Watch the video above and talk about it with a friend or mentor.

God's great salvation story unfolds in six major movements. The pinnacle of the story is Jesus Christ, who creates a new community of those who follow him and ushers in the fulfillment of all God's plans and promises for humanity.

Even though we rejected God’s love, he sent his own Son into the world to reconcile us to himself. Those who return to him are formed into a new community of love. In the end, God restore justice and goodness to the world under the rule of his appointed king, Jesus Christ.

Christ the King

“Christ” is a title, which means “Anointed King” – the same as “Messiah”. All throughout Israelite history, the people were looking for the coming Messiah promised in the last of the Old Testament covenants (2 Samuel 7). At the perfect moment in time, God demonstrated the depths of his love by sending his son Jesus to us. In Jesus, God became fully human. As “Emmanuel” (God with us), Jesus shows us what the Father is like. Although he was the rightful ruler of all God made, Jesus gave his life for us to reconciled to our Father.

This Jesus is profoundly different from the Jesus of Mormonism. This Jesus also shows us a God who – as our “Abba” is very different from the Mormon idea of “Heavenly Father.”

A New Community

Those who recognize Jesus as Lord and Christ find themselves adopted into God’s family and receive the Holy Spirit as a pledge of God’s covenant faithfulness. The mission of the Spirit is connect God’s people to the very love of God (Romans 8:20?). This experience of loving God and being loved by him fuels our corporate experience of worship in the church, where we publicly show the world God’s grace. We gather the rest of God’s people in a community shaped by God’s love, to share Jesus’ mission of reconciliation, declared his good news that brings light and life to the world.

The Consummation of All Things

At the end of the age, Jesus will come again to bring justice to this world and put an end to all evil. Every promise that God has ever made will be completely and permanently fulfilled. Jesus will make all things new. God’s love will be celebrated in and by all of creation – for eternity.

God’s whole redemptive story can be summarized in these six movements:

  • Creation
  • Catastrophe
  • Covenants
  • Christ
  • Community
  • Consummation

[Related: God’s Great Story – Bible vs. LDS]

[Related: God’s Great Story – Creation, Catastrophe, Covenants]

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Key Points:

  • Christ the King.
  • A New Community.
  • The Consummation of All Things.

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Talk About It
  1. What role does Jesus Christ play in God’s great redemptive story?
  2. Why is it important to note the differences between LDS and strictly biblical concepts of Jesus and God the Father? 
  3. What is the role of the new community formed by the followers of Jesus?
  4. Why is it important to be part of this community?
  5. What does the word “consummation” mean?
  6. What will happen when Jesus returns?
  7. What do you long for most deeply about Jesus’ return?

This is part of the 2018 Faith After Mormonism Conference series.