This is Part 2 of our Summer Leadership Lesson Series: Imaginative Evangelism. As we lead our groups and ministries, we must strive to forcefully advance the Kingdom of God through strategic evangelism, exponential discipleship, and sacrificial service. And that begins by understanding and being able to clearly communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Today, we will explore the stories of God.
When we talk about evangelism, most people think about the four spiritual laws or the two question test. Some folks immediately think of metaphors like a courtroom setting in which a benevolent father takes the punishment for his child’s crime. Or a gift that must be unwrapped in order to receive. We generally focus on the legal exchange of Christ’s death for eternal life. But as we mentioned last week, there’s more to the story…
The overarching story of God is about creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. In general, we typically focus on the fall and redemption pieces but fail to include the creation and restoration components. Which leaves us with a short-changed Gospel. As we look at the story arcs in Scripture, we see three major themes weaving through the Story of God: 1) Bondage and Liberation, 2) Exile and Restoration, and 3) Sacrifice and Purity. Each of these gives us a window into the Gospel that we have been called to preach.
Sacrifice and Purity
Let’s begin with the theme of sacrifice and purity because it’s the one we most often talk about when sharing the Gospel and the work that Jesus did on the cross. The theme of sacrifice and purity is seen in the Old Testament sacrificial system. It is the story of God in which we find the legal exchange of sacrifice for forgiveness of sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says:
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
The pretty much sums up the story of sacrifice and purity. Jesus, who was sinless and perfect, took our sin on himself, died on our behalf and gave us eternal life. He takes all our sin and gives us all of his righteousness. It’s a powerful story of God.
But there are two other stories that can make our Gospel presentation more Biblically rounded.
Bondage and Liberation
In the Old Testament, the theme of bondage and liberation shows up most clearly in the Exodus story when God frees his children from slavery and guides them towards the Promised Land. The Gospel is the good news that God can set us free. Check out how Jesus defines his purpose in Luke 4:18-19:
The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
These is a mission of liberating people from bondage. Likewise, Colossians 2:13-15 tells us that Jesus has triumphed over sin and bondage. Scripture clearly teaches us that Jesus’ work on the cross brings us freedom: “by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24)
What if our presentation of the Gospel included this theme? That Jesus came to free us from the things that keep us living in fear, insecurity, unbreakable habits, and hurt? To bring us freedom?
Exile and Restoration
The story of Exile and Restoration is seen in the latter half of the Old Testament when Jerusalem fell and God’s chosen people were scattered across the Babylonian Empire. The prophets proclaimed the judgment of God on an unfaithful people, but they also heralded the day of their return to their land and to their faith.
The theme of restoring people from exile played a prominent role in the ministry of Jesus. Check out the first marching order Jesus gave after he healed the leper in Matthew 8:1-4:
Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
Why did he give that command? Why did Jesus send the healed leper to the priest? Because the priest had the authority to declare the leper clean and restore him to community. Jesus wasn’t only interested in healing the man physically; he wanted to heal him emotionally by bringing him back into relationship with other people.
In Luke 15:11-32, we see exile and restoration in the story of the Prodigal Son. In Luke 19:1-10, we see the exile and restoration theme in Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus. Even as Jesus hung on the cross, he was concerned about restoration of relationships as he established a caring relationship between his mother and his friend John.
What if our presentation of the Gospel included this theme? That Jesus came to restore us to community with himself and to the Body of Christ? To bring us relational wholeness?
Putting It Together
Which of these stories resonates most with you? Which of these stories do you think resonates most with your family members, co-workers, neighbors, and friends? How can our presentation of the Gospel become richer through an understanding of these three major God stories?
If you’d like to read more on these topics, check out the following books:
Static (Ron Martoia)
Evangelism Outside the Box (Rick Richardson)
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