Writer Speaks of Heaven Being Here and Now

The Christian story is one of hope and renewal, starting with God’s creation of the world and reaching its fulfillment in Jesus, said Anglican writer and theologian N.T. Wright in a speech on Thursday.

Author of the bestseller Surprised by Hope, Wright told an audience in the Calvin College Fine Arts Auditorium that the biblical narrative never veers. It drives inevitably toward the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ.

But it doesn’t end there, which is where the hope and new life comes in, he said.

"It was out of this (crucifixion and the resurrection) that heaven and earth have come together,” said Wright, one of the keynote speakers at "A Missional Reading of Scripture," a two-day conference on Nov. 20-21 that was put on by Calvin Theological Seminary.

“A remarkable thing is going on through Jesus,”  said Wright. “God has come back to dwell among his people."

As God now dwells in and among his people, Wright said, "we have the chance to live in a new heaven and a new earth.”

“Christ has redefined the nature of power. Those who want to be great must be servants," he said.

Along with N.T. Wright, several other writers, pastors and theologians gave presentations at the conference. They  described and discussed how being "missional" applies to the Old and New Testaments, as well as to how it can work into ministry settings today.

Missional theology has various dimensions, but centers on Christ’s message of bringing God's presence alive on this earth in new, practical, prayerful and hopeful ways.

This movement is especially popular among younger people and churches that are seeking to have a greater  impact on their communities, said Wright, who also spoke to a crowd of about 2,000 people on Wednesday night at a Grand Rapids-area megachurch.

"There is a genuine, honest quality to this movement that attracts some people. It speaks about what we ought to be doing as Christians in this world,” said Wright.

"The foundation of all Christian missions is founded in the resurrection of Jesus,” he said. “He provides the spiritual energy  to do the mission work. We do this because Jesus is already in charge."

He mentioned how living in the world, fed by God’s spirit, Christians are called to act on behalf of those in need of justice. In Great Britain, for instance, churches have been working methodically for many years to get the British government to forgive the debt of many poor countries.

"God has planted a new temple in which the people of Jesus are called to speak truth to power and to hold the powerful accountable,” he said.

Christians are asked to make it clear “what it looks like when the kingdom of God meets the kingdom of the world.”

Wright is the author of many books and served for several years as the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England. He is now serving as the chair of New Testament and Early Christianity at the School of Divinity at the University of St. Andrews.

Speaking about Surprised by Hope, Wright said he could not have predicted its popularity. He has gotten letters from people all over the world, many of them telling him how the book has helped them to cope with grief. He has also appeared on national television programs and in other media discussing the book.

"I think this book helps to give people the larger picture and how God is shaping the world. When they realize that this is their story, they want to know more about it," he said.

Wright says he suspects the book’s popularity also has to do with its theme of how we are all resurrected in Jesus and how, infused by the spirit of Christ, we can live and work and take lasting joy in this world.

The emphasis of the book is on the hope of the unity God brings to this world, the hope evident in communities of Christians, and not necessarily on the world to come, he said.

"God's purpose is to unite all people. The church has been constituted as God’s poem, through which the world can sense God’s rhythm and power," he said.