A Kingdom Manifesto: Understanding the Church’s Role to Disciple Nations and Transform Culture
by Joseph Mattera
August 28th, 2019
The purpose of this book is to bring further clarity to the call and mission of the church as a continuation of the Cultural Commission in Genesis 1:28. Many in the body of Christ call this the First Commission and Matthew 28:19 the Second Commission because the dominion theme is a common thread throughout Scripture. It is the assertion of this work that one cannot properly interpret the whole of Scripture without understanding these two passages. For example, because many in the Evangelical church are hyper-dispensational in their biblical hermeneutic, they interpret Matthew 28:19 as merely the winning and discipling of individual souls, thus missing its wide range of
meaning since they discount Genesis 1:28 as their starting point.
My first published work Ruling in the Gates connects Genesis 1:28 thematically throughout Scripture. This book further unpacks this topic to satisfy the desires of those who want more teaching and practical help for training the next generation of leadership.
I am passionate about this material because of the great need for the church to function as “salt and light” in the world. The first step toward this end is to understand that Christianity is not merely a religious system dealing with spirituality that grants a free pass to enter the pearly gates, but a comprehensive world and life view that is a precondition for morality, ethics, law, categories, logic, science, history, meaning,
purpose, and even the function of reason itself. The main proof of the Bible is the impossibility of the contrary! All non-believers have to constantly borrow from our worldview to make sense of the world because all other frameworks of knowledge collapse into absolute absurdity without the application of biblical presuppositions.