January last year, I was watching Rise of the Messiah videos from Bible Project. The first session focused on defining the gospel, and some historical things related to it. I remember reading similar content from the first two chapters of the book “Static”, which I had read a month prior to watching this series.
I opened the book again. Scanned the first 2 chapters. And yes, the book’s introduction has similar contents to the introduction of “Rise of the Messiah”.
And so I consumed the whole book and finished it a few days later.
This is one of those books which helps Christians who are in the process of what they call “faith deconstruction” or reexamining ones beliefs. This reexamination usually happens when a Christian notices that his deeply held beliefs do not seem to match reality.
Here are some questions from the book which will help you reexamine your beliefs:
What if the meaning of the Greek word euangelion, which is translated in most English versions of the Bible as “gospel,” is more accurately reflected in the phrase breaking headline or newsflash ?
What if repentance actually means something fundamentally different from what we have commonly understood?
What if Jesus meant something different by his use of salvation than what we typically think of when we hear the word?
What if the kingdom of heaven is essentially about the restoration of things to the way God intended them to be?
What if we can’t understand Jesus bringing the kingdom of heaven until we understand God’s original intent in creating the world in the first place? What if we have to understand the story from the very beginning in order to come to grips with Jesus’ intervention into human history and why he did what he did and said what he said?
What if the coming of Jesus was the arrival of God’s future in the present? What if he was trying to show how this new kingdom, this new empire, was dramatically different from any empire in history, in part because it was built upon inclusion and acceptance of an unprecedented sort?
What if, instead of hitting Marty with statements about repentance, we tapped into his natural yearning for the Garden? What if you started spiritual conversations around Marty’s experience of the Garden?
What if the story we need to tell is the story of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration? We have made a portion of the story all there is to the story. But what if Fall and Redemption, as important as they are, aren’t really the whole story, but simply a major section in the middle of a larger story?
What if salvation is actually much richer, fuller, and deeper than just a seat in heaven?
What if we aren’t really sure when our relationship with Jesus started, but we’re certain we’re in one? Are we okay with that?
But what if Jesus isn’t talking to Nicodemus about how to get to heaven? What if “kingdom of God,” as spoken of here, refers to a present reality rather than to someplace out there after we die?
