Cornerstone Curriculum, Official Certification Edition

LESSON 1 | FOUNDATIONS FOR CHRISTIAN MISSION: VISION AND BIBLICAL FOUNDATION / 375

• The main implications of the Mission as the War of the Spheres motif is that God is presently reasserting his rule today over his universe in Jesus Christ, and through his agent, the Church. God is the warrior who through his anointed One has defeated the power of the devil and the effects of the curse. Mission is the display and proclamation of the rule of God here and now, and making disciples among the nations advances the reign of God by testifying to its coming in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

I. Mission as the War of the Spheres : God as the Warrior Reestablishing His Kingdom Rule over the Universe

Video Outline

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Mission Announces God’s War with Idolatry The fundamental question of theology, ‘What do we mean by “God,”’ can be answered from a variety of angles by exploring God’s various relations to the world and to ourselves. Ironically, the study of idolatry also gives us some insight into the nature of the true God. What constitutes a god? Martin Luther’s answer, as he reflected on the first commandment in his larger catechism, was ‘whatever your heart clings to and relies upon, that is your God; trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and idol’. We wish to confirm his view, but also to emphasize love and service: a god is that which one loves, trusts and serves above all else. This definition suggests both the possibility and the urgency of making clear the relevance of idolatry to the modern world. In one sense idolatry is the diagnosis of the human condition to which the gospel is the cure. The root problem with humans is not a horizontal ‘social’ problem (like sexual immorality or greed), but rebellion against and replacement of the true and living God with gods that fail (which lead to these destructive sins). If the story of the human race is a sorry tale of different forms of idolatry, the height of human folly, the Good News is that God reconciles his image-bearers back to himself in Christ. It is no coincidence that the prophets envisage a time when idols will finally be eradicated and replaced by true worship.

U rban M i s s i on

~ Brian S. Rosner. “Idolatry.” The New Dictionary of Biblical Theology. T. D. Alexander, ed.(electronic ed.). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2001.