The Author

Hey Everyone, L. and M. here! 
Fun Fact:  This was one of the first posts I worked on when I joined Simplex and M. started adding  thoughts  a while ago (maybe a year?) Now we  are finally sharing it with you so i hope it was worth sitting around in our drafts for as long as it did.

 M: Writing is wonderful. The fact that I can use words to put a thought into your mind is fascinating. I can make you think of the beauty of a baby's first breath, the smell of a rainy day, or fireworks on the 4th of July just by mentioning it, and the picture pops into your head. Try it! Remember the bustle on Thanksgiving day, how full you felt after all of that food? It was so delicious. So, what did you just think of? Exactly what I told you to. Isn't that cool?

Words are so powerful. But where is the power coming from? Well, in my opinion, it's the author. The one who creates the story originates the thought that lands on the page and travels to other people's heads. The author has superiority over you while you read their fiction, fantasy, philosophy, or whatever else they write.


 L: As a writer, I love to think of God as one. I have heard Him called the "Author of Life" and the "Author of Salvation". I think usually when people say this they mean that He created or invented them but he did far more than that. I might come up with tones of ideas but I wouldn't call myself an author unless I actually went through with a story and completed it. When I think of God as the author I  mean that he is weaving billions of beautiful stories together into a giant masterpiece. 


M: I've also always loved thinking of God as an author, too. He is weaving a very grand theme into all of history: redemption. His story is THE story of all time, the greatest kind of story that you can't describe to a friend in words; the kind that makes you say they just "have to read it!" Well, our life is in that great story. Your life also makes a story, all by itself. Your life isn't that boring! There's a setting, great supporting characters, (maybe even an archenemy!) a specifically chosen place and time setting, a plot with tons of twists and turns, and you just can't wait till the next chapter. Maybe it's because this chapter was awful and hopefully some light will come in the next few pages, or maybe it's because something important is happening soon in your life.

What a story your life makes! But there's more: You're just ONE person in God's story of all stories. Have you ever wanted two of your favorite book/movie/TV series to cross over and interact in a plot together? Well, God is doing that with your close friends, your neighbor across the street, the man you saw at the grocery store - they all shared moments in your life and you in theirs!

L: One thing I love about His style is that even though He is writing such a big story that goes way beyond me, He chooses to put in beautiful little details like rain after I have had a bad day or letting me see heart shapes in random objects, as reminders of his unfailing love for me.

M: A few months ago, I realized for the first time that the word "authority" has the word "author" in it! I know, it's a little weird that I never saw it before, but it really made me think. I think of an author as anyone who originates something. They start it. God commanded creation with just His voice, and the universe obeyed Him. He is the supreme author, and therefore holds all "author-ity." Anything we as humans can make is a reflection of God's creativity, for He made us in His image.
God is the ultimate author, and his story is, well, all of "history!" He tells the story of His people in the Bible, and interacts with them. Most authors leave themselves out of the book, but this writer certainly didn't. The author then entered the book. Jesus confined Himself to a few pages in our Bible. He had to cram His entirety of power into a human frame. And what for? His characters in the story.

A lot of writers become really attached to their characters. They're more like people to them than just a made up imagination. God didn't work that way; He took the words off the page and chose to give them a body, and what's more, a soul. He has a better excuse to be attached to us than we do to our fictional friends.
A few months back, E. was telling me about the greatest book she'd ever read. "The main character dies," she told me.
What kind of horrible book is that? I wondered. "What's it called?"

She grinned at me and said, "The Bible." Duh. But then I thought about it. The author, God, is also the main character in the Bible. God is writing His autobiography. He goes into His own story to die?! Talk about the BIGGEST PLOT TWIST EVER!

Then Jesus is no longer dead. He didn't fake His death, (like Sherlock!) He actually, really dies. His body was buried for three days. I can only imagine what those three days were like for his disciples, but also for Him. Did He go down to hell and fight Satan? Or did He spend it rejoicing with His Father? Anyway, He rose from the dead, defeated DEATH, and did I mention He won over death? He has risen!

Jesus then told His disciples, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me" (Matthew 28:18, NIV). Did you catch that? Jesus now has all AUTHORITY. Like, literally everywhere. He still does. Jesus changed the story, as the writer becoming the written. He was given the authorship of the rest of the story and will write it till the end.

Another cool connection to the story allegory I thought of is that Jesus, in John chapter 1, is described as "the Word." Not a word or multiple, but the one, final, quintessential spoken gesture ever in the history of every dimension!! And He loves us more than we can imagine. That's why He wrote the story. That's why pain sometimes seems to overtake us. Jesus loves us and He will do anything to get us to realize that, and suffering is a pretty valuable tool. Broken people turn to Christ to be healed.

L: Not every story (or life) will have a happy or even "good" individual ending because the story has been twisted by the devil ( I hope to devote a whole post to this in the future), but every story is woven into the Ultimate story and that will have a beautiful ending.

M:I have a theory about the end of every story. Because God is truly the main character of every story, I think the last page of every story (on earth) will end with something like this: "And God was glorified. THE END (that never ends)." It's weird, and I don't really know where that idea came from. It's not biblical, necessarily, but the Bible does weave the theme of God's ultimate victory through His whole story. GOD WINS!

Thanks for reading! 
-L. and M.