The Center of the Story

Recently, I have been spending time in Isaiah. This morning, I was reading Isaiah 43 and two verses leapt off the page into my mind and heart. The first was this:

“. . .everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (verse 7).

And then this from verse 25:

“I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

Do you notice the connection between these two verses? I did and in a way I haven’t before. The Lord created us for his glory, and he blots out our sins for his own sake.

The common understanding I think we have is that we were created and saved because of our value to God—“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16). Of course, this is true. We are highly valued and loved by the Lord. However, in our self-focused culture, we have naturally skewed the focus to us.

Now I know there are people who hold much self-hate and self-loathing, and this can be a comforting understanding of God. You may feel bad about yourself, but God loves you very much. Yet, I think we put way too much attention on ourselves being at the center of God’s plan. Creation is about us as God’s creatures; salvation is about us being so loved by the Lord. But this misses the greater story.

God, not us, is at the center of the story, both of Creation and redemption. Both happened because HE wanted it to be so. Creation is for his glory and salvation for his sake. We have an important role, but God is the preeminent character in the story, his story.

Your value and my value are only inherent because our creation was initiated by God. Our salvation is not dependent on us creating value for ourselves, but because God saved us for his own purposes. Thus, we can be assured of our value apart from what we’ve done or accomplished.

In our self-absorbed society, the gospel can easily become about us rather than about the Lord. Thus, it is always good to remind ourselves of who is at the center of the story.

© Jim Musser 2025 All Scripture comes from the New International Version, 2011.