Tom Wright is Anglican Bishop of Durham and a regular broadcaster on radio and television in the UK. He has authored many books from simpler statements of Christian truth right through to scholarly theological tomes. This book slots right in the middle of these two extremes and deals with the subject of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus in the context of the new creation that is to come. In a phrase, the book seeks to set all that God has done and is doing against the ultimate destination to which all is moving the ‘life after life after death’. Perhaps that phrase will arrest some and so it should if they have been thinking only in terms of ‘going to heaven when I die’ and to be ‘with the Lord,’ both of which are true statements, but inadequate. Life after death is not the destination, all moves towards the life that is the life after life after death. As you would expect from this author the book is written in a lively style, is pretty accessible to all readers though some might have to persevere in a concentrated way but the rewards of pursuing their reading through it will be great. One of the things I appreciate about Tom Wright is the way he presents the whole of God’s workings with His creatures. He sees the total picture and writes it with joyful excitement. Too many sermons and books are piecemeal, here we are provided with something that puts all the pieces into their place and the picture is bright indeed. What we think about ultimate things affects the way we live in this present and that fact is brought out powerfully in this book. We are influenced by the heaven and earth dichotomy so prevalent in much Christian literature; this is exposed as faulty thinking resulting in confused belief and practice in the churches. The ‘going to heaven’ is an intermediate hope and not final, the bodily resurrection of Jesus is the first bit of the ‘old creation’ to become the ‘new creation’ and He truly is the first fruits of ‘all things becoming new.’ These are wonderful things to contemplate, especially as we are engaging with God in His work now. The church must not simply regard its mission as one of ‘saving souls;’ but must anticipate the eventual renewal the new creation brings by working for God’s kingdom in the wider world by ministering healing and hope in this present life.
