Planting Churches among the City's Poor - Volume 1

128 • P LANTING C HURCHES AMONG THE C ITY ’ S P OOR : V OLUME 1

Age goes on, yet the powers of the Age to Come have been made available to men. To the human eye, the world appears little changed; the kingdom of Satan is unshaken. Yet the Kingdom of God has come among men [sic]; and those who receive it will be prepared to enter the Kingdom of Glory when Christ comes to finish the good work He has already begun. This is the Gospel of the Kingdom.

~ George Eldon Ladd. The Gospel of the Kingdom . Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1959, pp. 50-51.

A. For the Church

1. As the people of God and the new humanity of God’s new creation, the Church is the people of the victory of the risen Christ, the very embodiment of Jesus in the world.

2. Clarification

a. The Church is the people of God, 1 Pet. 2.8-9.

b. The Church is God’s new creation, 2 Cor. 5.17-21.

3. Implication: The Church is both the locus and agent of the Kingdom, the proof positive of Christus Victor in the earth.

B. For theology and doctrine

1. As confession rooted in the apostolic tradition (i.e., the canonical Scriptures), theology and doctrine is the commentary on the grand narrative of God regarding his saving work in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord and Messiah, 2 Tim. 3.15-17.

2. Clarification

a. The Great Tradition has authoritatively affirmed the truth of the Christ event, i.e., Christus Victor and its meaning in the world, John 5.39-40; Luke 24.27, 44-48. b. The Nicene Creed is an authoritative summary of the Story of God’s triumphant grace in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

3. Implication: Christus Victor is the center and heart of all biblical theology and orthodox doctrine , Phil. 2.5-11; Col. 1.15-20.