Where you begin determines what you think the gospel is about
Fromke's Framework
Four Starting Points
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Narrowest Reading
D — Man's Fall
Genesis 3 · Romans 5:12
Starting with the Problem
Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men.
If you begin the story here, history is read mainly in remedial terms. Man's need becomes central — sin, guilt, forgiveness, rescue. The gospel becomes a salvation plan: God fixing what went wrong. Christ is understood primarily as Redeemer, related to man's crisis. This is true — but it is not the whole story. It is entering the drama halfway through, and mistaking the crisis for the plot.
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Wider
C — God's Commission to Man
Genesis 1:28
Starting with Dominion
Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing.
Here the story begins before the fall — with God's charge to man. History is read in kingdom and governmental terms. Man was given vocation, stewardship, and authority. The gospel tends toward restoring that dominion — reclaiming what was lost. This is broader than the fall, and rightly emphasises purpose over problem. But it is still centred on man's commission — what God told man to do. It does not yet reach what God Himself was after.
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Broader
B — God's Creation
Genesis 1:1 · Colossians 1:16
Starting with the Creator
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. — Genesis 1:1
All things were created through Him and for Him. — Colossians 1:16
Now the focus shifts decidedly toward God. History is read in terms of God's sovereignty, design, and order. The gospel concerns the one who made all things and is moving all things toward a goal. This is more God-centred than either of the previous starting points. But it is still not ultimate. Creation was for something — all things were made for Him. God was Creator, yes, but what was He creating for?
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world… having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.
This is the most ultimate starting point. Before creation, before commission, before any fall — there was a Father with a desire. Not merely a Creator or Lawgiver, but a Father with an eternal purpose (Eph. 3:11) — who chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, predestining us to adoption as sons, according to the good pleasure of His will (Eph. 1:4–5). And the shape of that purpose is concrete: many sons brought to glory (Heb. 2:10), conformed to the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29). Everything else — creation, commission, fall, redemption — finds its meaning within this. Christ is related not primarily to man's need, but to the Father's eternal purpose.
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The Principle
The fall is a crisis within the story — not the beginning of the story.
Redemption is not the end, but a recovery programme incorporated into the main theme.
What Each Starting Point Produces
D — A gospel about rescue. Christ as solution to man's problem.
C — A gospel about kingdom. Christ as restorer of man's vocation.
B — A gospel about design. Christ as agent of God's creative order.
A — A gospel about sonship. Christ as the Father's beloved — and we in Him.