only as cyclical but as linear and covenantal. The truth behind this truth is the sovereign freedom of God and the fact that human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, are also free. They are free with a freedom that is unfathomable but precious and unique among the life forms on the earth. Many implications flow from this foundational idea of created freedom, but at their core is a titanic truth and a momentous message that completely transforms the meaning of life: Time and history