The following is a nine point summary I’ve been working on of the Biblical story. I’m trying to capture an overall picture of Biblical history and where key doctrinal concepts fit in (listed in parentheses). It’s not perfect or complete, but I’ve found it helpful in thinking through the purpose and mission of the church.
The Biblical Story
- The Trinity exists in loving communion.
- The Trinity creates man and invites him into this communion (Kingdom of God).
- Man rejects the Kingdom of God and becomes lost (Fall).
- The Trinity initiates a redemptive plan to restore man to the Kingdom of God (Salvation & Redemption).
- Israel becomes the embodied witness of the Kingdom of God and participates in the redemptive plan (Abrahamic Covenant).
- Israel fails to fully carry out the redemptive plan by becoming parochial and self-absorbed (Apostasy).
- The Trinity intervenes through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity, radically moving the redemptive plan towards its fulfillment (Incarnation, Atonement, Resurrection).
- Worldwide local communities of a changed, transcultural people, empowered by the Holy Spirit, become the new embodied witnesses of the Kingdom of God, participating in the redemptive plan, and prefiguring the coming New Creation (Church, Great Commission).
- Christ returns bringing the fulfillment of the redemptive plan (Second Coming, New Creation).