Foundations for Christian Mission, Mentor's Guide, MG04

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F O U N D A T I O N S F O R C H R I S T I A N M I S S I O N

of God? What has God determined specifically about Jerusalem in regard to his own presence and glory?

5. Explain the nature of the “divine irony” associated with God, the secular image of the city, and his transformation of it into a new and different symbol? 6. How does God’s designation of the six cities of refuge, and his forgiveness of Nineveh, transform completely our view of the secular and unredeemable city? Explain. 7. To what can we attribute the fact that, for any city that repents before God, its inhabitants can garner his attention and mercy, even in the face of certain judgment and death? 8. Read Ryken’s analysis below of our Christian responsibility in light of his transformation of the city from object of rebellion to place of his presence. What do you think of his views of how we are now to act in light of God’s transformed image of the city? In light of the complex that makes up the image of the city, the Christian life is to display certain characteristics. First, the Christian is a citizen of God’s city through righteousness based on faith, not on the works of the law. By analogy, Paul compares these two outlooks to the “Jerusalem above” and the “present Jerusalem” (Gal. 4.22–26; cf. Phil. 3.20). People who attempt on their own to justify themselves before God are citizens of the latter, while those who look to Christ in faith are citizens of the former. Second, the Christian life is marked by respect for human government as God’s provisional source of order since the Fall and prior to the consummation (Matt. 22.21; Rom. 13.1–7; 1 Pet. 2.13–17); therefore, the believer is to live like a Joseph or a Daniel in relating to the surrounding world. The ancient Epistle of Diognetus, a defense of Christianity, describes Christians as those who “dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners; they bear their share of all responsibilities as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every How Should God’s Transformation of the City Affect Our Lives Today?

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