But in this blessed place there was one reminder of the lie. In His wisdom God picked a tree, apparently near the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and called it the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

After this controversy began, our world was created as another expression of His love and power.

For all eternity, past and future, God is love. Since this love is other-centered, not self-centered, He was never only self. He is Master of space and time.

Thus at the very beginning of The Story on this earth, the key elements of the battle that still exists were laid out in the events recorded:

Abraham’s family further revealed the victory that faith brings, from the child of promise (the son of faith, Isaac) through the overcoming grandson (Israel, the one who prevailed with God-dependence after battling self, the deceitful Jacob).

It was God, in His other-centered seeking and all-knowing wisdom, who came searching for the missing pair.

Messiah’s exaltation included His returning to the Father, a departure He had explained at length to His disciples.

It is here and now that we find ourselves in this, The Story of stories. God has imparted unprecedented prosperity, technical knowledge, and peace to enable this final mission.

Of these Three, the One who has ever been the special connection to the created ones is the Son. Though They all are Creator, He has been the main agent of creation.

In God’s providence the seeds of the truth eventually burst into new life, growing for the final showdown.