I Love to Tell the Story…

Posted On April 4, 2021

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16 NIV

“Perhaps you wonder why we take the time to celebrate the resurrection every year. The main reason, of course, is that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is alive! Really think about that. Jesus died, went to the grave, and conquered it. He defeated death forever! . . . And because Christ rose from the grave, we and all our believing loved ones will too — we will enjoy eternal life with Him in heaven (John 14:1-3). But we also celebrate the resurrection because the One who saves us is actively available to help us — always without fail. Having lived like us, Jesus understands our fears, failings, and sorrows. We know that if He defeated the grave for us, how much more will He help us with whatever we face with that same resurrection power. Absolutely nothing will be impossible for Him to overcome on our behalf. Certainly, that is cause for celebration every day!”

Charles F. Stanley, God’s Purpose for Your Life

Charles Stanley reminds us that the good news of Jesus is more than just the story of His death and resurrection. It is also the story of what He does for each one of us every day. We all have good news to share! The gospel encompasses God’s grand plan to save the entire world as well as His plan to deliver each of us individually. The gospel story is both epic and personal, and we are all invited to contribute. Rachel Held Evans talks about how being a Christian means we become part of a story much larger than ourselves:

“I met Jesus at the dinner table. . . . It was at that table . . . that I learned to pray, ‘Jesus, thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Rachel and Amanda, and thank you for this food. Amen.‘ The first thing I knew about Jesus was that he was responsible for the existence of my parents, my sister, me, and my food. That seemed like good enough news to me. . . . When my youth leader asked me, at age sixteen, to share my testimony at a Wednesday night youth gathering, I strained to conjure a single memory in which I ‘came to Jesus.’ . . . I’m sure I must have begun that high school testimony by saying I was ‘raised in a Christian home,’ without fully grasping the epic nature of this story to which I belonged. That’s what’s so striking about the gospel, or ‘good news,’ of Jesus. It’s a story at once grand and particular, sweeping and intimate. News that started as local gossip in a few sleepy fishing villages in ancient Palestine reverberated so profoundly through the centuries and across the world that it reached the ears of a pigtailed kindergartner in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1984. It reached Africa and India, the Andes and Maldives, influencing ancient Roman soldiers, Irish farmers, Haitian fishermen, and Chinese school kids.”

Rachel Held Evans, Inspired

On Easter we celebrate the fact that Jesus is alive, but we can also celebrate the fact that His story is too! It’s always growing, reaching more and more people as we each add our own chapters. It’s an old story that becomes new as we tell it from our own perspectives. There’s an old hymn called “I Love to Tell the Story” that I remember singing as a kid. I never really paid much attention to the words then, but looking at them now I realize that they really capture the sweeping nature of the gospel: The good news of Christ is a powerful story beyond our wildest dreams about the mystery of God’s profound love for us. Its message of hope and salvation satisfies our deepest longings and gets sweeter each time we tell it. Those of us that know it well need to hear it as much as those who have never heard it before. And when we get to heaven and sing a “new song,” we’ll realize it’s the same story we’ve been telling all along!

“I love to tell the story
  Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory,
  Of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story,
  Because I know ’tis true;
It satisfies my longings
  As nothing else can do.
I love to tell the story,
’Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
  of Jesus and His love.”

A. Catherine Hankey, “I Love to Tell the Story”

“The good news is as epic as it gets, with universal theological implications, and yet the Bible tells it from the perspective of fishermen and farmers, pregnant ladies and squirmy kids. This story about the nature of God and God’s relationship to humanity smells like mud and manger hay and tastes like salt and wine. It is concerned, not simply with questions of eternity, but with paying taxes and filling bellies and addressing a woman’s chronic menstrual complications. It is the biggest story and the smallest story all at once — the great quest for the One Ring and the quiet friendship of Frodo and Sam.”

Rachel Held Evans, Inspired

God has never shied away from telling it like it is. The Bible is full of all kinds of stories — good, bad, beautiful, ugly, inspiring, offensive, and everything in between. God uses His beloved, but flawed, children to tell His story, sometimes even without their knowledge. We read about sin and redemption and love. We read about hate and longing and jealousy. We see people at their finest and at their worst. As we read more and more of these individual stories, we notice a larger story being told . . . a story of God saving His people. And as we keep reading it and keep hearing it, something begins to happen to us. We begin to change. God’s story has the power to transform our lives.

“I love to tell the story;
  More wonderful it seems
Than all the golden fancies
  Of all my golden dreams,
I love to tell the story,
  It did so much for me;
And that is just the reason
  I tell it now to thee.
I love to tell the story,
’Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
  of Jesus and His love.“

A. Catherine Hankey, “I Love to Tell the Story”

“The good news is good for the whole world, certainly, but what makes it good varies from person to person and community to community. . . . The gospel is like a mosaic of stories, each one part of a larger story, yet beautiful and truthful on its own. There’s no formula, no blueprint. . . . So when someone asks, ‘What is the gospel?” the best response is, ‘Let me tell you a story.’ You might start with Abraham, Isaiah, or Luke. You might start with the Samaritan woman at the well. You might start with a story about your grandmother or a rural church camp . . . . At some point, you will get to Jesus, and Jesus will change everything.”

Rachel Held Evans, Inspired

Jesus commands us to share the gospel. But how? What do we say? As Rachel Held Evans points out, the answers vary, but eventually the stories we tell will lead to Jesus. And that’s what matters. Sharing the gospel is personal. We share some of ourselves as we talk about Christ and what He’s done for us. Being saved means going to heaven, yes, but it means so much more, too. Jesus saves us from death, but He also saves us from heartache, lonliness, and fear. He saves us from sin, guilt, and shame. He gives us peace and joy like we’ve never known before. He surprises us and amazes us. He gives us hope, and He teaches us how to love. So what’s your story? Why do you believe? What difference has believing made in your life? Tell someone, and become part of God’s story.

“I love to tell the story;
  ’Tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it,
  More wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the story;
  For some have never heard
The message of salvation
  From God’s own holy Word.
I love to tell the story,
’Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
  of Jesus and His love.

A. Catherine Hankey, “I Love to Tell the Story”

“Jesus did not simply die to save us from our sins; Jesus lived to save us from our sins. His life and teachings show us the way to liberation. . . . Like it or not, the gospel is a story unleashed. . . . it means every Christian gets a testimony, every Christian gets a ‘gospel according to . . .’ . . . . The gospel means that every small story is part of a sweeping story, every ordinary life part of an extraordinary movement. God is busy making all things new, and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has opened that work to everyone who wants in on it. The church is not a group of people who believe all the same things; the church is a group of people caught up in the same story, with Jesus at the center.”

Rachel Held Evans, Inspired

When we accept Christ we become part of the greatest story every told. We are granted forgiveness from sin, unconditional love, and eternal life in paradise. We receive supernatural power from heaven that begins to transform us into the image of Christ. We are even given the opportunity to join God in His work. We find meaning and purpose in our lives in a way we never could have before. Charles Stanley says, “Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit within you, empowers you to be all God created you to be. You can find all the strength, hope, and love that you’ll ever need in Him as you abide in His resurrection power. So don’t be afraid of what you lack. Continue to take hold of the new life you’ve been given so you can know what it means to be fully alive.” It sounds too good to be true, but this story is not fiction. It’s real! It’s a story God wrote before time began, and He already knew our names when He wrote it.

“I love to tell the story;
  For those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
  To hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory,
  I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story,
  That I have loved so long.
I love to tell the story,
’Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
  of Jesus and His love.”

A. Catherine Hankey, “I Love to tell the Story”

This week’s Scripture passages focus on the story of Jesus and His love. There is a printer-friendly pdf version below the image. I have also included a video of the song “We Believe” by Newsboys combined with scenes of the gospel story from A. D. The Bible Continues. As we let the good news of Jesus fill our hearts and transform our lives, may we contribute our own stories to the gospel message: Let me tell you what Jesus did for me. I love to tell the story . . .

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.'”

Mark 16:15 NIV

References:

• Evans, Rachel Held. Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again. Nelson Books, 2018.
• Stanley, Charles F. God’s Purpose for Your Life: 365 Devotions. Thomas Nelson, 2020.
• “We Believe by Newsboys in this A D The Bible Continues.” YouTube, uploaded by Laud Voices, 26 March 2015, https://youtu.be/o7FIX2GrSgg.

Images:

• Crosses featured image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
• Empty Tomb image by TC Perch from Pixabay
• Bible image by KatineArt from Pixabay
• Painted Stones image by congerdesign from Pixabay
• Easter Lily image by Andy Frazier from Pixabay
• Bible with Crown of Thorns image by James Chan from Pixabay