God’s Great Plan
Written by Melissa Cutrera and Illustrated by Matthew Sample II
This new children’s picture book, God’s Great Plan by
Melissa Cutrera and Matthew Sample, II is a wonderful retelling of the story of
redemption in the Bible starting from the creation and moving to
redemption. The illustrations by Matthew
Sample II are beautifully rendered and capture the emotional weight of the
story from the glory of creation, to the darkness of the Fall, to the majesty
of redemption. Melissa artfully tells
the biblical narrative through two line rhymes that coincide with the stunning
illustrations. I read this book to my
daughter at least two times and she really enjoyed the interaction between the
story and the illustrations, how they seamlessly fit together. Overall, this book was a real gem to read and
to discuss with my family because it pushed us to talk about the story and its
truth.
The Real Author of the Story
I know this might seem kind of weird to talk about in a
children’s book but this rendering of the biblical story was amazingly
God-centered. It was refreshing to see a
retelling of the Bible that doesn’t focus on heroes and moral lessons but the
real hero of the story, God. At one
point in the story, Melissa writes, “He made for the man a helper and wife/And
gave them a garden with His tree of life.”
The way that God arranged the furniture of creation is evident here and
that God is behind every aspect of the human being, male and female. In the illustration, Matthew brings out the
wonder that both Adam and Eve felt as they beheld His tree of life. Later on in the story we find the glory of
redemption as Melissa writes, “Jesus is God, so Death couldn’t win. Instead He beat death and overcame sin.” Death could not hold the Savior in the
end. This theme of Christus Victor is
central to the way Christ’s death defeats death, darkness, and overcomes
sin. Once again, we see that Jesus as
God’s Son is central to every line of this story as He should be.
Critique
The only minor points of critique I have with this wonderful
children’s retelling of the story of redemption are that there is very little
of the Old Testament captured in the book.
We get quite a bit from Adam and Eve but not much of the other narratives
in the story. A little more of this would have helped. Secondly, we see a scarce bit from the life
of Jesus in his public ministry that relates his humanity to the people. We see his healing pictured but little of his
ministry to the disciples or interactions with the religious leaders. Christ’s humanity is every bit of important
to his redemption as is his deity. Yet,
overall, I think with the limited space the author and illustrator did a very
good job at
Conclusion
Check this book out, read it to your children, and be amazed
at how God’s plan of redemption came to fruition in the person and work of
Jesus Christ. This book will encourage
your faith and strengthen your commitment to live for him.
Thanks to Cross Focused Reviews and Shepherd Press for the copy
of this book in exchange for review.
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