Something is very wrong with the world. Oppression, violence, exploitation, injustice, sickness, and even death can all be attributed to mankind’s broken relationship with God – the source of all that is good. The bible calls this brokenness “sin,” and it is the result of our willful rejection of God’s good rule in our lives.
The gospel, or “the good news,” is that God’s rulership has returned to earth through Jesus Christ and the door is now open for anyone to enter His kingdom and enjoy the goodness of God. As Jesus himself said repeatedly, “Repent, for the Kingom of heaven is at hand” (Mk 1:14). Jesus’ clear invitation is to simply change our minds (that’s what “repent,” or metanoia means) about the way we live and join him in a brand new life where God and his goodness is available to anyone who seeks.
But the “gospel” is often reduced to narrow formulas such as the forgiveness of sins so we might get into “heaven” after we die, or the freedom from poverty, sickness, bad luck, and failure. However, the gospel is far bigger than these simple formulas. As New Testament scholar Scot McNight points out,
“New winds are blowing, and these winds are asking the church for a gospel that not only forgives my sin but also works for justice and peace and does so in a meaningful community where we both hear about and experience the love Jesus called his followers to have.”
After all, if the goodness of God is available, wouldn’t that mean justice for the oppressed and exploited? Wouldn’t that mean mercy for the broken? Wouldn’t that mean peace for the wounded and weary? This is exactly the kind of life Jesus embodied on earth.
But in telling the gospel story we often begin with the crucifixion of Jesus, or perhaps the “fall” of mankind in Genesis chapter 2, in order the stress the brokenness and guilt of mankind. It’s true, of course, that humanity is broken. Anyone who looks around honestly at the world can see that. However, in the worst examples, this stress on the guilt of mankind has become a strange system of belief wherein even the best of humanity is portrayed as evil in disguise, and only believers are able to do anything truly good. This simply doesn’t explain the undeniable goodness we also see in the world – of we look honestly.
A full telling of the gospel must begin in Genesis chapter 1, where humans are created in the “image” of God as both His reflection and likeness. As His image we are meant to resemble God, represent God, and contain His living Spirit. That was the ancient near-eastern understanding of an image or, as the Greeks later called it, an eikon (pronounced “I-kon” – like the icons on your computer!). This singularly high calling establishes incredible intrinsic human worth in mankind. Hence, God began working immediately to restore mankind to that image after our sin destroyed it (Gen 2:). This is the purpose of the gospel; to restore humanity as God’s eikon.
Beginning the telling of the gospel with the creation narrative helps us avoid several errors:
- Because creation is good we embrace an earthly, material, embodied gospel.
- Because humanity is created as God’s eikons, we embrace our incredible, redeemed potential.
- Because mankind’s sin corrupted not only us, but the whole world as well, we embrace the restoration of all creation, here and now, as part of the gospel work.
Most importantly, this whole story revolves around God’s initiative (not our own) to create, to relate, to provide – and finally – to restore and redeem what was broken by man. God’s initiative reveals that the gospel preceded mankind “before the creation of the world” (Eph 1:4), and therefore comes only by God’s grace, brought about “because of his great love for us” (Eph 2:4). As Paul powerful articulates, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:8-10).
Our redemption, then, is by God’s grace but for a specific purpose - namely, “to do good works” as his redemptive agents by the leading of His Spirit.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
~Jesus
I would suggest that the ultimate purpose of redemption and good works is the glory of God. Whenever God’s pleasure and glory is not our highest aim, our aim falls short. Works cannot, and should not, be an end in and of themselves. The ultimate truth, and bottom line, is that God should receive glory whenever acts of mercy, social justice, caring for the homeless, etc. occurs. We are told to do these things in Jesus’ name for a reason and that reason is to reveal and reflect His glory.
You said it well Jason, when you stated, “A full telling of the gospel must begin in Genesis chapter 1, where humans are created in the “image” of God as both His reflection and likeness. As His image we are meant to resemble God, represent God, and contain His living Spirit.” I would only add, for the purpose of glorifying God.
Keep up the good work brother!
Quite right Dennis, I agree that all things are “ultimately” for the purpose of glorifying God. However, that’s the generalized purpose, not the specialized one (wouldn’t you say that the ultimate purpose of everything is God’s glory – including God?), and the problem with generalized purposes is that they have little or no explanatory ability. They can correct our orientation or trajectory by providing a fixed point in the distance (that is what they’re meant to do), but they cannot explain how to get there.