Callaham / Brooks World Mission

Theology, Strategy, and Current Issues
1. Auflage 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68359-304-1
Verlag: Lexham Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 376 Seiten

World missions needs a fully biblical ethos. This is the contention of the editors of and contributors to World Mission, a series of essays aimed at reforming popular approaches to missions. In the first set of essays, contributors develop a biblical theology of world missions from both the Old and New Testaments, arguing that the theology of each must stand in the foreground of missions, not recede into the background. In the second, they unfold the Great Commission in sequence, detailing how it determines the biblical strategy of all mission enterprises. Finally, they treat current issues in world missions from the perspective of the sufficiency of Scripture. Altogether, this book aims to reform missions to be thoroughlyâ?'not just foundationallyâ?'biblical, a needed correction even among the sincerest missionaries.

Scott N. Callaham (PhD, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Lecturer in Biblical Hebrew and Old Testament at Baptist Theological Seminary, Singapore. He is author of Modality and the Biblical Hebrew Infinitive Absolute. Will Brooks (PhD, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) teaches at two seminaries in Asia. He is author of Love Lost for the Cause of Christ.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Callaham, Scott N.

Brooks, Will

Leseproben

2

NEW TESTAMENT THEOLOGY AND WORLD MISSION

Wendel Sun

INTRODUCTION

The New Testament is at heart a collection of missional texts produced in the context of mission. That is, the documents were written as the early church expanded into new areas and contexts, often in response to the challenges faced by young churches.1 More fundamentally, as Michael Goheen writes, “the biblical books are products of God’s mission.”2 Throughout this chapter, I will argue that Jesus came as a missional Messiah and that his people are to be a missional people. Fittingly, the creation of texts that testify about this Messiah took place within the context of mission. Moreover, these texts were written to carry on the mission of the Messiah. The New Testament documents were intended by the authors to be persuasive accounts of the story of Jesus and the church (Gospels and Acts) or letters to spur on faithfulness to the Messiah (the Epistles). Despite the differences in genre, each document was written with missional purposes: to persuade readers (or hearers) of the truthfulness of the gospel message and to call them to repentance and faith. N. T. Wright aptly summarizes the point: “The purpose of the NT emerges from the entire missional agenda of the early church.”3 In other words, in both content and intent, the New Testament is thoroughly missional.

In this chapter we will examine the foundation for all New Testament missional activity: the mission of Jesus. I will argue that the authors of the New Testament understood his mission in Old Testament terms. A significant part of this mission is to (re) create the people of God as those who are united to Jesus the Messiah. Union with Christ entails entering into his story such that his story becomes our story. Consequently, I will argue for a participatory view of the church’s mission; the people of God in Christ are to participate in and carry on the mission of Jesus.

THE MISSION OF THE KING

We begin with a brief analysis of Jesus’ mission using four major Old Testament themes: Adam, the seed of Abraham, Moses, and Messiah. While many other themes could be selected, I believe these are significant because (1) they occupy a significant place in New Testament theology, and (2) they provide a well-rounded view of Jesus’ mission.

JESUS IS THE LAST ADAM WHO RESTORES THE IMAGE OF GOD

While most readers of the New Testament are familiar with Paul’s use of Adam in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, Adamic themes are much more prevalent than is often realized. The following survey will highlight some of the ways the New Testament authors make use of the Adam narratives in explaining the identity and mission of Jesus.4

Matthew 1:1 begins the New Testament with an allusion to creation in the words literally translated “book of genesis” (Biblos geneseos),5 a phrase found only twice in the LXX: Genesis 2:4 and 5:1. Of particular interest is Genesis 5:1, where the phrase heads Adam’s genealogy. Thus Matthew opens his Gospel with reference to origins, presenting the genealogy of Jesus as that of a new Adam. While many rightly note the pattern of Israel’s story within Matthew, echoes of Adam feature prominently in the opening verses. As Richard Hays notes, “This genealogy prepares the reader to interpret Jesus as the heir of the promises to Abraham, the consummation of Israel’s epic story that began in the patriarchal narratives of Genesis.”6 It is unsurprising, then, that Matthew begins Jesus’ story similarly to the beginning of Israel’s story: the creation/Adam narratives.7 Interestingly, Luke’s genealogy explicitly links Jesus to Adam (Luke 4:38), thus confirming that the connection of Jesus to Adam was a matter of theological reflection in the early church.8

Following the explicit mention of Adam in chapter 3, Luke then tells of Jesus’ temptations in an Adamic pattern.9 A face-to-face encounter with Satan has clear similarities to the early chapters of Genesis, but other clues also point to an Adamic background. First, Satan twice challenges Jesus with the words “if you are the Son of God” (4:3, 9). As noted above, Luke also calls Adam the Son of God. Moreover, the serpent’s challenge to Eve in Genesis 3 likewise tempts the first couple to question their relational status with God when he claims that only by eating the fruit will they be “like God” (Gen 3:5). Thus the use of “Son of God” functions on a literary level by implicitly stating that Jesus is the Son of God and on a theological level by connecting Jesus’ temptation to that of Adam.

Second, like Adam, Jesus is first tempted with food. Unlike Adam, Jesus has no other food and is in the wilderness instead of a garden, yet does not sin.10 Third, the third temptation (worship me and I’ll give you the world’s kingdoms) recalls the desire of Adam and Eve to rule independently of God. Satan promises the primeval couple that eating will give them God-like knowledge such that they will be their own authority. Similarly, Satan tempts Jesus with authority apart from the Father, which Jesus rejects.11 Fourth, the last temptation evokes Satan’s words to Eve: “you will not surely die.” Satan encourages Jesus to jump from the highest point of the temple knowing that he will not die. Finally, and in sharp contrast to the first Adam, Jesus is victorious over the enemy, marking the beginning of Jesus’ continuous battle—and triumph—over Satan, evoking the promise of Genesis 3:15. In short, numerous subtle allusions to the early chapters of Genesis picture the temptation narrative as a recapitulation of Eden with Jesus as the new, faithful Adam.12

While some of the above references to Adam in the Gospels are subtle and may be unfamiliar, Paul explicitly refers to Jesus as a new or last Adam.13 The first of these (in canonical order) is found in Romans 5. Through the progression of thought within Romans, Paul argues that all people, Jew and gentile alike, are bound up in Adamic sin.14 In Romans 5:12–21, he contrasts Adam and Christ in order to magnify the work of Christ and adequately to root the identity of the Roman church, Jew and gentile together, in him. Our discussion focuses on the mission of Christ over against the Adamic background. One key observation is that when Paul points to the sin of Adam, he most likely refers to more than fruit eating. Adam’s sin is his failure to fulfill the human vocation of caring for God’s world under his rule.15 Moreover, Adam and Eve are tasked with “multiplying” and “filling the earth” with the image of God. That is, God’s people are to fill God’s world with reflections of his glory. As G. K. Beale argues, “God’s ultimate goal in creation was to magnify his glory throughout the earth by means of his faithful image-bearers inhabiting the world in obedience to the divine mandate.”16 Thus Adam’s sin is ultimately a failure in mission.

Paul draws attention to this failure in Romans 5:12–14 by arguing that sin entered the world through Adam and therefore death spread to all through sin. Instead of filling the earth with God’s glory, Adam’s sin led to a world saturated with sin and death. The obedience of Jesus leads not simply to a reset, but to justification and eternal life that far exceed the effects of Adam’s disobedience. The link between Adam and Jesus is the fact that their actions have serious consequences for those identified with them. Jesus not only obeys where Adam failed, but he fulfills and escalates Adam’s mission. Jesus reigns as Lord, and those rightly identified with him reign alongside him. Indeed, Christ comes as the true image of God to conform believers to that true image (Rom 8:30).

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul touches on similar themes with regard to Adam and Christ. The primary theological topic of 1 Corinthians 15 is resurrection, which leads Paul to emphasize the resurrection of Christ over against the sin of Adam with their respective consequences: “In Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:22). Paul again picks up and develops the theme in 15:45. Here Paul creatively quotes and interprets Genesis 2:7, linking the creation of Adam with the life-giving resurrection of Jesus.17 For our purposes, it is important to note the restorative work of Jesus. Though we now bear the (fallen) image of Adam, we will bear the true (restored) image of God in Christ. While Adam’s failure brought death and destruction, Jesus brought life and restoration.

What are the implications of Christ’s work of restoration for understanding his mission? First, the Adamic background of Christ’s mission alerts us to its scope. Christ came to restore God’s people and God’s world. He lives as the true human being and thereby restores God’s image and allows those in him to become all God created humanity to be. By completing Adam’s failed mission, Jesus moves creation toward the goal of filling the earth with God’s glory, or, as Beale argues, becoming a worldwide temple.18

Second, Christ as the resurrected new Adam inaugurates the new creation. John 20 echoes much of the creation story of Genesis 1–2 and pictures Jesus’ resurrection as new creation. The theme of renewed creation runs throughout John’s story, climaxing with the resurrection account.19 Paul...