Mission select: Resurrection rescue

Does the phrase “mission select” mean anything to you? If so, you likely have preschoolers. My wife and I have two young kids so we’re familiar with many of the action figure toys on the market today.

Particularly popular in our household is a line from Fisher Price called Rescue Heroes. If you want classy action heroes, these guys have it all. Decent manners and muscles. Cool machines and macho sensitivity thrown in for good measure. Using the latest technology, they save lives and make the world a safer place. They rescue entire school groups from raging fiery infernos, whole towns from cascading walls of water, and entire cities from earthquakes and erupting volcanoes.

I think one of the keys to the success of Rescue Heroes is that they have a clarion understanding of their mission and purpose. Their mandate is to save people who are in real need of real help. They don’t get cats out of trees, they don’t fix leaky faucets – they respond out of focused clarity as to what’s mission critical and what’s not.

Often around Christmas and Easter we rightly focus our attention on the question of Jesus’ mission in coming to earth. The standard response is usually taken from the annals of systematic theology: He came as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

But could it be that a focus solely on penal substitution doesn’t bring into sharp focus the other biblical pictures of what Christ accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection? In his books and articles, MB Biblical Seminary professor Mark Baker argues convincingly that the “New Testament writers use a variety of images and motifs to proclaim the saving significance of the cross and resurrection, including: redemption, reconciliation, victory/triumph, justification, sacrifice, and ransom.”¹

Indeed, many of the images of Easter in the New Testament are structured to remind us that from before time, God had planned a cosmic rescue mission with a solitary purpose: to save humanity from the big mess we’re in. Paul articulates this explicitly in Colossians 1:13–14 when he says, “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves in whom we have redemption (through his blood), the forgiveness of sins.”

The picture of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection as a rescue mission brings into sharp relief not only my personal need for a saviour (which penal substitution does adequately), but also the relational aspect of the atonement. After all, the need to be rescued is always apparent to the rescuer, but not always to the one in need of saving.

The language Paul uses of “two kingdoms” and “redemption” carries with it echoes of Old Testament longing and fulfillment that God would intervene in history and in the lives of his people to demonstrate his unrelenting love. Paul’s choice of imagery suggests a relationally driven extrication from an eternally significant problem.

I have a vivid (and decidedly not fond) memory of being trapped down a tree well while skiing. Due to my inability to climb out, the volunteer ski patrol had to come and rescue me. If you’ve ever been stuck, lost, or incapable of finding your way, anyone who intervenes to free you receives eternal gratitude and your willingness to tell all whom you encounter about the desperate predicament you were saved from. Sounds a bit like a plot out of Rescue Heroes, doesn’t it? Clear and heroic purpose. Salvific intent. Grateful response anticipated on behalf of those pulled back from the brink of self-destruction and death.

Perhaps this is the response most clearly illuminated by seeing the cross as a place of divine rescue: thanksgiving and declaration become a normative part of our lives. Scripture enjoins us with these words: “Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others . . .” (Psalm 107:2). Divine rescue requires declarative response.

As we reflect this Easter on the meaning of the resurrection, I invite us to ponder anew this multi-faceted picture of the life and death of our Saviour. Rejoice in the wonder that heaven conducted an all-out assault on the forces of darkness to rescue us from our sin and our selves. Declare the dangerous story of this mission that cost Jesus his very life and resulted in the redemption of ours. As we reflect on the hope and power of the most ambitious and eternally significant rescue ever mounted, I ask, who’s the real rescue hero?

Colossians 1:13–14

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1. Mark Baker, “Two Foundational Stories of the Cross: How They Affect Evangelism,” Mission Focus: Annual Review 15 (2007): 26–38. See also Joel B. Green & Mark D. Baker, Recovering the Scandal of the Cross: Atonement in New Testament & Contemporary Contexts.

Brad Sumner is lead pastor of Jericho Ridge Community Church, Langley, B.C.