EMQ » January–March 2020 » Volume 56 Issue 1
By Bruce Riley Ashford and Heath A. Thomas
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2019
208 pages
USD $22.99
Reviewed by Cameron D. Armstrong, International Mission Board, Bucharest, Romania; PhD candidate, Biola University.
In a secularizing world, Christians are rightly asking what it means to be salt and light. Ashford and Thomas respond by directing readers to the metanarrative of Scripture, claiming that a proper understanding of the biblical story fuels public witness. In short, because everything in the world exists for God the King, we must understand the King’s world, ways, and work. Co-written by a biblical theologian (Thomas) and a public theologian (Ashford), The Gospel of Our King proves a rare combination of perspectives that does not disappoint.
The book is divided into two major sections. Chapters one through four explore the biblical metanarrative’s major plot movements of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. Following the motif of king and kingdom, Ashford and Thomas demonstrate that the world was created good, but humanity has treasonously rebelled against its King. Nevertheless, creation remains structurally good but misdirected by the sinful rebellion of the King’s representatives. The King thus must himself come to redeem his people in a glorious redemptive act to which all the Old Testament covenants point. Jesus comes as the mediator of the New Covenant, inaugurating the kingdom that is not yet fully realized.
Chapter five is an “interlude” between the book’s two sections. After understanding the major plot movements, Christians develop a worldview informed by the biblical story.
Chapters six through nine compose the second major section. Children of the King are launched on mission in four overlapping areas. First, the theological mission declares the biblical God King and anything else vying for our worship idols. Next, a social mission embodies Christ’s love for the world through unashamed verbal evangelism and unrestrained Christian service. Likewise, the King launches Christians on a cultural mission of representing Jesus in every cultural sphere. Finally, global mission takes seriously the command of Jesus to make disciples of all nations.
One strength of The Gospel of Our King is the prominence of the Old Testament. Often Christian mission books tend to major on the New Testament, but Ashford and Thomas convincingly show how the New Testament cannot be understood without the Old. For example, the final chapter on Christian global mission harkens back to Genesis.
One potential weakness is the authors’ postponement of the discussion about Christ’s work on the cross until the Restoration chapter (chapter 4). The authors state that because Jesus fulfills the New Covenant, which inaugurates and will soon fully realize God’s kingdom, a discussion of Jesus’ sacrifice is left out of the chapter on redemption (chapter 3). Instead, the chapter abruptly ends with the promise of the Davidic messiah. It is unclear, then, where and why the plot transitions from redemption to restoration.
The Gospel of Our King succeeds in its goal of showing that everything, both seen and unseen, exists for the King. In her endorsement, Karen Swallow Prior summarizes it well: “[Ashford and Thomas’] robust theology makes me want to bow down before this King again and again.”
For Further Reading:
Goheen, Michael W. and Craig G. Bartholomew. Living at the Crossroads: An Introduction to Christian Worldview. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008.
Newbigin, Lesslie. Foolishness to the Greeks: The Gospel and Western Culture. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1986.
