If we agree that God's intentions are to be known in all the earth, and if we agree that God has always had that one plan, where is that plan first revealed?
Almost everything in the Bible begins in the beginning...obviously...
[Little plug here for The Bible Project...]
But how far back in the beginning?
Chris Wright goes to Abraham, and while he has a huge role in the Biblical theology of mission, what happens to our picture if we start with Adam? And what about Noah? I just want to make one point from each character, and then I have to try and keep those points in mind as I read on because [spoiler alert] I have been increasingly convinced over the past few years that our ecclesiology plays an enormous role in how we think about global mission, and it is the place of the church that I think is one of the big gaps in much talk about mission.
I'll just keep it to headlines:
If you begin with Adam, then God's mission takes on the character of filling and ordering God's first creation - I write without having done detailed study just now, but just drawing on the big picture of what Adam is charged with. He is a sort of global gardener.
If you begin with Noah, then God's mission has more of a flavour of divinely-provided rescue from a divinely ordained judgement. Noah is the one in the only place of safety - the ark.
If you being with Abraham, then we're looking at the idea of blessing to all nations coming through the one man.
It doesn't take much knowledge or insight to see all these themes in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
I'm writing this for two reasons:
1. If Chris Wright leans as heavily as he does on Abraham, how does that affect the overall view of God's mission?
2. If anyone reading this has any wisdom on all this, I invite your feedback!
I'll come back to the implications of Abraham's place in Wright's book when I've come to the end of part three.
Almost everything in the Bible begins in the beginning...obviously...
[Little plug here for The Bible Project...]
But how far back in the beginning?
Chris Wright goes to Abraham, and while he has a huge role in the Biblical theology of mission, what happens to our picture if we start with Adam? And what about Noah? I just want to make one point from each character, and then I have to try and keep those points in mind as I read on because [spoiler alert] I have been increasingly convinced over the past few years that our ecclesiology plays an enormous role in how we think about global mission, and it is the place of the church that I think is one of the big gaps in much talk about mission.
I'll just keep it to headlines:
If you begin with Adam, then God's mission takes on the character of filling and ordering God's first creation - I write without having done detailed study just now, but just drawing on the big picture of what Adam is charged with. He is a sort of global gardener.
If you begin with Noah, then God's mission has more of a flavour of divinely-provided rescue from a divinely ordained judgement. Noah is the one in the only place of safety - the ark.
If you being with Abraham, then we're looking at the idea of blessing to all nations coming through the one man.
It doesn't take much knowledge or insight to see all these themes in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
I'm writing this for two reasons:
1. If Chris Wright leans as heavily as he does on Abraham, how does that affect the overall view of God's mission?
2. If anyone reading this has any wisdom on all this, I invite your feedback!
I'll come back to the implications of Abraham's place in Wright's book when I've come to the end of part three.
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