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The Grand Story of God
Nov 18, 04:45 PM
We make a serious mistake if we only view the Gospels as an account of Jesus coming to bring personal salvation to individuals. The work of personal redemption, as vital as it is, is but one aspect of a much greater work to which the four sacred writings testify. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are witness to a more encompassing work of God which is the renewal and restoration of all things. It is the plan of God which He purposed in Christ to be put in effect when the times have reached their fulfillment to unify all things in Christ and under Christ’s reign. (Ephesians 1:10-11) Creation itself has an intimate knowledge of this reality and anxiously awaits its consummation. (Romans 8:19-21)
The Christ Event, to which the Gospels bear witness, is the critical junction of an even larger epic of God which began before the world was made. We must understand that our personal salvation cannot be disassociated from its greater context of what God is doing in all of creation. The Bible is not simply a collection of sacred writings from the standpoint of a particular religion, it is the testimony to what God has done, is doing, and will do with everything that He has made. It is the Grand Story of God – from alpha to omega – from the beginning to the end. Through our personal faith in Christ, we are doing more than simply receiving forgiveness of sins and a reconciled relationship with God. We are actively participating in that Grand Story. No, more than that, we are entering into the saga, become part of its flow, and being renewed in the hope of being restored with all of creation. Humanity itself, all men and women, has the opportunity to participate. Jesus Christ is not only Savior and Lord; He is the forerunner of a new humanity – the prototype of the new created human being. Thus, He is called the “firstborn among man brothers (and sisters)” (Romans 8:29) and the “Last Adam.” (1 Corinthians 15:45).
The Christ Event (His birth, life, death, and resurrection) is the cornerstone upon which the Grand Story of God rests. Thus, the Gospel witness plays the critical role. It is from these Gospels that we view that pivotal juncture in the Plan of God. The life of Jesus of Nazareth is a divine breaking-in to what was becoming a rather hopeless flow of events. Jesus did not just come to save individual sinners but came to announce a totally new way of life and a divine destiny for all of creation which had been implemented from the beginning but was just now being revealed. (Colossians 1:25-26) The magnificent Annunciation of the birth of Christ was more than just announcement of Christ’s birth – it was the heralding of a new era – the long awaited coming of the Kingdom of God. Thus, the proclamation of the Gospels rings with the recurrent theme: The Kingdom of God is at Hand.
As the Gospels portray the life of Christ, it is not simply to occupy us until the real “meat” of the story unfolds at Calvary. The life of Christ declares the Kingdom: “THIS IS THE WAY IT IS AND SHALL BE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD.” The Sermon on the Mount is a radical intrusion into the way of life as we have come to know it in this world. That is why the Sermon seems so alien and difficult to our thinking. Christ came to bring this new way of life and has invited us to share in it with Him. He has commissioned the Church to continue His proclamation, by word and by modeling the life of the Kingdom. By faith, as we enter through the covenant ratified in His Blood, we take on His new humanity and take our place fully in the Grand Story of God.