Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 22:3 (Fall 2018)
Article: Editorial: Preaching the Glory of Christ from a “Whole Bible”
Author: Stephen J. Wellum

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Editorial: Preaching the Glory of Christ from a “Whole Bible”

Stephen J. Wellum

Stephen J. Wellum is is Professor of Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and editor of Southern Baptist Journal of Theology. He received his PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and he is the author of numerous essays and articles and the co-author with Peter Gentry of Kingdom through Covenant, 2nd edition (Crossway, 2012, 2018) and God’s Kingdom through God’s Covenants: A Concise Biblical Theology (Crossway, 2015); the co-editor of Progressive Covenantalism (B&H, 2016); the author of God the Son Incarnate: The Doctrine of the Person of Christ (Crossway, 2016) and Christ Alone—The Uniqueness of Jesus as Savior (Zondervan, 2017); and the co-author of Christ from Beginning to End: How the Full Story of Scripture Reveals the Full Glory of Christ (Zondervan, 2018).

In all of Scripture, there is no greater subject matter than our Lord Jesus Christ. Scripture speaks about many crucial issues, but none so important, glorious, and central than the person and work of Christ. Even a cursory reading of the NT reminds us that our Lord Jesus is the heart and center of the Bible’s entire story, and thus central to the “whole counsel of God” and a proper understanding of the gospel. In fact, apart from Christ Jesus, we cannot understand the “whole” of Scripture along with its “parts,” its promises, and its main point.

The apostle Paul repeatedly underscores this truth in his letters, especially, for example, in Ephesians 1:9–10. In Christ, Paul reminds us, the “mystery,” or revelation/self-disclosure of God’s eternal plan, is revealed so that we discover that all history is centered and “summed up” in him. This should not surprise us given who our Lord is. As John 1:1 reminds us: Jesus is the divine Son/Word who has been in relation with the Father

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and Spirit from all-eternity. Through him, as Colossians 1:16 reminds us, the triune God created all things: “things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” And it is this Son who took on our human nature for our salvation ( John 1:14), and in his life, death, and resurrection, and pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost has accomplished our eternal salvation. In fact, apart from him, there is no salvation and no eternal life: “...

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