Biblical studies lecturer and all-around deep thinker Melinda Cousins steps back and gives us an overview of God ’ s big story in six acts .
The story of God is a good story ; a story of hope and promise , welcome and restoration . And it ’ s a big story , told throughout the whole Bible and lived throughout the whole of history . It ’ s a story that forms us , and one we are invited to live out and share with our world .
Act Four :
Redemption
The New Testament opens with a genealogy , linking Jesus to all the Old Testament promises and hopes . Jesus bursts onto the scene , announcing that God ’ s kingdom has come near . Through His words and actions , He demonstrates the nature of this kingdom . The invitation to His disciples is to follow Him : they can participate in this kingdom life and make known its invitation to others . Jesus ’ announcement of the kingdom leads to many expectations as to how He will reign .
These are turned upside down when He is executed as a revolutionary by the Roman Empire after being unjustly accused by the Jewish leaders . It looks like defeat , not victory . But God raises Jesus to new life , meaning His death was a victory not merely over the Romans , but over sin , evil and death itself . He has opened the way to new life and a new era in history . Nothing will ever be the same again .
Act Five :
Mission
Jesus ascends to His rightful place ruling all creation , then sends His Holy Spirit to dwell within His people , empowering them in the new life of the kingdom . The Spirit forms a new community , the church , characterised by devotion to God , devotion to one another and devotion to the Good News of the kingdom . People notice the way they live and ask questions , seeking to be part of this new community .
As the Gospel spreads throughout the world , new communities are planted in new places , drawing together people from different ethnicities and statuses . This creates challenges as they learn to live as family and be on mission together . They are called to live differently to the world around them , making Jesus known to all . Here is where we find ourselves in the story .
Act Six :
Renewal
God ’ s great story is not finished . God has always imagined the renewal and restoration of all He created . He will return and set all things right . In Revelation 21-22 we are given a glimpse of the renewal of all creation , pictured as a beautiful , perfect , renewed city of Jerusalem . This is not some ‘ white fluffy cloud-land ’, but the complete restoration and enjoyment of all the goodness of creation in all its fullness . In this renewed creation , all the beauty of human achievement and creativity is refined and gifted as the starting point .
All relationships are reconciled and restored . All consequences of sin , brokenness and conflict , are gone forever . And God comes to dwell with His people once and for all . What Abraham and the prophets could only imagine , what Jesus brought within Himself , and what the Spirit is now a foretaste of , will be our experience forever .