The resolution, as it pertains to filmmaking, is just as it sounds: The wrapping up of the conflict as we see our hero ride off into the sunset or live happily ever after. This is where you find yourself, once again, able to breathe in knowing that the protagonist has not only survived, but overcome their conflict. The protagonist has crested the mountain that is the Climax and has been changed in some sort of way and/or has learned a valuable lesson over the course of their journey.
We live lives that see these sorts of conflicts and resolutions daily. Sometimes the big resolutions in our lives aren’t as easy to see without beginning and ending credit scenes. If an orchestra of strings played our ending soundtrack and “The End” flashed before our eyes, it’d be far easier to discern where the resolutions were.
At the time of writing, we’re smack dab in the middle of the holiest weekend in Christianity—yesterday was Good Friday and tomorrow is Easter Sunday. This week, a couple thousand years ago, Jesus began one of the greatest examples of a Hero’s Journey. From the Inciting Incident where Judas betrayed him for silver, to the climax when He hung on the cross for hours and hours on end, all the way to the resolution where He resurrected and defeated Death once and for all.
It’s pretty hard to have higher stakes than death itself. Everything is redeemable in life, no matter how difficult. Just like I mentioned in the last post about the story of Job—he lost a lot, but he didn’t lose his life or his soul and all that he had lost was redeemed through God. If Job had died, that is the end. It is innate for humanity to fear the finality that is death itself.
Even though we don’t have the ability to have our resolutions shine a “The End” message in our faces, Jesus told us “It is Finished,” while he was on the cross. Not His story, not our story, but death’s story. Death is Finished. Nobody then could have understood the magnitude of His words without knowing what was coming next. As He cried out to God, the rocks split, the earth shook, and darkness overtook the land.
The greatest trial that humanity will ever face was overcome by our God.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son Colossians 1:13
When we find ourselves lost in the abyss that is those inciting incidents and the climaxes of our trials, when darkness seemingly overtakes everything around us and it’s easier to just give in to it, He has already overcome them all. Nothing is too big or immense for our God to handle. Nothing is too small or insignificant for Him to reach down and comfort you. You are a part of the Kingdom of God; not just a part, but a co-heir. Don’t you think that God will provide a way for you to see your trial to the end and be able to experience the resolution that He has planned for you?
I’d alluded to the fact that I have struggled with depression in my past. The most intense bouts with it came in the couple of years after I’d graduated high school and realized that my life wasn’t planned for me daily anymore. I no longer had to wake up and be at school by 8:15. I no longer had a strict schedule of classes and the ultimate goal of receiving good grades. I now had full control over my life but no clear direction. I struggled with the idea that life was essentially just us working until we die. There had to be more to it than just surviving.
It wasn’t until I went to Honduras on a Compelled by Christ trip to visit a home for girls pulled from sex trafficking where I realized that life isn’t something that you live for yourself, it’s something that you live for others. To live a life where you strive to enrich others is true purpose. Those of you who have children, I’m sure, can understand that when you held your child in your arms for the first time, your view on life changed. Your purpose shifted to providing for your child and giving them the best options to succeed in life.
When you think about it though, it’s fairly easy to live for someone. How difficult is it to die for someone? Again, it's the true innate fear that resides in all of humanity; the finality of death and the unknown of what follows that our primal mind worries about. Does your love for others supersede your fear of Death? Moreover, does your love for everyone that ever existed and ever will exist outweigh your fear of death? All of the broken people, the criminals, as well as the righteous and the hypocrites. Those who scorn you and throw insults at you when your back is turned. Are they worth dying for?
Christ overcame the trial of all trials. Death, who previously was undefeated and took everyone eventually, was put to shame. Through His willingness to die for everyone, He saved us all. He was faultless, the epitome of perfection; He’s what we aim for but will always fall short of. Yet he was willing to put Himself aside for the sake of the criminals, the righteous, and the hypocrites. He endured the inciting incident of Judas betraying Him. He endured a flogging, dehydration, a spear to the side, thorns in his head, He felt pain that we will never imagine for the sake of all. He endured the climax of his trial as He hung on that cross for hours and hours on end being ridiculed and shamed. He cried out to God, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” He not only lived for us, but he died for us as well.
Jesus made it through the trial and into the resolution: Defeating Death and Saving Us All.
Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid or terrified of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6
In this we should be emboldened. What are trials but a small insect to our God? God has a promised land for each of us—we reach the pinnacle of our Climax and we stare over the land of our Resolution and see how God has blessed us. Through every trial and every pain, He was with us step by step giving us strength to endure. Every morning that we wake up, God is pushing us forward towards our promised land. Each breath we take is a reminder that God has a plan for us. When we overcome the climax of our trials and continue into our resolution, we’re changed by God.
Because Jesus was selfless enough to love sinners, such as us, He’s interceding on our behalf. Even when we fail and we turn our backs to God, when we realize the mistakes that we’ve made and repent and turn back towards Him, Jesus is there waiting with open arms ready to receive us again. This doesn’t mean that every resolution you reach is the last resolution you’ll ever see. We are humans, after all. We’re prone to wander and leave the God we love. But through each mistake, through each trial we endure, our faith is tested and made stronger. Jesus lived for us. Jesus died for us. We should strive to live for Him in return.
The fallacy of filmmaking is that there is a definite ending. There is a moment where our hero rides off into the sunset. The problem with that is that immediately after that sunset comes the night. Our resolutions are never true resolutions until the day Jesus calls us home. We will make it through one trial and ride off into the sunset of that trial in victory, but only an hour later comes darkness and a new inciting incident and a new climax that will test our faith. The forging of a true faith doesn’t see the fire only once.
The happily ever after point in the lives of Christians is when we find ourselves standing before God and He says, “Well done, Good and Faithful Servant.” Until then, there’s no true sunset that you’re riding off into. There’s no fairytale happily ever after until He welcomes you Home.
So you’ve made it to your resolution. You’ve overcome the pain of your trial. It’s time to start gearing up again and getting ready for the next one!
Consider it pure joy, brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. James 1:2-3
Ben Hilligoss
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