start believing and trusting that God finishes what He starts
And when life feels like a tragedy—
Remember:
The only difference between tragedy and happily ever after…
is where you stop telling the story.
And the story God is telling isn’t over—your story isn’t over. It’s going somewhere good.
The story of mankind started in a beautiful garden.
It ends with all of us living in an even more beautiful garden city.
Revelation 21:1
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
Revelation 21:3
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”
We’re somewhere in between—living these lives He’s given us.
What are we supposed to be doing? What does it all mean? Don’t you wish God would just come down here and tell us? If only He would give us some kind of clue…
#RYFB
It’s a new year so we have a new Bible reading plan. I made it based on last year’s plan but I changed it up a bit. It’s a 365 day plan (so the readings are a little shorter), I included all the Bible Project videos from last year, plus I added a bunch more. My goal is to have a short video on almost every day. I added some great videos by Chad Bird, and I plan to add some myself.
I would love for all of us to read the Bible together.
It’s a chronological plan but not in the order that things happened. I put it in the order the books were written—the order that God gave His word to us. I think it will hit a little different this way. What order did He want us to know things? Job is the oldest book. What does that imply? Maybe that life on planet earth is going to be kind of painful and confusing—we’re not going to understand why things are happening but God wants us to trust Him anyway. We might feel like He’s punishing us, our friends and family might think God is punishing us… but the very first thing God told us is there was a man named Job who was the best person in the world. The devil, our enemy, tried to destroy him—but Job remained faithful. It all went somewhere good. That directly points to Jesus, who was truly the best person who ever lived, was also tested by the devil, suffered and died—and it all went somewhere good.
Join me in reading the Bible… finding Jesus in every story. It’s all one story that leads to Jesus. It will seem like all is lost many times over but the difference between a tragedy and happily ever after is just when you stop telling… or reading… the story.
Go to www.NewChurch.Love/Bible
There’s a link to a spreadsheet with all the readings, videos, and info.
And no matter where you are, you can remember where to find it:
NewChurch.Love/Bible.
I mean, if you’ve ever wished God would just come down here and tell us… He did. AMEN