The Gospel: The Story We Live and Tell

Today’s reading continues in Section I: The Gospel – The Story We Live and Tell.

READ HERE

God would transform his creation by his Word through his Spirit.

To bless all the nations of the earth, God made a covenant with Abraham, promising to restore the blessing of his life-giving presence to one people within whom he would again unite all peoples in a relationship of mutual blessing. This people would become God’s home, the new humanity for God’s new creation.

In a preliminary way, God chose Abraham’s descendants—a nation of twelve tribes, named after the twelve sons of Jacob. Formed to be a holy people, they were enslaved and oppressed under Pharaoh. God, however, did not forget his covenant. He brought his people out of slavery to declare his excellencies to all peoples. He brought them to Mount Sinai and spoke words with power to give life to those who kept them in their hearts, power to form a people who loved God with undivided hearts and loved one another from hearts alive with God’s life.

But God’s people rebelled against him. They chose death, rather than life. Had God not shown himself to be full of grace, the people would have perished. In his mercy, he ordained kingship so that Israel would live by God’s rule. He sent prophets to interpret the words spoken at Sinai and to correct his people when they strayed from him. He sent sages and hymn-writers to sustain Israel in the way of life. Still God’s people rebelled. Their kings and priests turned away from God and the people rejected the prophets. So, God sent them away from their land, condemning the nation to exile.

God, however, did not forget his covenant. Even as the prophets warned of national death, they prophesied that God would raise the nation to new life, as indeed he did when Israel returned from exile. But this dying and rising of the nation was only a foretaste of a dramatic escalation yet to come in God’s dealings with a rebellious humanity—the restoration of God’s rightful rule.

It was not yet time for God to renew creation by his Word through his Spirit.

And then it came. God sent the prophet John to prepare for the imminent arrival of his appointed-king and to call the people to turn from their sin in order to live under God’s rule. John baptised those who turned from their sin, but also spoke of a baptism yet to come: “The One who is coming after me will baptise you with fiery Spirit.” That baptism of Spirit by the Lord Jesus Christ would form the promised people of peoples. Just as John had said, the Coming One came, but in the most unexpected way.