This podcast episode explores the Christus Victor model of atonement, emphasizing Jesus’ victory over sin, death, and cosmic powers. We’ll look at the Deuteronomy 32 worldview (and DCW), which describes God assigning divine beings to rule over the nations, many of whom rebelled and led humanity into idolatry. We’ll look at the Divine Council, the Fall of the Watchers, and spiritual warfare, using passages from Deuteronomy, Psalms, Daniel, and other scriptures to illustrate the ongoing conflict between God’s kingdom and fallen powers. The episode highlights Jesus’ triumph over these forces through his crucifixion and resurrection, the implications for believers, and the eschatological hope of Christ’s ultimate reign.

In this episode, Cody and Anthony discuss the urgency of the Great Commission: proclaiming Jesus as King. They’ll examine how the Kingdom Gospel challenges us beyond simply ‘believing’ to actively bringing the nations under Jesus’s rule through discipleship. They also unpack what it means to center the Gospel on Jesus’s Kingship, explore the story of the criminals on the cross, and consider how this Kingdom-centered approach gives profound meaning and purpose to the Great Commission.

In this episode, Cody and Anthony discuss Jesus's kingship as ‘The Anointed One’ or Messiah. We’ll explore how Jesus fulfills the messianic expectations of the Old Testament, taking on the role of both divine Lord and Davidic King. We'll also unpack the significance of Jesus being called ‘the Christ,’ the weight of his authority over all creation, and how this title shapes our understanding of who Jesus is.

In this episode, Cody and Anthony discuss the concept of refugees in the Bible, exploring how the Bible portrays believers as spiritual refugees who leave behind the Kingdom of the World to seek shelter and citizenship in the Kingdom of God, where we will find some profound implications of God’s refuge, the scriptural background for this idea, and what it truly means to live as a refugee in Christ’s Kingdom.

In this episode, Anthony and Cody discuss the theme of divine rebellion, tracing the origins of sin and the influence of spiritual beings in biblical history. They explore how the presence of “serpents” in our world continually tempts humanity toward self-sovereignty and rebellion, drawing connections from Genesis through the New Testament. Together, they unpack the Hebrew Scriptures' portrayal of giants, demons, and the consequences of divine rebellion, emphasizing the importance of personal responsibility in resisting these influences.

Anthony and Cody delve into Genesis 3 to explore the theme of human rebellion and the origins of sin, revisiting the distinction between the meganarrative and metanarrative in biblical theology, and examining how sinfulness begins with Adam and unfolds throughout Scripture. Building on the last episode, which highlighted the importance of the Old Testament for understanding New Testament theology, this episode looks closely at how the ideas of original sin and rebellion carry through to our understanding of the church as a refuge from the world. By the end, we'll see how the Old Testament shapes these crucial theological concepts.

Anthony and Cody explore the New Testament's reliance on the Old Testament, emphasizing how early Christian teachings were rooted in these scriptures. They also discuss the historical dangers of "New Testament-only" sects, like Marcionism, which rejected the Old Testament, leading to theological distortions. Finally, they explain why understanding the Old Testament is essential for framing the New Testament, rather than treating it as an entirely new movement.

In this episode, The Gospel as Story, Anthony and Jami discuss the narrative elements of the Gospel. We’ve already talked about what the Gospel isn’t and what a Gospel is. In The Gospel as a story, we unpack some of the ways that the Gospel is presented in the scriptures and the Church Fathers and comment on the differences with the way the Gospel is presented today.

Anthony and Cody discuss what is NOT the Gospel, specifically looking at the Romans Road, the 4 Spiritual Laws, and the ABCs of the Gospel. These methods for sharing the Gospel often take the place of the Gospel in the thinking of modern Christians. What is missing is the story, the narrative of Christ’s work. What’s at stake when we jump to theological extrapolation and methodology and leave the core of the Gospel behind?

Anthony and Cody discuss the word gospel and the context of gospel in the Ancient Near Eastern Setting. Before we can understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to first understand how the word Gospel was used in the biblical world and how the genre of gospel contributed to ancient society, both in the Hebrew context and in the Pagan/Roman world.