Why actively engage in God’s mission to tell everyone on earth about Him?
God has a very good plan and He wants everyone in the whole world to have the opportunity to willingly engage in it. Or not.
God’s holiness and goodness demand justice. His grace is lavish toward all of us. His judgment is pure and righteous. His justice is sure. (Exodus 34:5-7, Jeremiah 9:24, Psalms 37:27-28, Ps. 145:8)
As Creator, Owner, and Sustainer of all things, God is worthy to be acclaimed by every people group of every ethnicity in every language in every part of the world.
God chose to use human instruments under the power of His Holy Spirit to communicate His message by means of His written word.
On the highest authority in heaven and on earth, Jesus told His disciples to go to every ethnic group, every creature, in every part of the world, to preach, baptize and teach people to obey all that He commanded. (Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21, Acts 1:8)
Two thousand years later, there are thousands of language groups of people who have not yet been told about God’s very good identity, interest, intentions, and intervention.
Jesus told us to go everywhere and tell everyone.
How can people believe God if they have not been told about Him? (Romans 10:13-17)
God wrote the book “The Holy Bible” so that all people can know Him and share their knowledge of Him with other people. His primary means of communicating His great message is through people telling other people.
God’s mission since creation has been to fill the earth with people who believe Him; willing-hearted people who acknowledge His greatness, love His goodness, reflect His worth, revel in His glory, and relate well with others who share Him as their greatest treasure.
God’s clearly stated objective for each person is to know and experience the grandeur of His unending goodness and fellowship for all of eternity. He provided only one way to solve the problem of our lack of goodness and give us perfect righteousness: through believing Him – trusting in the gift of eternal life which was purchased by Jesus Christ.
A prerequisite to pleasing God is believing Him. (Hebrews 11:6) Before someone can believe God they must first hear what He said. This requires someone to speak His Word, which is recorded in The Holy Bible. Where people have not heard, it requires people who will work as a team send to someone to tell people what God has said. (Romans 10:14)
From beginning to end, the Bible communicates God’s mission for mankind. God’s mission is the reason the Church is still on earth: Every person in a personal relationship with Him.
“Missions” is about the Church discovering and engaging in God’s mission. So, Why Missions?
God’s identity – (Job 38 & 39, Isaiah 40:9-31) – As the all-powerful God who spoke everything into existence, stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, God, our Designer, Creator, and Owner, possesses the right, the power, the authority, and the expectation that His creation and His created beings should function within His designed purpose and plan. He is worthy. Knowing His identity is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s character – (Exodus 34:5-10) – God is good. His goodness, lovingkindness, mercy, righteousness, justice, and grace demand that we be like Him and extend His goodness to all people everywhere. That which is not good must be judged and punished as a necessary part of His goodness. In His goodness He has paid the penalty through Christ and given the keys to His kingdom to His ambassadors, who have been commanded to tell everyone. Embracing the goodness of His character is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s plan – (1 Timothy 2:3-4) – Since before Creation God has planned to fill the earth with people who believe Him. His plan has not been thwarted and will be accomplished. (Genesis 1:28, 6:13, 9:1) We are part of His plan and that is reason enough to willingly engage in His mission.
God’s purpose – God’s purpose was and is that all people should know Him, walk with Him, and reflect back to Him the glory that is due to Him. Walking with Him includes living with Him in right relationship, in fellowship, in joyous harmony, and with all people through trusting in the finished work of Christ. His designed purpose, His glory, is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s Word – (Isaiah 55:11) – What God has said will actually happen. He has shown us that people from every tongue, language, tribe, nation, people group, and ethnic group will be among those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. (Rev. 5:9) He has told us what happened in the past, has given us everything we need to live in the present, and revealed enough of His plan for the future to fully enter into it with confidence. His Word is reliable. His Word is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s method – (Romans 10:14) – God’s usual means of communication throughout human history has been through those who have come to know Him telling those who have not heard; so that they may believe, trust and obey Him. God’s usual method of delivering His message is through a personal courier. Us. (See 2 Corinthians 3, 4, & 5. 2Corinthians 5:18-20) His method is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s heart – (2 Peter 3:9) – He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (Psalm 67) His heart for us and others is reason enough to fully engage in His mission.
God’s command – (1 Corinthians 15:34) “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” His command is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s commission – (Mark 16:15) – Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. His commission is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s kingdom – (Matthew 24:14) – This topic of the kingdom was so important that after His resurrection Jesus appeared to His disciples again and again for the next forty days to reassure them that He really is alive and that they really caught what was on His heart: The Kingdom. (Acts 1:3) Wouldn’t it be nice to know what He told them? We do know! They wrote books! And they told other people who wrote books: Matthew, John, Peter, James, Jude, Mark, Luke, and Paul. – His kingdom is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s rewards – (Matthew 6:20) – The heavenly layaway plan. Lay up treasure for yourselves in heaven. Good deeds and other people are all that we can take with us. Heavenly treasures are reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s priorities – (Matthew 6:33) – Some things are more important than others. Jesus told His disciples to seek God’s kingdom first. God’s priorities are reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s accountability – (2 Cor. 5:10-11) – We will each give an account of what we have done. (Revelation 20:11-15) “Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men…” Our day of accountability, and theirs, are reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s wrath – (Romans 1:18) – Every person should seek to avoid God’s wrath and live in such a way as to help others avoid God’s wrath by believing Him. (See Hebrews 10) God’s wrath is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s grace – (Ephesians 2:8-9) – God’s unmerited favor is a gift. It is beneficial to anyone who receives it. We received it because someone else cared to tell us about Him. The grace we have received is ours to share. We are God’s delivery service. God’s grace is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s mercy – (Titus 3:4-5) – Because He has been merciful to us, we should extend His mercy to others. God extended His mercy to us through someone who told us about Him. Through our faith and obedience, He will extend it through us to others. God’s mercy is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s love – (2 Corinthians 5:14-15) – The love of Christ compels us. – God’s love compels us that we should no longer live for ourselves but for Him. God’s love for the world, God’s love for us, our love for God, and God’s love through us to the world are reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s preparation – (Ephesians 2:10) – God has prepared good works in advance for us to do. – God’s preparations are reason enough to engage in His mission and those good works.
God’s promise to Abraham – (Genesis 12:3) – Through Abraham all the families of the earth will be blessed. He was blessed to be a blessing. His promise to Abraham, fulfilled in Christ and extended through us to every family, is reason enough to engage in His mission.
God’s Abrahamic promise through the Church – (Galatians 3:7-9) – By faith (in God), we are the spiritual seed of Abraham. In Christ alone all the families of the earth are and will be blessed. We are blessed to be a blessing just as Abraham was. By means of the proclamation of His glory through believers, the spiritual seed of Abraham, all of the families of the earth are to be blessed. We are blessed to engage in God’s mission.
Christ’s suffering – (Galatians 2:20, Matthew 16:24, Luke 9:23, Colossians 1:24, Philippians 3:10, Luke 14-27) – Christ’s sufferings are offered in person to those for whom Christ died through the sacrificial living, word, and testimony of those who have believed already. Christ’s suffering for us is reason enough to suffer for His sake to proclaim Him to others as part of His mission.
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God’s Son’s Identity – The identity of Jesus is the cornerstone of our mission. As the Creator of all, He has a design and a plan for each person He has created. Each person has great value and purpose. He has revealed His plan in His written word and purchased the pardon for sin for each person with His own blood. His heirs, his brethren, His friends, His ambassadors have great opportunity to represent Him well to the world. (Colossians 1:13-24)
God’s Son told us to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Matthew 22:37) Doing that requires that we adopt His values regarding people.
Plus, God’s Son, without whom was not anything made that was made (John 1:3), gave His disciples, very specific instructions:
God’s Son told us to love our neighbors as ourselves. (Matthew 22:39) How can we love them without telling them about Him?
God’s Son told His disciples to lift up their eyes and look at the fields because they are ready for harvest. (John 4:35)
God’s Son told His followers to pray for laborers… just before He sent those same prayer warriors to go to work in those fields. (Matthew 9:39, Mt. 10)
God’s Son said, “As the father has sent me, so send I you.” (John 20:21) And that was after He told them that they were the light of the world and have the keys to the Kingdom. (Mt. 5:14)
Why Missions? Because the word of God (Heb. 4:12) that He has already spoken is enough information for any living person to act with complete abandon toward obedience. He has already given us everything that we need for a grand entrance. (2 Peter 1:3-10) No more revelation is needed or necessary.
What will we do with what we know?
…nothing short of your life
14 Reasons For Missions – http://www.thetravelingteam.org/articles/14-reasons-for-missions
Bible Studies on Missions – http://www.thetravelingteam.org/articles/bible-studies-on-missions
Perspectives 1a – https://youtu.be/PeA6PfdDz9c
Perspectives 1b – https://youtu.be/8lCJvcqKwqw
Greatest Glory Possible – https://youtu.be/OGpfyK9KhKc
The Bible as a Missions Story – http://www.thetravelingteam.org/articles/the-bible-as-a-missions-story
The Biblical Basis of Missions – https://youtu.be/JmtfBZyO_hI
Five Things You Should Know About Mission – https://send100.org/five-things-you-should-know-about-mission/
Missions FAQ – https://send100.org/missions-faq/
Why Missions? – https://send100.org/why-missions/