[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”left” asin=”B00JOG4UUC” cloaking=”default” height=”160″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mxNoigA%2BL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”douloschristo-20″ width=”107″]Page 2: N.T. Wright – Simply Good News
This last point, that the event of Jesus’ death and resurrection must be put in the right context, is core of Wright’s argument in Simply Good News. Wright looks at 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, where Paul twice states the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection is “according to the Scriptures.” Wright argues that when Paul says, “the Messiah died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,” he is calling upon, “the backstory of the Israelites awaiting the anointed one, announcing, ‘At last, the one true God is doing what needs to be done for the world to be put to rights.’” “According to the Scriptures” is not referencing a few illusions of the suffering Messiah but the whole story of Scripture that awaited God to fulfill God’s purposes and promises. The event of Jesus’ death and resurrection only makes sense in the larger context of Israel waiting for God to rescue God’s people and finish what God started. As Wright says:
The good news is that the one true God has now taken charge of the world, in and through Jesus and his death and resurrection. The ancient hopes have indeed been fulfilled, but in a way nobody imagined. God’s plan to put the world right has finally been launched…. The good news was, and is, that all this has happened in and through Jesus; that one day it will happen, completely and utterly, to all creation, and that we humans, every single one of us, whoever we are, can be caught up in that transformation here and now.
Jesus’ death and resurrection are good and news because they are an event that coronated King Jesus’ rule and launched the new creation.
Wright then moves from the significance of the event of Jesus’ death and resurrection within the story of Israel to placing heaven, judgment, and Jesus dying for our sins within this view of the good news. Wright states that we often place “Jesus dying for our sins” in the context of an angry God who needs to punish humanity, stated, “You are a sinner, deserving death; Jesus died in your place; therefore believe in him, and you’ll go to heaven after all.” Instead, Wright argues that the death of Jesus belongs in the context of a loving creator God who wants to put the world to rights, and for God to put the world rights, he must put humans right. “Jesus died for your sins,” Wright says, “so you can freely pick up your role as a truly human being and discover your particular vocation within God’s purposes for his world.” Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, humanity is forgiven of their sins, rescued from corruption, evil, and death, and restored to our place in God’s mission. As Wright summarizes, “God wants to put humans right to put the world right.”
For those who have read Surprised by Hope or many of Wright’s other larger works, the material covered in Simply Good News will not come as anything new, but it will serve as a clear, well-constructed exploration of the gospel, directing Wright’s theology towards the question of the good news within our current, often complicated, discussions and definitions of the gospel. For those looking to integrate their language around the gospel, place the gospel in context, or just look for a good place to jump into NT Wright’s work, Simply Good News is a great place to start.
C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Connect with him online at: C-Christopher-Smith.com
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I just bought SGN for a friend new to church and was wondering whether this reviewer felt it’d be good for a 30something person coming to church more socially who didn’t at all grow up in the faith–is there enough there to be clear and draw in the sorta believer, or the social believer?