How can we really, effectively, place the gospel within the larger context of who God is and his plan for all things? God’s unfolding mission of redemption in history is grounded in his eternal plan, which in turn is grounded in his own triune nature – three persons loving one another forever with holy love.
Several of our most popular Economic Wisdom Project Talks explore these great theological themes:
Fred Sanders of Biola University offers us “the portable Trinity,” helping us think of everything we do all day in terms of our having been “sent” by God and then walking backward from there until we discover its roots in the “sending” that is within God’s own triune nature.
Mike Wittmer of Grand Rapids Theological Seminary addresses the terrible division in our theology between justification and sanctification, helping us find a resolution by grounding both in the gospel calling of God.
Nathan Hitchcock of Sevensided Consulting unpacks Paul’s use of the phrase oikonomia theou, the “economy of God,” in the book of Ephesians, to help us orient our own lives as saved people within God’s larger plan for all things.
Each EWP Talk is about 15-20 minutes long, so they’re easy to use. But the conversations they’ll catalyze in your classroom, church or group will be much longer.
This semester, consider assigning your students a talk from our video library!
Here’s a closer look at these three talks that focus on grounding the gospel within the plan, call and sending of God:
Fred Sanders | The Portable Trinity: Working within God’s Work
The Trinity isn’t about counting to three, Fred Sanders tells us, it’s about the God who sends his Son and his Spirit, and then sends his people. Far from a dry abstraction, the doctrine of the Trinity shows us that we do our daily work within the work of God himself.
Consider assigning in: Theology, New Testament
Michael Wittmer | The Same Call: Vocation Is Integral to the Gospel
Michael Wittmer shows us how to leave behind tired debates (evangelism v. justice) and false dualisms (“I left my job to go into full-time ministry”) by seeing that the call to receive forgiveness through faith in Christ and the call to serve Christ with good works in the world are the same call.
Consider assigning in: Theology, New Testament
Nathan Hitchcock | A Plan for All Things: The Economy of God in Ephesians
Nathan Hitchcock of Sioux Falls Seminary unpacks the meaning of the biblical term oikonomia. He points out that Paul uses this term frequently; reviewing Paul’s use of the phrase oikonomia theou in Ephesians, Hitchcock argues that God’s creation plan – the economy of God – is an audacious enterprise.
Consider assigning in: Theology, New Testament
Check out all our Economic Wisdom Project Talks – it’s always a good time to point your students to good resources on the challenging questions they face!
