Drama of Scripture: Jesus Launches the Kingdom

Drama of Scripture: The Story in Six Parts
Cf. Drama of Scripture by Bartholomew & Goheen
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1. God’s mission is to restore creation.
i. God chose a people to embody God’s creational purposes for humanity and so be a light to the nations…the OT narrates the history of Israel’s response to their divine calling.
ii. Jesus comes on the scene and in his mission takes upon humanity and accomplishes the victory over sin, opening the way to a new world.
iii. When his earthly ministry is over, he leaves his church with the mandate to continue in that same mission.
iv. Standing as we do between Pentecost and the return of Jesus, our central task as God’s people is to witness to the rule of Jesus Christ over all of life.
v. What is the New Creation?
Luke 24:13-27
2. The Story…
a. Adam encouraged us last week to read the Scriptures as The Story of God. He summarized the first three acts of that Story…
i. ACT ONE--Creation:
1. The world was made by God as God intended it to be.
a. He provided all the shelter, food, and relationships that Adam & Eve needed to flourish.
b. He provided boundaries to ensure that harm would not come to his creation.
2. He came to the Garden himself, to enjoy his own.
ii. ACT TWO--Fall
1. Adam & Eve shunned the protection of God, the provision of God, and the personal experience of God for the right to make their own contrary choice.
2. God immediately responded by providing skins to cover their shame, demonstrating the first death, and foreshadowing sacrificial death.
3. God removed them from the Garden as an act of mercy, to prevent them from living forever in decaying bodies.
iii. ACT THREE--Israel, God’s chosen people.
1. God determined to reestablish his earthly presence by revealing himself to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob = Israel.
2. Israel was instructed in the Law of God, designed to explain the drastic steps required to deal with going one’s own way. Only the death of an innocent animal could delay the justice of God.
3. The nation Israel was in turn to tell the nations of the world of the grace and mercy of God; they did not.
iv. ACT FOUR--Today, we examine the fourth act of the Story: the CHRIST, Jesus comes on the scene and in his mission takes upon humanity and
1. accomplishes the victory over sin,
2. opening the way to a new world.
3. Introduces the story of how the history of God’s gracious dealings with his rebellious creatures comes to a climax in his own death and resurrection.
a. Takes up mission of Israel
b. Accomplishes redemption
c. Gathers renewed Israel: Commissions them to continue his mission

What did Jesus do?
1. He offered himself for Israel and as Israel:
a. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, as Israel had entered the Land to be a light for the Gentiles.
b. Jesus simultaneously healed and forgave those he encountered.
c. Jesus cleared the Temple in Jerusalem, declaring that this had been intended as the place for all peoples to gather in worship of the God of Israel; instead, those who controlled the Temple sealed it off from the Gentiles, and used the space to profit from the worshipers. Jesus declared HIMSELF TO BE THE NEW TEMPLE, THE PLACE WHERE ALL PEOPLE CAN FIND THE FATHER.
2. He offered himself for Israel and the world as the fulfillment of all the sacrifices of the past.
a. Jesus lived the same life that the God of Israel had expected of them.
b. Jesus died an innocent death, becoming THE LAMB OF SACRIFICE that had been central to the levitical ceremonies.
c. Jesus overcame death by resurrecting.
3. He gathered TWELVE DISCIPLES, a renewed Israel, and charged them to take the story of his Mission, his Redemption, and his Promise to all peoples.
a. Jesus called twelve men of Israel to launch a new Israel, modeling the life that he expected of them.
b. Jesus demonstrated to them that he has power to overcome death, subverting all social threats.
c. Jesus sent the Spirit of God to those disciples.

How should I respond to what Jesus said and did?
1. If God’s Story is alien and compelling to me, then I need to invite God to write my story so that I can participate in his Story.
a. At the Cross, I find forgiveness for having fallen short of God’s standards.
b. Through the Cross, I can see hope for the life to come, here and in the kingdom.
c. Because of the Cross, Jesus transforms me into a transformer; not for fighting space aliens, but to bring justice and mercy to the whole world.
2. If God’s story has been written into my soul, then I ask myself each day: HOW HAS THE RESURRECTION POWER OF JESUS BEEN VISIBLE IN MY LIFE TODAY?
a. Am I fully satisfied with all that God is to me in Christ?
b. Am I living at peace with all those around me?
i. “Be angry but do not sin, don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” Eph. 4:26
ii. Do the weaknesses of those around me call me to humble reflection or criticism? Matt. 7:3 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
c. Am I seeing that sort of power impact those close to me?
i. 2Cor. 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

Come to the Cross!