CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST

August 31, 2008

25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373

www.geocities.com/adon77373/cypresswoodbulletin.htm

http://geobme.blogspot.com

www.cypresswoodchurchofchrist.com

THE DRAMA OF REDEMPTION

“He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:12).

We have often read the Bible as if it were two distinct parts and one of those parts can be ignored. This has lead to a misreading of scripture and a failure to see the unity of scripture in God’s plan to redeem His creation. It has affected how we see God, developing a deistic view that God is out there but does nothing even among His people and a legalistic reading of the New Testament as a constitution rather than an ongoing revelation of God’s story of redemption.

John Mark Hicks calls for us to read scripture as a theodrama, that is, that scripture is the story of God’s redemptive effort (1). Reading this way will give us a vibrant view of God and His work as it finds its completion in Christ. He divides the drama into five parts (2).

The first act in the drama is creation. “The divine community created a human community within a cosmic reality (3).” In my mind, the purpose of this creation beginning in the Garden was fellowship with God. While the doctrine of the Trinity (4) is difficult to understand, that fellowship is based on the fellowship or community as seen in the Godhead. It is extended to creation and includes both humankind and the Garden itself. All that God made was good including humankind. There were responsibilities given to Adam and Eve to care for the Garden and to expand. I see this as humankind expanded, so did the Garden, until the earth was covered in the Garden of God.

But this first act ends badly. Adam and Eve disobey God by eating of the forbidden fruit and are cast out of the Garden into a different type of world. In the process, creation itself is cursed. Life would become difficult and the rebellion against God would grow “from the assertion of autonomy (e.g. in the Garden) to their assumption of divine prerogatives (e.g. Babel) with all the accompanying chaos, violence, oppression and immorality that comes in the way of humanity’s degenerative spiral away from God.” One only has to read the first eleven chapters of Genesis to see this that would include the murder of Abel, the flood of Noah’s day, and Noah’s sin.

According to 1 Peter 1:20, God had planned before the world began for the redemption of creation. God gave humankind a free will, an option to choose, and they did. Knowing that choices were available, God understood that they might reject, even if deceived, God and His blessings. The drama had begun.

Act two introduces us to the nation of Israel. “God graciously entered into covenant with a people who were called to represent (image) God in the brokenness of the Ancient Near East. God graciously initiates a relationship (e.g., call of Abraham), grounds that relationship in redemptive acts (e.g. Exodus) and invites them to live as the light of God among the nations (e.g. Sinai).” These ideas become themes throughout the rest of scripture, old and new. The Psalmists and prophets continually remind Israel of what God had done in the past for present events. But it goes beyond that, for these themes and that of exile will play a role in our understanding of the New Testament. Paul was well trained in scripture, that being the Hebrew Bible. We have ignored this and have missed important themes in our understanding of redemption and more.

Some have chosen to state that the Hebrew scriptures are no longer relevant to our life as Christians. This is a mistake. “The Torah provides the origins and law of the covenant, the histories narrate the story of God’s redemptive engagement with his people, the prophets call the people to embrace the covenantal life, and the wisdom schools apply the life of God to the practical investment of the covenant in life.” We have not read it this way. Rather we have read the Old as a law book and not a covenant of love (see Jeremiah 31:3). We see the Law of Moses as a legal code that must be obeyed perfectly rather than a communal statement of a loving relationship between God and the nation (5).

God was in pursuit of Israel challenging them to live with His “values, intent, goals, and desires and to learn from Israel’s example - both positive and negative.” Paul teaches us that we should learn from this so as to lead a better life in Christ (see Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:11).

The third act in the redemptive drama is the ministry of Jesus. Everything that had gone before was pointing to Jesus. While God was among His people Israel in the Tabernacle and Temple, it is in Christ that God entered the world as flesh and blood (John 1:1-5, 14). It is in Jesus that the fulfillment of light to the world is seen; the rule of God healing the sick, raising the dead, preaching the good news to all. God has personally come into this world to redeem what He has created. Jesus fulfills the prophets words as often spoken to Israel

Beyond that, Jesus becomes the new Moses (6), leading a new Exodus out of bondage to the slavery of sin. We begin this new journey at our baptism, an idea Paul draws on from the Exodus story. The death, burial, and resurrection is the moment of redemption and the beginning of the wilderness journey. How do we see Israel in the wilderness? In one sense, it was because of their disobedience. But keep in mind that for forty years God provided for Israel in a barren and hostile land. Just picture coming over a hill and looking out over a plain, seeing a million people encamped. They were playing and worshipping and eating oblivious to the wilderness they were in. Why? God was providing for them. As they were headed to the promise land, so are we.

Exile would also be a new metaphor for our new life in Christ. Israel was carried off to captivity in Babylon but one day would return. We are exiled from our land but one day we will be home from this exile, lead by Jesus Christ. This Eden, exodus and exile are all important ideas that reflect our understanding of scripture.

The fourth act is that of the church. The church is the people or community of God, the body of Christ, the presence of Jesus in the world. Brothers Hicks divides this act into three parts. The first is the church within scripture. By that he means that the people live out the ministry of Jesus, interpreting the meaning of the act of God in redemption and applying that theology to the life of the church. The New Testament explains that meaning and application, correcting where it hasn’t been done well (see Corinth for one) and highlighting where it has been done well (see Acts 2-4) (7).

The second aspect is the church in history. Church history is the attempt to live out the story of God in Christ. When we look at that history we realize that it has been a difficult and sometimes frustrating task. The wilderness journey can be a tough road to walk and has its ups and downs.

Finally, the church is also our story as we live out the ministry of Jesus in our own lives. Our appeal has been to go back to scripture and we need to continue that appeal. Reading and understanding the ministry of Jesus and applying to our lives is important for our part of the journey. Sometimes we will do this well and other times we will not. It is all a part of the drama of redemption in which we live.

The final act is that of the eschaton, that is, consummation of God’s goal. Eschatological is the fancy word for this and it deals with the last things. When the journey is completed in our redemption, we enter the new heavens and the new earth, our eternal home, the Garden of Eden. This is important to understand because not only are we redeemed, but so is all of creation (Romans 8:18-27). We will enjoy that new relationship with God, a redemptive fellowship through Christ.

We have a great story to tell, an exciting story. It should never be dull if we understand the full scope of scripture and the role it plays in telling us God’s drama of redemption. There is more to this. Next we will look at the role that God and fellowship plays in the story of redemption, something we have missed and need to understand.

George B. Mearns

(1) I want to thank John Mark Hicks for thoughts on this article which comes from http://johnmarkhicks.wordpress.com See Theological Hermeneutics IV -- Exploring the Story.

(2) Some divide it into six. Jim McGuiggan has also written in a similar vein at www.jimcguiggan.com