Glasser, Arthur F., Announcing the Kingdom: The Story of God’s Mission in the Bible, Grand Rapids, MI, BakerAcademic,
2003.
Dr. Glasser is the Dean Emeritus of Fuller Theological Seminary’s School of Intercultural Studies, where he taught from 1970 until his retirement. He has served as the North American director of China Inland Missions and been actively involved in Jewish evangelism efforts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Glasser)
The thesis of this book is that the entire bible testifies to God’s right to reign over all peoples and Creation and details His work in realizing that rule. – p. 20
Glasser establishes his argument in six sections. Section 1 details the work of God from the Creation through the call of Abraham. The author spends the first chapter linking the Old and New Testaments through seven axioms to present a unified whole wherein God states His rule. Glasser defines God’s announcement of reign to be the very act of Creation and the characteristics He revels about Himself amidst it (32). Though sin corrupts Creation, it does not challenge God’s reign or compromise people’s call to the cultural mandate, for in the midst of rebellion He forges a plan to reconcile humanity through the seed of the woman (42). The author furthers God’s claim to Kingship through the Flood and the Tower of Babel. Though both of these incidents reveal the limitless power of God to enact judgment on a global basis, they also show of His command of mercy in selecting Noah and providing common grace (49) as well as creating the necessary diversification of cultures to select a people to be His instrument to the world. Chapter 3 focuses on the origins of this nation through God’s selection of Abraham and promises to him through the covenant.
Part 2 discusses God’s mission through Israel to declare His sovereignty to the nations. Chapter 5 discusses the Exodus and God’s central role in the redemption of His people through displays to Pharaoh of his unquestioned authority. In His giving of the Mosaic covenant and Law God distinguishes the Israelites as His people. In chapter 6 Glasser highlights the role of Yahweh as a warrior, noting that God makes His authority over the nations known by fighting for the Israelites (98) and against them as in the time of Judges. In chapter 7 the author articulates God’s statement of reign through the growing strength of Israel at a time when the other powers in the region were in decline (105). God’s display of authority as both a claim on the world and an invitation of the people to submit is clearly reflected through His work in Israel.
Glasser now turns to a 3 chapter section discussing God’s work among the nations. After years of wickedness on the part of His people God judged them through conquering and exile. Chapter 8 articulates that God’s manifests His reign through the flourishing of the Israelites in captivity and the service they render to their oppressors. Chapter 9 outlines the role of the Remnant as part of God’s faithfulness to Israel and the nations by ensuring that the promised Messiah would have a nation to come to. Glasser argues in chapter 10 that the Jews scattered in the Diaspora become another means by which God reaches the nations, first through those who would become Jews, and later as the forum in which the church would begin to take root.
Glasser focuses five chapters on the ministry of Jesus as a realization of God’s Kingdom on Earth. Chapter 11 details the inauguration of the Kingdom through Christ and John the Baptist as well as the announcement of what God’s reign would embody through the parables. The following chapter discusses the various roles that servants of God occupied in the OT and Jesus’ fulfillment of each of them as a testimony to God’s election of Him to bring about the Kingdom. The author then uses Christ’s preaching to the poor and gentiles as well as the calling of the remnant into the church to illustrate the fulfillment of much OT prophecy (specifically Isaiah) regarding the coming Kingdom. Chapter 14 and 15 detail the Mission Christ commissions His church for through the gospel writers.
Section 4 details the movement of the Spirit in the early church and the return to a universal focus, opposed to the particular that the Scripture has followed since Abraham’s call. In this section Glasser discusses the testimony of the Jerusalem church and its scattering for the purpose of mission as well as Paul’s view that God’s sovereign will must be recognized and responded to (293). Glasser also details the balance in Paul’s theology of the already and not yet, once again affirming the sovereignty of Christ over all time and Creation.
Section 5 details the absolute authority of God over history. Chapter 21 discusses this authority in light of the evil and demonic forces that inhabit the world. Analyzing Romans 1:18-32 Glasser details in Chapter 22 the supremacy of Christ as the one and only God. A discussion of Revelation as the setting in which God claims the rule of the Cosmos concludes the book.
Many books have set about outlining the biblical narrative from Creation to Consummation but none to my knowledge have as succinctly represented the missional focus of the Scripture as Glasser’s has. The text is critical to anyone who wants to understand God’s overarching purpose in history and to process how their particular calling to mission fits into it. Glasser skillfully ties God’s mission to sections of the scripture that are often times hard to see a plan behind, such as his observations on the judgment of Babel as a means to create a distinct people as well as the exile as a means to set the stage for the church. While some books claim a missional focus to the bible but are remiss to mention areas more difficult to explain from this angle, Glasser engages in the challenge full-heartedly and gives credence to reading the text through a missional lens.
My largest complaint with the book was nothing Glasser or the editors suggested but the means by which I went about reading it. Spending each week reading one or two chapters according to the schedule of the syllabus resulted in a jarred and incomplete understanding of the text. As I wrote this review I couldn’t always recollect the things I had read most recently and had to spend a lot of time flipping back and forth through my notes and the text trying to jog my memory. Glasser’s book is epic in scope and something the reader should really immerse herself in over the period of a few consecutive sittings. With such a practice the reader will be steeped in Glasser’s profound insights into the various modes of mission God employs to declare His reign, while still able to appreciate the overall work the Lord has engaged in since time immemorial. I intend to recommend this book to friends seeking a clearer understanding of God and His purposes in their life and the world.
