I went to seminary for two particular reasons. Growing up as a second generation immigrant and a relatively new Christian I had no idea nor had I ever heard of anything remotely close to seminary. My understanding of pastoral training was solely linked to my denominational school in Saint Bonifacius, MN—Crown College. After graduation I had the privilege of pastoring in the Twin Cities of Minnesota. With the rise of YouTube and social media, I quickly ran into a fiery preacher named John Piper; reason number one for seminary.
Let me explain.
When I started to listen to Piper I became fascinated with his ability to handle the text and proclaim Truth. His exegetical prowess and intellectual precision had me questioning my own foundational groundings. As a young pastor and preacher I began to say, "I want to do that!"The second reason for seminary had to do with questions that were being unearthed in respects to my vocational experience. I began to feel a tension with the local church ministry and the Gospel I had encountered within the Scriptures. As the weeks became months and eventually years, the questions piled up alongside the rigors of full time ministry and a growing family. One question—amongst a host of others—was: "What is the Purpose of the Church?"
"I began to feel a tension with the local church ministry and the Gospel I had encountered within the Scriptures."
Biblical Theology:
One of the joys within seminary was learning about the discipline of biblical theology. The art of tracing themes and motifs throughout the storyline of Scripture and finding gems to better understand the plot line of God's salvific purpose assisted in gaining a clearer and more well-rounded comprehension of redemptive history. "Biblical theology," according to Graeme Goldsworthy, "is not concerned to state the final doctrines which go to make up the content of Christian belief, but rather to describe the process by which revelation unfolds and moves toward the goal which is God's final revelation of His purposes in Jesus Christ. Biblical theology seeks to understand the relationships between the various eras in God's revealing activity recorded in the Bible."1 Simply put, the themes and motifs throughout the Scriptures (the character of God; the people of God; atonement; etc.) begin to inform the expression in practical application.
The People of God:The main question I kept asking was: What is the purpose of the church? Why did God create the church? I was persuaded that once I was able to grasp the answer through Scripture I would be convicted and convinced of pastoring His people toward that end. But what was the answer? At this point in my pastoral career I was good at deconstructing the current state of the church, but I was not quite as skilled in reconstructing a biblical antidote.
"I was persuaded that once I was able to see the answer through Scripture I would be convicted and convinced of pastoring His people toward that end."
The answer began to crystalize as I engaged the entire biblical text through a Christo-centric lens. The Old Testament, which was once boring and tedious, began to awaken in my heart through the illuminating work of the Spirit. The theme People of God began to be the framework that assisted in my progressive understanding of God's aim in redeeming the world for His glory.
Imago Dei:
A particular motto began to flush itself out as I began to read and teach on the matter: God is in the business of making a people for Himself. This became evident from the beginning of Scripture. The mandate that was given to Adam and Eve was to "[be] fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it" (Gen. 1:28). The decree to multiply implies that Adam and Eve were to fill the earth and create in the world a people for God. Keep in mind that this command was given prior to the Fall. This notion of multiplication is intrinsically linked to the ontological make-up of Adam and Eve. Meaning, the multiplication mandate derived from the reality that humanity was created "in the image of God" (Gen. 1:27). God wanted His glory within humanity to multiply, quantitatively, across the face of the creative order. "Metaphorically," says G. K. Beale, "humanity is a small picture file in the terabytes of God's glory in creation."2
Abrahamic Covenant:
Upon the Fall, the messianic seed that would descend from the woman, Eve, would be carried in contrast to the seed of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). From the time of the Fall to the establishment of the Abrahamic Covenant the seed of the serpent sought to destroy the movement of the messianic seed. From the killing of Abel to the worldwide flood to the Tower of Babel, the battle of the seeds was apparent. It is within this context that the reader finds Abram who would become the father of many nations.
"The implication of nation is that God, through the means of Abraham, will establish a people for Himself to bring forth His redemptive purpose in the seed of the woman."
Robin Routledge makes the point that "[the] call of Abraham in Genesis 12 marks a significant turning point: it opens the way for the nations, on whom God's judgement has just fallen (Babel), ultimately to receive His blessing."3 God contends, then, that He "will make you a great nation, and [He] will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing" (Gen. 12:2). The implication of "nation" is that God, through the means of Abraham, will establish a people for Himself to bring forth His redemptive purpose in the seed of the woman. Thomas R. Schreiner infers that "[the] promises made to Abraham were the means by which God would undo the devastation wrought by Adam and would bring in His kingdom. . . The promise that God would make 'a great nation' from Abraham signifies the promise of the kingdom."4
God is in the business of making a people for Himself. The people is the expression of the kingdom.
Mosaic Covenant:
The people of God preserved through Joseph made his way to Egypt, first, as a slave and, later, as second in command. In retrospect Joseph was able to see that "you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today" (Gen. 50:20). In Egypt the nation of Israel would multiply (Ex. 1:6). So much so that "the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel. So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves" (Ex. 1:13-14). In God's faithfulness He rescued the nation of Israel out of Egypt through His servant Moses.
Upon their voyage toward freedom, God would establish His people on the foundation of His decrees. Through His commandments God was creating a theocracy in which He would govern His people and be their King. The Decalogue (Ten Commandments) and, ultimately, the law was given to guide the nation in living as the people of God; set apart from the nations in order to reach the nations in retrospect to the Abrahamic Covenant. Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum characterizes the nation of Israel by saying,
As a kingdom of priests, they will function to make the ways of God known to the nations and also to bring the nations into a right relationship to God. Israel will display to the rest of the world within its covenant community the kind of relationships first to God and then to one another and to the physical world, that God intended originally for all of humanity. In fact, through Abraham's family, God purposes and plans to bring blessing to all the nations of the world. In this way, through the family of Abraham, through Israel, His last Adam, He will bring about a resolution of the sin and death caused by the first Adam. Since Israel is located geographically on the one and only communications link between the great superpowers of the ancient world (Egypt and Mesopotamia), in this position she will show the nations how to have a right relationship to God, how to treat each other in a truly human way, and how to faithfully steward the earth's resources. This is the meaning of Israel's sonship.5God is carry the seed of the woman through the descendants of Abraham unto the nation of Israel. God is in the business of making a people for Himself.
Davidic Covenant:
In the midst of the Fall God calls forth a beacon of hope in the seed of the woman. He calls Abraham out from paganism to carry the seed which had sprouted into the nation of Israel; a people for His namesake. Through His servant David God inaugurates a kingdom by establishing the throne to which the greater David would rest upon in the Person of Jesus Christ.
"Through His servant David God inaugurates a kingdom by establishing the throne to which the greater David would rest upon in the Person of Jesus Christ."
The error of Israel, according to Gentry and Wellum, "was not, then, in wanting a king. It was in wanting one like the nations."6 God maneuvers in light of Israel's sin in such a way as to fulfill His redemptive plan. God establishes a covenant with David in which "your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever" (2 Sam. 7:16). This kingdom will be a people whose imprint will be that of the Lord's. The rulership and direction will be to bring forth God's purposes; mainly to magnify His glory in redeeming the world.
God is carrying the seed of the woman through the descendants of Abraham unto the nation of Israel. He affirms the seed of the woman through the establishment of the Davidic throne in which the Seed will come to possess. God is in the business of making a people for Himself.
New Covenant—The Church:
The personification of God's promised Seed was grounded in Jesus Christ. His work on the cross and the power of the resurrection inaugurated the new age in which the Spirit would rest upon His people. This was realized in the historical event of Pentecost to which the church was birthed (Acts 2). As Peter proclaimed the Gospel "those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls" (Acts 2:41). The Word is the originator of the church.7 The church is the conduit to which the Word, the Gospel, will be preached, because "faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ" (Rom. 10:17). Mark Dever adds that "God is granting a new beginning, a new creation through Christ, in which the people of God increasingly conform to the kingdom or rule of God."8
"The primacy of the preached Gospel and the discipleship of all the nations is to be championed amongst the people of God."
The establishment of the church, then, is to carry the Gospel message through the heralding of the Word and in the making of disciples (Matt. 28:18-20). The primacy of the preached Gospel and the discipleship of all the nations is to be championed amongst the people of God. Everything else derives for this aim. Gregg R. Allison says, "[the] givenness and logocentricity of the ministry mean that the church must preach the Word of God—'without confusion, without change,' without compromise—as its first order of business."9God has carried the seed of the woman through the descendants of Abraham unto the nation of Israel. He has affirmed the seed of the woman through the establishment of the Davidic throne in which Christ Himself possess. The establishment of the church is the vehicle to which the message of God's redemptive achievement is to be pressed forward. The church is to champion the message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
God is in the business of making a people for Himself.
The Aim of the Church:
The people of God in the Old Testament was the conduit to which God used to bring forth His redemptive purpose through the Seed. The New Testament church is the agent that carries forth the finished work of the Seed; the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As the people of God, the church's call is to engage the world for the sake of the Gospel. To be "[a] city on a hill [that] cannot be hidden" (Matt. 5:14). To "let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16). To "[go] therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matt. 28:19-20).
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*footnotes
1. Graeme Goldsworthy, The Goldsworthy Trilogy (Colorado Springs: Paternoster, 2000), 45-46.
2. G. K. Beale and Mitchell Kim, God Dwells Among Us: Expanding Eden to the Ends of the Earth (Downers Grove: IVP, 2014), 30.
3. Robin Routledge, Old Testament Theology: A Thematic Approach (Downers Grove: IVP, 2008), 158.
4. Thomas R. Schreiner, The King in His Beauty: A Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 17.
5. Peter J. Gentry and Stephen J. Wellum, Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical Theological Understanding of the Covenants (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 303.
6. Ibid., 392.
7. Michael S. Horton, Calvin on the Christian Life: Glorifying and Enjoying God Forever (Wheaton: Crossway, 2014), 188.
8. Mark Dever, The Church: The Gospel Made Visible (Nashville: B&H Academic, 2012), 11.
9. Gregg R. Allison, Sojourners and Strangers: The Doctrine of the Church (Wheaton: Crossway, 2012), 435.
10. Edmund P. Clowney, The Church: Contours of Christian Theology (Downers Grove: IVP, 1995), 140.
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McYoung Yang (M. Div, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is the husband of Debbie Yang and the father to McCayden (8), McCoy (7), McColsen (5), and DeYoung (1). He has recently accepted the position of Associate Professor of Theology at Crown College in Saint Bonifacius, MN and will begin teaching in the Fall of 2017. He is currently serving as a Youth Counsel member of the Youth Ministry of the Hmong District in the C&MA. McYoung is continuing his post-graduate studies at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where he hopes to obtain his PhD in Theology. He seeks to use his training and platform as a means to serve the local church in living life through the Gospel lens. McYoung enjoys reading/writing, sports, and playing with his children.
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