Publisher's Description: As the twenty-first century dawns, the global
church needs a rebirth of Holy Spirit-illumined,
apostolic proclamation of Jesus Christ from every text of Scripture. The weakening
church in the West finds itself marginalized by a culture that increasingly manifests
indifferent pluralism and hostile paganism strikingly similar to what the apostles encountered in the Greco-Roman world two millennia ago. Meanwhile, in the Southern
Hemisphere the church's rapid numerical growth frequently is accompanied by converts' superficial grasp of Scripture and fragile connection to the faith, giving little
evidence of the gospel's power to create communities of disciples distinguished by
purity, integrity, compassion, and hope.
Him We Proclaim argues that today, twenty centuries after the good news of Jesus
the Messiah first burst like lightning across the ancient world's global cultures, pastors and evangelists must rediscover the Christ-centered way of reading and preaching the Bible that the apostles learned from Jesus and practice the apostolic hermeneutic that God's Spirit used to capture the hearts of ancient peoples by the world-shaking power of divine grace.
Building on the work of Geerhardus Vos, Herman Ridderbos, Edmund Clowney, Sidney Greidanus, Graeme Goldsworthy, Bryan Chapell, and others, Him We Proclaim
enlists exegetical, theological, and historical evidence to build its case that ministers
of the Word may—and must—proclaim every passage of Scripture in light of the entire Bible's redemptive-historical structure, its Christocentric focus, its life-transforming purpose, and its missiological mode of communication. Although the
New Testament's interpretation of the Old has been rejected by much historical critical scholarship and has evoked misgivings among evangelicals, Johnson addresses
both the objections and the misgivings, offering twenty-first century preachers a
persuasive theological and pastoral rationale for reading and preaching Christ from
all the Scriptures, as Peter and Paul did.
It is one thing, however, to be persuaded that preaching Christ from all the Scriptures is legitimate, even essential. It is another to know how to interpret with integrity the spectrum of biblical texts that span vast eras and embody various genres so
that each passage articulates its unique witness to Jesus the Messiah. Therefore, Him
We Proclaim moves from "why?" to "how?" It explores the pervasive twin biblical
motifs of new creation and new covenant—the theological substructure that shapes
the contours of the New Testament's typological proclamation of Jesus as the fulfillment of the Old Testament events, institutions, and individuals by which God rescued and sustained Israel, stirring his people's longing for the final redemption, now
achieved by the long-awaited mediator of the new covenant, Jesus.
Moving from theory to practice, Him We Proclaim guides readers along the hermeneutical-
homiletical path "from text to sermon"—from grasping the text's meaning to conveying it,
clearly and vividly, along with the response it elicits by grace. A representative sampling of
Old Testament texts (historical narrative, law, wisdom, psalm, prophecy) and New Testa-
ment texts (gospel narrative, parable, doctrinal discourse, ethical directive, wisdom, prophetic vision) are explored in depth, and two complete sermon manuscripts illustrate how
the author has preached Christ to contemporary American congregations from Old and
New Testament Scriptures.
Developed over the author's decades of experience in church ministry and seminary
teaching (both New Testament interpretation and homiletics), Him We Proclaim
blends exegetical insight and pastoral wisdom with a passion to see Christ glorified
and the peoples of the world drawn to him by the Spirit's invincible grace.
|
