Alright check it: let's go back in time, brethren Divine lessons always keep your mind guessing The glory of the Triune God's what I'm stressing The origin of humankind was fine- blessings Were plenteous- God is amazingly generous Crazy benefits in a state of innocence God told the man what he could taste was limited Not long after came our nemesis in Genesis He scammed well, man fell, damned to hell The whole human race- he represented it Fooled by the serpent, man through his work Woman through birth- even the earth ruled by the curses But instead of a wake immediately God said her Seed would be the One to crush the head of the snake Yo, wait what's this? Whoa, a gracious gift! In Jehovah's faithfulness He clothed their nakedness This was so they would know their Savior's kiss And bliss- but first, many growing pains exist Suffering in the worst form, ugly deeds Eve's firstborn seed made his brother bleed Indeed things got progressively worse Every section of the earth's been affected by the curse And though God's judgments against sin were gory Praise the Lord! It's not the end of the story Chorus: It's the greatest story ever told A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold The greatest story ever told Restoring all that the enemy stole The greatest story ever told The glory of Christ is the goal, behold The greatest story ever told It's the greatest... Next scene: man's sin was extreme God gets steamed, man gets creamed The Lord is so Holy that He drowned them in the water Fire in the valley of slaughter- Sodom and Gomorrah But at the same time, He's so gracious and patient That from one man He created a whole nation Eventually enslaved by the mentally depraved They cried out to the only One with the strength that He could save He brought them out with signs and wonders- satisfied their hunger Then He appeared on Mount Sinai in thunder Where He laid down the law for God-ruled government Commonly referred to as the Mosaic covenant Sin's imputed- so for man to know he's unrighteous God instituted animal sacrifices This was to show our constant need for atonement And when it came to sin, the Lord would never condone it And when His people disobeyed and went astray He raised up prophets and kings to lead them in the way But they would get foul with their idolatry- wet and wild Prophecy- send them into exile To take their punishment like a grown man Then with His own hand He placed them back in their homeland And while in their forefather's land they dwelt They awaited the arrival of Emmanuel Chorus: It's the greatest story ever told A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold The greatest story ever told Restoring all that the enemy stole The greatest story ever told The glory of Christ is the goal, behold The greatest story ever told It's the greatest... After 400 silent years filled with sighs and tears In Bethlehem the Messiah appears God in the flesh- Second Person of the Trinity At thirty begins His earthly ministry Baffling cats with accurate, exact facts And back to back miraculous acts A stumbling block to the self righteous But the humbled- His flock, said "There's no one else like this" He came from heaven to awake the numb Demonstrated His power over nature, son A foretaste of the Kingdom and the age to come But the reason He came was to pay the sum For the depths of our wickedness, our wretched sinfulness Bless His magnificence- He's perfect and innocent Yet He was wrecked and His death- He predicted it Next He was stretched, paid a debt that was infinite He said that He finished it- resurrected so the elect would be the recipients of its benefits Through faith and penitence we get to be intimate His grace is heaven sent, it never diminishes Now the Holy Spirit indwelling is the evidence for heaven's future residents who truly represent Jesus, the Author, Producer, Director and Star of a story that will never, ever end! Chorus: The greatest story ever told A God pursues foes whose hearts turned cold The greatest story ever told Restoring all that the enemy stole The greatest story ever told The glory of Christ is the goal, behold The greatest story ever told It's the greatest...