Chapter 34
This morning, I was leafing through The Marriage of Heaven and Earth by Marlin Watling, a visual guide to the theology of N. T. Wright. Four key ideas stood out to me, ideas Wright articulates with a clarity and coherence that few others manage.
First, Wright connects the entire Bible into one unfolding story. Scripture is not a loose collection of moral lessons or spiritual ideas, but a single narrative of God’s faithfulness to creation.
Second, he places Jesus back at the very center of that story and rescues him from being reduced to an “option” among many possibilities. While many today are drawn to faith because of its perceived benefits, eternal life, forgiveness, meaning, acceptance, the apostles understood Jesus differently. They proclaimed him as King. The gospel was not primarily advice or self-help; it was news.
Third, Wright reframes the kingdom of God as new creation—a reality that began decisively with the resurrection. God’s future has already broken into the present. The resurrection is not an escape from the world but the start of its renewal.
Fourth, he opens a fresh perspective on morality. Being created in God’s image and called to be stewards of his world invites us beyond a simple right-and-wrong framework. Instead, we are asked to live as redeemed people within a still-fallen world, shaped by God’s future rather than merely reacting to present brokenness.
Wright repeatedly links this vision to resurrection life. What we do now—acts of justice, creativity, beauty, and faithfulness matters. These are not temporary distractions or spiritual side projects; they are real contributions toward God’s coming kingdom. In Simply Christian, Wright shows how worship, art, and mission serve as bridges between heaven and earth, affirming the goodness of creation while anticipating its healing. This reflects his broader emphasis on embodied hope, rather than a disembodied heaven.
He captures this tension beautifully:
Made for spirituality, we wallow in introspection.
Made for joy, we settle for pleasure.
Made for justice, we clamor for vengeance.
Made for relationship, we insist on our own way.
Made for beauty, we are satisfied with sentiment.
But new creation has already begun. The sun has begun to rise. Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the brokenness and incompleteness of the present world … That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new world—God’s new world—which he has thrown open before us.
Wishing you a good start to the week, trusting in the promise of God’s renewal.
Philemon