The Thread (in Time)
The Thread, subtitled a picture of God’s love through time, is a book-in-progress and a scaled-down version of The Scarlet Thread. In 80 pages or less, it scans the supernatural revelations of God pushed into our time-and-space, disrupting the laws of nature as only the Creator can do. A universe of gas and rocks suddenly comes alive with artistry when the Artist is revealed, and significance fills life when the genius of design is revealed. The magnificence of an ocean sunset dwarfs the art of human history because God designs and creates for our enjoyment.
Atlantic Ocean sunrise (by Keith)
More important, humans manifest a brilliant glory surpassing any sunset, but only through building a significant life. We are born with significance, with a hope for greater significance burning deep in our hearts. The quest to build a meaningful life troubles us, guides us, and drives us to build eternal significance. It is planted in us by God and revealed by God in The Thread because profound significance awaits this life and beyond. The Thread reveals we are created to love and be loved because “God is love,” and love is the arena where human glory unfolds, is recognized, and is celebrated.
There are many other ways to build a meaningful life without God and without love, of course, but history is the permanent record of these tremendous failures. Hitler’s Third Reich was certainly a grand quest for significance apart from God’s love, with grotesque results nobody can praise—even the greatest Nazi preferred suicide over living with the fruit of his own brilliance.
The Thread throughout history is the revelation of God’s wisdom at work, building an Eternal Kingdom without the tools of coercion and overwhelming power employed by human wisdom. It is a concrete and well-established Kingdom here today, but lasting forever, unlike the greatest kingdoms built with bloody conquest. In God’s Kingdom the glory is shared by everyone who belongs to it and builds under God’s love, and unlike other ways to build significance, nobody will deny God’s wisdom yields a meaningful, fruitful life, with glory now, and eternal.
Handle’s Messiah captures a glimpse of the glory of God’s Kingdom and its eternal significance as revealed in God’s Word to us:
And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered— to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.” Revelation 5:12-13
Listen to it… 2-18 Track 18 – Amen