Jesus Cropped from the Picture

Chapter 2: Cropping the Picture

T HE STORY OF God’s interaction with his creation is revealed in the Bible. There is a storyline in the Scriptures that moves from beginning to end (Genesis to Revelation). The plot of this unfolding drama is now being lived out in the history of the Church until Jesus returns (see Appendix 1). As C.S. Lewis said, “Christianity is the story of how a rightful king has landed, you might say in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage.” 8 The image in Figure 1, depicted by two competing basketball players, symbolizes this historic understanding of Christian faith. The primary subject of the scene is the basketball player holding a ball, driving past his opponent.

Figure 1: The Full Picture

This picture illustrates Christian faith in that the player holding the ball represents Christ and his Kingdom purpose: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the work of the devil” (1 John 3.8). The defensive player represents the devil, the key figure of the opposing

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