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.

Cultural Apostasy: The Coronavirus in Context

March 20, 2020 by David & Virginia Orton

You may well be asking, “Where is God in the current Coronavirus outbreak?” How do we understand it and respond in this moment of crisis? First, we must establish that God is good. He is not the author of evil and tempts no one: Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. James 1:13 Second, … [Read more...]

Romans: Covenant Predestined, Part 6a

January 31, 2020 by David Orton

EXPOSITION: Chapter 9:1-29 9:1-5—Introduction: The Tension Between God’s Promises and Israel’s Plight 1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of … [Read more...]

Romans: Disobedience & Dispossession—Covenant Administered, Part 6

January 26, 2020 by David Orton

EXPOSITION: Chapter 9:1-11:36 Chapters 9-11 follow fast on the heels of ch. 8—of Paul’s declaration of God’s predestined purpose for history. We have seen that God, in his sovereignty, has purposed to fill the earth with his glory through the unveiling of his mature sons, the corporate Christ, and thereby liberate creation from its corruption. The apostle now, in these … [Read more...]

The Nativity of Christ: Its Historical Context and Cultural Implications

December 11, 2019 by David Orton

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage … [Read more...]

Romans: Re-Creation by the Spirit—Paradise Restored, Part 5d

September 15, 2019 by David Orton

EXPOSITION: Chapter 8:1-39 Romans 8: The Climax of the Covenant As explained in the Introduction to this section (Chs. 5-8), this chapter reiterates and consummates Ch. 5. In the meantime, Chs. 6 and 7 have addressed the hurdles of sin and the law to the universal reign of grace introduced in Ch. 5 but now fully explicated in Ch. 8. The four chapters form a chiastic ring … [Read more...]