Plot Climax (1 Corinthians 15:17)

The villain met a violent death at the hands of the hero. It was the climax of the plot…or was it? I was surprised to discover there was another hour left in the movie. The villain’s death, while important, was not the climax after all. It made me wonder: What exactly is the climax of a story?

I was always taught that if the climax didn’t occur, the story could not end. Literary scholars generally define the climax as the decisive turning point of a story—the event toward which everything before has been moving and from which everything afterward inevitably follows. Remove the climax, and the story has no ending.

The climax is the moment when the central conflict is finally resolved and the story’s most important question is answered. That made me think about the greatest story ever told. Many people think the crucifixion was the climax of the Gospel. Certainly, nothing is more dramatic or more important. But if Christ had remained in the tomb, could the story have ended?

The Apostle Paul answered with a resounding no:

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
1 Corinthians 15:17 (ESV)

Without the resurrection, there is no conclusion. No victory. No Gospel. Perhaps that is why the empty tomb is not merely an epilogue to the cross. The cross and the resurrection together form the decisive event without which the story of redemption could never end.

And perhaps we should remember that in our own lives. Sometimes what appears to be the end of the story is only the chapter before the climax. Joseph was sold into slavery, but the story was not over. Job lost everything, but the story was not over. Peter denied his Lord, but the story was not over. The disciples watched Jesus die, but the story was not over.

Perhaps the defining chapter of your life has not yet been written. The diagnosis is not the climax. The disappointment is not the climax. The betrayal is not the climax. The grave itself was not the climax. God is the Master Author, and He has a way of bringing hope where we expect endings and life where we expect death. Perhaps what you think is the end of the story is merely the chapter before the climax.

Love and trust in the Lord; seek His will in your life.

#faith #trustinggod #christianity #jesuschrist #bible #seekinggodswill #truth #sanctification #godisincontrol #godhearsourprayers #salvation #providenceofGod #plotclimax #1 Corinthians15:17

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