Gospel Conversations Reimagined: The True Story of the Whole World, Redemption

We began this series of stories by introducing the True Story of the Whole World (TSWW). I noted the importance of recognizing that the story of the Bible, embedded in the sixty-six-book canon of Scripture, takes place in history and began with God’s creation of the world and humankind. I noted the importance of recognizing the Biblical record as the true story of the whole world. It is not one among many stories, it’s not a nice religious story invented by pious people. The TSWW is universal truth and is historically embedded. It provides a framework of meaning for all of the events and stories across history including your story and mine. There is nothing scrubbed up or sweetened about the story either. Curiously, God’s story involves liars and criminals, prostitutes and money-launderers, stubborn and sordid characters—a lot like me and probably you.

I continue to emphasize the importance of recognizing the story of the Bible as TSWW, because we are living in an era that many describe as post-truth. We see this evidenced by the rampant claims of fake news and the disintegration of trust. In light of this presumption, the choice to use the phrase “true story of the whole world” is purposeful. I do not choose to use the phrase to make the Bible somehow more appealing, but to emphasize the fact that in a so-called post-truth, fake news, relativistic culture the Bible, indeed, tells the TSWW. I firmly believe that the implications of claiming that the bible is the TSWW in our culture today are far reaching. This claim will require a humble posture as we allow God to deepen our understanding of the gospel.

The Fall*

We started this series of stories by looking at the first of four key themes that are threaded across the canon. We took a brief look at the Creator—the triune God who spoke the world into existence. God created the world and everything in it “in the beginning,” and God continues to create all around us and to sustain the universe. Then we witnessed that moment when Adam and Eve chose autonomy from God and disobeyed his one command. The consequences reverberate across Scripture and history.

Although God banishes Adam and Eve from the garden and lays a curse on the serpent and humankind, he does not abandon them, but hints at redemption as evidenced in Genesis 3:15 where we see the protoevangelion or the “first gospel.” Here it becomes immediately clear that through Eve’s seed the Serpent will be dealt a fatal blow. Amazingly, God appoints humanity as both the object and agent of redemption.

While Genesis chapters 4–11 provide a vivid picture of the immediate and devastating effects of sin, they also provide God’s redemptive response evident in his covenant with Abram (Gen 12:1–4; 15; 17), then in Israel’s deliverance from Egypt under Moses’s leadership, and again, in Israel’s eventual entry into the Promised Land through the leadership of Joshua (Exodus–Joshua).

Notably, God’s redemption reaches its climax in the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Broadly, God the Father sends his Son Jesus Christ as the embodiment of God’s kingdom—he is God incarnate (John 1:14, 18). In fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus proclaims good news to the poor, liberates the captive and the oppressed, recovers sight for the blind, and brings joy to those who mourn (Isa 61:1; Luke 4:18–19; John 20:21). He makes all things new!

 Jesus Christ, God who took on human flesh, is the fulfillment of the promise God made with Adam and Eve in the garden: Jesus is the clue to human history. God the Father sends the Son as a display of his generous and gracious love (John 3:16), and under the authority of the Father, Jesus fulfills the Scripture and declares with his last breath, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Christ’s death on a cross, burial, and triumphant resurrection usher God’s kingdom to the fore as Jesus, the first born of all creation, makes peace with God by the blood of the cross. Then, Jesus, in a mighty display of power over sin and death raises from the dead—the first born of all creation.

So, why does the life and death, resurrection and ascension matter in our lives right now? Why does Jesus matter in a world that churns with division, infection, starvation, boredom and consumption and more boredom? Why does Jesus matter when you are barely able to pay the rent or desperate for the next breath, when you lose or you choose a career path, when your hope is dashed or when nothing seems to change?

I hope to provide a glimmer of hope over the next seven weeks by looking a little more closely at the Redeemer. These weeks will lead up to Easter and usher in the fourth key theme of the TSWW: Re-creation.

*Portions of this post are taken from: Monaco, Cas. “Bill Bright’s Four Spiritual Laws Reimagined: A Narrative Approach to Meaningful Gospel Conversations for an American Twenty-first Century Secularized Context.” PhD Diss., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2020.