God's Purpose

This teaching stream explores God’s Purpose in time-space history.

Humankind dreams of a better world, but how can that happen? God has a plan for human flourishing – a new world here and now – and it's revealed in the person of Jesus Christ and his Gospel. It is explicated through the biblical motif of 'Kingdom & Covenant'—God's Government and its Constitution as the genius of a New World Order.

Romans: De-Creation & Re-Creation—Paradise Restored, Part 5

April 30, 2019 by David Orton

EXPOSITION: Chapter 5:1–8:39 In the next four chapters Paul takes his Gospel to the next level, to its end game: from justification to glorification, from ch. 5 to ch. 8. In fact, his language now switches from the polemical to the confessional, to a declaration of the victory of Christ in history. Having established the juridical basis of man's reinstatement as a … [Read more...]

Four Main Approaches to Interpreting the Book of Revelation: Studies in Eschatology

February 2, 2019 by David Orton

In considering principles of interpreting the Revelation of Jesus Christ (1:1), there are four major schools of thought: Futurist, Historicist, Idealist, and Preterist. FUTURIST It is conceded by this school that the messages to the seven churches had contemporary relevance to them but also represents successive ages of church history up to “the rapture” of the Church. From … [Read more...]

5 Books to Equip You to Respond to the Cultural Crisis

January 12, 2019 by Virginia Orton

In the face of an aggressive secularist vision gaining continuous momentum throughout the Western world, without a clear biblical vision of God's sovereign purpose in history it is easy to become disillusioned and discouraged, inclining Christians to either a capitulation to the culture or a pietistic retreat from it. Combating both these tendencies, these 5 books will equip … [Read more...]

Sovereignty & The Pagan Power-State: Studies in Daniel

November 24, 2018 by David Orton

Divine Sovereignty: asserted by Daniel Every chapter of this book clearly asserts the sovereignty of God. In referring to the lesson of fulfilled prophecy that Daniel provides for the church, the translator’s preface to Calvin’s commentary on Daniel points out that, “they [fulfilled prophecies] display His ceaseless dominion over the wills of Sovereigns and over the destinies … [Read more...]

Romans: Justification by Faith Alone Verified from the OT, Part 4c

September 18, 2018 by David Orton

EXPOSITION: Chapter 4:1-25 The Problem of Gospel Myopia Gospel Clarity With his progressively prosecuted argument from 1:18 to its brilliant climax in the passage 3:21-31, the question must be asked as to why Paul continues with another chapter. Surely it is a case of overkill! Not at all, the apostle now goes for the jugular—the chapter is pure polemics and highly … [Read more...]