Chapter 1:
The Greatest Story Ever Told

The Power of a Hero Story
We are all captivated by epic stories of good versus evil, featuring courage, sacrifice, and redemption. There’s something that resonates with us about the tale of a noble hero who rises in the face of overwhelming odds, determined to rescue the weak or the helpless, who cannot save themselves. Whether it’s the gritty determination of a soldier laying down his life for his brothers in war, or the selfless acts of a fictional hero in an epic fantasy saga, our hearts beat faster for the one who enters danger, overcomes adversity, not for personal gain, but to save others.

From ancient myths to modern cinema, our culture is saturated with these stories that center around this hero archetype. We cheer for the humble underdog. We grieve with the oppressed or afflicted. We rejoice in the ultimate victory over evil and injustice.

Hero stories aren’t just entertainment—they speak to something deeper within us.

They awaken a truth imprinted deep in our souls: that we were made for a greater story, and we long for a hero. A savior story in which the stakes are overwhelming, the peril is terrifying, and the realized victory brings everlasting justice. A story where a true Hero has entered our brokenness, not just to sympathize, but to rescue us and bring freedom.

The Fall of Humanity
The divine story of humanity begins not with the failure of Adam and Eve, but with beauty and perfection in a garden. In the beginning, mankind was not fractured or fallen, but whole. God created man and woman and placed them in a paradise of peace, provision, contentment, and a perfect covenant relationship with their Creator. There was no shame, no fear, no separation. The garden world was good, and humanity walked in harmony with God, entrusted with dominion and dignity.

In this state of living fully in the creative power of divine union, mankind was deathless. Adam & Eve were of an eternal nature created in the image of God. If they had not erred and eaten of the forbidden tree, they would have lived forever, without sickness or aging or death. They possessed a body in that place that was like the body Jesus would have had after the resurrection. A physical body that was what we call “glorified” and perfect.

But into this paradise slithered a deceiver. The serpent was the embodiment of the mystery of evil and entered the garden with cunning words and subtle distortions. He did not attack with violence, but with suggestion. He planted seeds of doubt and confusion in Adam and Eve’s minds, causing them to question the very nature and goodness of God. In that moment of deception, as the New Testament later describes it, their minds were darkened. They turned away from the light of truth in God’s presence and chose the dark path of independence and rebellion instead. Their bodies changed to a lesser equivalent of “flesh” with mortality. Death entered in, and they immediately saw their nakedness.

A Covenant with Darkness
This choice was more than a moral misstep—it was a covenantal betrayal. Adam & Eve, who were created for union with God, instead chose to enter into an agreement or contract with Satan. They aligned themselves with the will and destiny of the enemy, binding their fate into his paradigm of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Paradise was lost, and the descendants of Adam & Eve became enslaved—not merely to sin as behavior, but to a kingdom of darkness that held them captive in mind, body, and spirit. Ultimately, humanity was bound to death.

They Became Captives of Death.
The evidence of this bondage emerged immediately. The next generation of Cain and Abel told the tragic tale of the consequences of living in the world after eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. When Cain murdered his brother in a field, the blood that spilled into the soil was more than a personal tragedy—it was a confirmation that the covenant with darkness had taken hold. The kingdom of evil was not only external but also worked through humanity, corrupting relationships, sowing violence, and tearing families apart.

From that point forward, the Old Testament stories recount a long, painful history of human failure.

The entire OT was an object lesson of what life looks like under the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil paradigm, with evil as the dominant influence. Nations rose and fell under the weight of greed, oppression, idolatry, and injustice. But in all of this, we must see humanity not as the perpetrator of evil, but as the victim of evil that twisted their will. The true enemy was not flesh and blood, but the spiritual forces of evil that had entangled creation in deception and decay. This is the peril of humanity: we were made for glory, yet enslaved by evil and bound to the covenant of death.

A Promise of Redemption
Even as Adam and Eve hid in shame, God sought them. Even as consequences were pronounced, a promise was given. In Genesis 3:15, God speaks to the serpent and declares a prophetic word that echoes through the ages: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” This is the first whisper of the Hero to come. A descendant of the woman—born of flesh—would someday rise to confront the enemy who had deceived and enslaved humanity.

This is what theologians call the protoevangelium—the first gospel. It is not spoken to humanity as a command, but as a prophecy of promise. Humanity would never have the capacity to redeem itself. No man-made system, moral code, or religious effort could reverse the damage. The rescue would come from a promised seed.

As the stories of the Old Testament characters unfold in this drama, the stage is being set for this deliverance. Each generation cries out for a hero—sometimes hoping it will be a prophet, a judge, or a king. Yet time after time, the limitations of even the greatest leaders became clear. Still, hope endured. The prophets spoke of a Servant who would suffer, a King who would reign, a Light who would shine in the darkness. Humanity’s story was not over—it was in waiting.

The Arrival of the Hero
This is what makes the gospel—the good news—so profound. The story of Jesus is not a sudden interruption in human history; it is the fulfillment of the deepest longing within every human heart. It is the arrival of the true Hero, foretold from the beginning, entering into the peril and pain of the human condition, not merely to empathize, but to save.

Jesus did not arrive in power, but in humility. Born of a woman, laid in a manger, raised in obscurity. Yet with every step He took, He advanced toward the climactic confrontation between good and evil. He taught with authority, healed the sick, cast out demons, and proclaimed a kingdom that was not of this world. He was the promised One—the seed of the woman, the light in the darkness, the Son sent to set the captives free.

And His mission was clear: to break the covenant of death and expose the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and set the captives free. The human race was bound in both physical and spiritual slavery; we needed more than inspiration; we needed liberation, and Jesus was that liberator.

The Forgotten Moment of Victory
Each year, Christ followers gather to celebrate Easter. We sing of the resurrection, declare the victory of Christ, and rejoice in the empty tomb. And rightfully so. The cross is the altar where the sacrifice was made. The resurrection is the manifestation of the victory over sin & death. But what about the time in between? The time between when Jesus said “It is Finished” on Friday’s crucifixion to when he rose “early in the morning” on Resurrection Day Sunday.

Here is how Paul lays it out in 1Co 15:3-4:
… Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (Crucifixion – The Cross)
… He was buried (Death – The Grave)
… He rose again the third day (Resurrection – The Empty Tomb)

Between the crucifixion and the resurrection lies a period when Jesus was dead, with his body in the tomb, before the resurrection. The modern Western church rarely discusses what happened at that time and mostly skips over the event.

Paul also says in Eph 4:8-10 that before Christ “Ascended” (Resurrection), he first “Descended” into the Lower Parts of the Earth (Grave)

… When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people. What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.

The Early Church didn’t ignore it when they wrote the Apostles’ Creed it says:

“He descended into the lower parts” or “He descended into hell” in English.

This descent wasn’t an afterthought. It was the very battleground of triumph.

We often say on Easter, “Jesus has won!” or “He conquered death and the grave!” But if we truly believe those words, we must ask: When did He win?

The resurrection is evidence of the victory. But the victory itself—the moment the chains broke, the keys were taken, the dominion of darkness was shattered—that happened before the tomb was empty.

The Victory over sin, death, principalities, and powers happened in Hell.

It Happened in Hell
Jesus entered Hell not as a prisoner, but as the perfect, sinless man. He did not descend in defeat, but in dominion with authority. In the place of absolute darkness, the Light of the World walked in. He proclaimed liberty to the captives, broke the covenant of death, and fulfilled the ancient promise. He crushed the head of the serpent.

The resurrection is the unveiling of what happened in Hell. He rose not to win the battle, but to reveal that it had been won.

And that’s why this story matters. Because if we miss what happened in Hell, we miss the full scope of the gospel. We miss the moment of triumph. We miss the descent of the Hero into the pit of despair—and His emergence with the keys of death and Hades.

This book is an invitation to rediscover that missing part of the story. Because the most incredible story ever of victory and conquering didn’t just happen on a cross of forgiveness, or with an empty tomb.

The whole story of what Jesus accomplished reveals the depth of Christ’s love (the Cross), the magnitude of His victory (over Hell), and the outcome of our complete deliverance (the Resurrection).

We can’t leave out the middle of the story that Jesus went to hell.
The Cross was about forgiveness, and I don’t want to diminish that, but dying on that cross was also the strategic “door” or entry point into the Kingdom of Darkness. Jesus had to die to gain entrance to the dominion of evil called hell.

While the Resurrection shows the outcome or the manifestation that Christ had won and defeated death, the middle part is where the Victory that we celebrate and the liberation of humanity from the clutches of death happened.

When did Christ defeat evil? When did he overcome death? When did he crush the serpent’s head?

It happened in Hell.