I have been a reader as far back as I can remember. And I have always loved the character-driven stories. Whether I read an adventure, romance, or mystery, I want a good main character who grows and changes as he or she overcomes and wins the victory by the end of the book.

As I have studied writing I have learned that a good Protagonist (hero) has a goal we should all care about, and that a good story has many obstacles the hero must overcome to reach the goal. But these obstacles aren’t just external, they are internal as well. He or she also has wounds and flaws that get in the way and mess things up. The best stories have the hero overcoming these internal hangups as well as the external obstacles to reach the goal we’re all rooting for – the victorious happy ending.

If I am the hero of my own story, then it is a tragedy indeed. What is my goal? A happy, victorious life. Yet the greatest obstacle I face is death itself. Through the years I have become quite aware that Death is coming for all of us and that all the medicine in the world can’t keep us alive forever.

As for victory, my flaws and weaknesses are insurmountable. Sin reigns in my body and I can’t overcome it. It is true of me what Paul says in Romans 7:17-20, “As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.”

But what if I’m not the hero of my story? Someone has stepped in and has won the victory for me. John 1:1-5 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Jesus is our hero and he has a goal we all care about. Jesus came to bring us out of darkness and into his light, which is life. A hero has weaknesses and flaws. Jesus left his glory at his Father’s side and was born in the weakness of flesh to live among us and to know our weaknesses. On the cross he took our sins, our flaws, our weaknesses, our guilt and bore the wrath of God for them. A hero has obstacles to overcome. At the beginning of his ministry Jesus was tempted by Satan but did not sin. And at the cross, he took upon himself our sins and died – but three days later he rose from the dead, overcoming sin and death itself. In the hymn Blessed Assurance, Fanny Crosby wrote:

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of his Spirit, washed in his blood!

What we could not do for ourselves, Jesus, in obedience to God’s will, did for us. He came to conquer sin, death, and the grave. For us. Because he overcame the sin I could not conquer, I have victory. Because he defeated death and is alive today, I live. Because he did this out of amazing love, I am happy. Jesus said in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” Through Jesus’ amazing grace, I have that happy victorious life! Another verse of Blessed Assurance says,

Perfect submission, all is at rest,
(I don’t have to struggle for the victory)
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
(for Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life)
Filled with his goodness, lost in his love.

What I could not do for myself, He has done for me.
And so I can sing:

This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior all the day long!