The Call to Living God’s Story
By Jason Law
Understanding the Bible’s story transforms God‘s people, gives us hope, and inspires us to be active partners in His mission.
On the weekend of 5th and 6th March 2021, Micah Malaysia organised and conducted a conference with the renowned Rev Dr. Chris Wright from Langham Partnership as the keynote speaker. The purpose of this conference was to help local Christians gain a fuller understanding of God’s Mission and our roles within it. The following is my reflection on what I have gained from the conference, not the entirety of it due to space limitations, but condensed and focused on its foundational context.
The Keynote Speaker: Dr. Chris Wright
Dr. Chris Wright is currently the International Ministries Director of Langham Partnership, a nonprofit Christian international fellowship formed to pursue the vision of its founder John Stott. He is one of the leading experts on the exegesis of the Old Testament and has written many books on how OT ethics are still relevant to today’s life. Beyond this, he has a deep passion for Christian mission and ethics and in connecting them to actual life in a practical way that goes beyond the intellect and head knowledge.
Dr. Wright’s teaching during the conference provided a broad and comprehensive understanding of history (both past and developing) as God’s ordained plan for His goodwill and purpose, one that is marked throughout with redemption.
Reading the Whole Bible as the Mission of God
To recognise what it means to live within the story of the God of the Bible in today’s world, we must first know what the Bible is about. It is not just a book full of promises, doctrines, rules, and history. While it includes all of these, they are not what the Bible is in itself.
Dr. Wright shared, “The Bible is, in fact, the great central canonical account, and the true narrative of the universe, with a beginning, a middle, and an ending. This narrative begins with creation, and it will one day reach its resolution in a new creation. In between, it tells the story of humanity in relation to God, sin, and salvation. More important, even than that, is that the Bible is our story.
“The Bible outlines and informs us of the broad scope of history from Creation itself. It presents to us in orderly sequences the mission of God. The account of Creation tells us of God the Creator, the one true living God, sovereign over His whole universe. It tells us that we were created in God’s image and that we were entrusted to serve and care for the earth and authorized to rule over the whole of creation.”
God gifted His creation to us for us to work and rest, produce, share, trade, and engage in all activities that human life on earth makes possible.
Sadly, humankind decided to distrust God’s goodness, disbelieve in His word, and disobey Him. When sin entered the world, it was more than just a cultural, emotional, intellectual, or physical evil, it entered into every dimension of our human relationship, even the spiritual one, and it poisoned our relationship with our Creator.
Ever since sin entered the world, God has been on a redemptive mission, first through His covenant with Abraham, and then through the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ.
Before Jesus ascended to Heaven after His resurrection, He gave His disciples and followers a charge, to share the Gospel and the Good News about God’s redemptive plan. This is where we currently are and how we fit into God’s grand narrative. One day He will bring about the Final Judgement and the New Creation and there will be renewal and restoration of Creation to what God had intended it to be. When we comprehend this overarching narrative, the redemptive mission of God and His great eternal purpose becomes crystal-clear.
What Does This Mean on A Practical Level?
The Bible story tells us who we are and why we are here as God’s people on earth. It informs us that God is with us and that He is constantly engaged with us. The Bible is the story of God’s mission and it matters to Him that we know this story.
“God made sure that His people wrote these things down so that His plans, purposes, and accomplishments would be known, remembered, taught, learned, and shared for all generations,” Dr. Wright conveyed.
The Bible is the story that shapes our whole Christian worldview. It is where we meet God in Christ and come to know Him. And this is the story that shows us how we are to live as God’s people here on earth and gives us the resources to do so. Understanding this story gives us hope and sends us out on our callings.
The Christian life is not just a Sunday thing. It is complete and whole. It changes and informs our whole worldview, gives us purpose, and a privileged function and positions as co-partners with God in His mission. It is ingrained into our identities. Having the right worldview transforms God’s people.
Taking Up the Call of Authenticity
In essence, the Living God’s Story conference was a call for integral missions. The hope is that once we understand how intertwined we are to God’s mission and story it will transform our perspective of our respective roles within it. Many Christian leaders and advocates shared as panel speakers their stories of challenges and aspirations. There is optimism that the seed planted will continue to grow in time to come.