Sometimes, Morgan isn’t ready to go to bed. She stalls when it’s time to brush her teeth. She lingers long picking out a book to read. She asks for a drink of water…again. Finally, when all other tactics are exhausted, as I’m tucking her under the covers, she’ll make her last minute plea. “Daddy, tell me a story.”

I love a good story. Especially one that is well-told. And I’ve learned that it better to read one than watch one. Whenever a movie comes out that was adapted from a book I’ve read, it’s never as good on screen as it was in my mind.

I want you to be impressed with the greatest story ever told, the story of Jesus. I want you to see Him in your imagination as He is revealed to us in the Bible, the mind of God. I want you to know why His is the “story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.”

Jesus’ story does not center on Himself. Oh, it is about Him, I don’t mean that. But it is a story where the main character has no selfish ambition or motive. He was the King of all kings, but He did not live like a king. He was “Jesus the Nazarene” (Acts 2:22), a lowly birth and upbringing, causing Nathanael to ask, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth” (John 1:46). But it did. From Nazareth came the greatest story ever told.

Jesus’ story does not center on self; it centers on you. “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28). The whole time He was here, Jesus was thinking about others rather than Himself. God had you on His mind. And He thought enough of you to send heaven down to earth.

Jesus’ story is crowned with a cross. He finally got his royal treatment. He wore a crown—not one made out of gold, but of thorns. He was fitted with a purple robe, but only so they could mock Him in sarcasm saying, “Hail, King of the Jews” (John 19:3). His face was not kissed, it was slapped, spat upon, and beaten with fists. He got His parade, but only the kind where the centurion lead Him through the streets in shame while He carried His own cross to His execution. Jesus’ story cannot be told without going this way.

Can you see the picture in your mind? This is a picture of how bad sin really is. It was our sin that caused “Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf” (2 Cor. 5:21). This is a picture of how much God so loved the world (John 3:16). He was willing to give His Son to gain the sons and daughters of the human race. No greater love story could ever be written.

Jesus’ story means that death no longer lives. People marveled and were amazed at the things Jesus could do. “Who, then, is this that even the winds and the waves obey Him” (Mark 4:41)? But nothing compared to the miracle of miracles, when death itself obeyed His voice after He rose from the tomb never to die again. Jesus conquered man’s greatest enemy, bearing not only our sins but the punishment for our sins—death. Since He is risen, we can be raised to walk in newness of life, having been buried with Him in baptism (Rom. 6:3-4). And we need not fear the end of life, for it is but our gate of admission into eternal life.

This gives a hope greater than the grave. Our Savior lives. The same Jesus who called Lazarus out of the tomb will call for us, too; “those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment” (John 5:28-29). If you want to hear His voice then, obey His voice now.

Jesus story ends where it all began. On the day of Pentecost, Peter preached that He has been “exalted to the right hand of God” (Acts 2:33), restored to His rightful place of authority. He fulfilled His mission, He accomplished what He came for, and now He reigns in heaven, waiting for His return. Jesus came. Jesus is coming again. Is He coming for you?

Certainly, Jesus is King, but is He your King? He preached like no other, but have you listened to Him? He possess all authority, but do you respect Him? He has the right to tell you what to do to be saved, but have you obeyed Him (Mark 16:16)?

“And they all lived happily ever after.” That’s how most of Morgan’s storybooks end. What will be your final chapter? It depends on what you do with the story of Jesus.