God’s Promise Reveals His Purpose
God’s mandate for missions was originally given as a promise to Abraham, as we can see in Genesis 12. This is important because the emphasis is placed on what God would do instead of on what Abraham was expected to attempt. In The Living God is a Missionary God, John R.W. Stott explains that Old Testament prophecy usually is fulfilled three times in three different ways (past, present, and future). God promised Abraham three things having to do with world missions that have been fulfilled or will be soon: posterity (meaning descendants), land, and blessing.
1. The first way God fulfilled prophecy is immediate and historical.
– Posterity – God fulfills this by also promising Abraham’s son Isaac and grandson Jacob descendants as numerous as stars and sand. King Solomon later confirmed this happened by calling Israel, “a great people that cannot be numbered or counted for multitude” (1 Kings 3:8).
– Land – God rescued Abraham’s descendants (Israel) from slavery in Egypt and gave them the territory they called “the promised land”. Later God restored them to that land again after Babylonian captivity.
– Blessing – The promise of blessing was that Yahweh would be Abraham’s descendants’ God. This is seen numerous times throughout the Old Testament, especially as the names of Hosea’s children are reversed.
2. The second way God fulfilled prophecy was through the gospel in Jesus.
– Posterity – God fulfills the prophecy to give Abraham numerous descendants from every tribe and nation by allowing Gentiles to now become sons of Abraham through Jesus.
– Land – God declares that the sons of Abraham are joint heirs with Christ of the world.
– Blessing – God blesses Abraham’s descendants with the blessing of salvation.
3. The third way God will fulfill prophecy is through ultimate fulfillment in the end of time.
– Posterity – In Revelation John sees in a vision “a great multitude which no man could number” which is “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues”.
– Land – The land that God promises is land irrigated from “springs of living water” which never dry up.
– Blessing – God gives all the families of the earth the blessing of perfect relationship with Him and His presence.
God’s People Formed to Participate in His Purpose
I loved that God chose to primarily interact with His people through a promise instead of forcing them into it. He knows that His love is enough to acquire their loving obedience. It is also clear that God blesses Abraham’s descendants for one purpose: so that they will be a blessing to others. In Israel’s Missionary Call, Walter C. Kaiser explains how Israel was meant literally to be God’s missionary to the world. God intended Israel to act like a priest to the nations, to mediate between God and man so that all nations might understand who God is and His word to them.
God’s First Promise Displays His Final Victory
1. Much less powerful than God’s kingdom is a satanic counter-kingdom that is trying to rob God of His people by deceiving and destroying them.
2. Humans believed Satan’s lie in the Garden of Eden and have had a hard time seeing through his lies ever since, leading to sin and death.
God’s ultimate purpose is to draw loyal worship from every people, displaying His greater glory and manifesting His fullest love. Everything that Satan does is a counterfeit of what God does, because as Satan imitates God’s work people are drawn to it and less inclined to seek God. Whether they know it or not, people’s allegiance is either to Satan and his kingdom or to God and His.
Two men in the Old Testament are often listed as “fathers” of Jesus. The first is Abraham, whose son Isaac was an example of Christ as Redeemer, as Abraham offered Isaac as a living sacrifice. The second is David, whose son Solomon was an example of Christ as royalty, as he was known as a king of glory and splendor.
The Lausanne Covenant defines evangelism as: “to spread the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and was raised from the dead according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord he now offers the forgiveness of sins and the liberating gift of the Spirit to all who repent and believe.”
Jesus became a human and identified with us without losing His own identity. This should be the model of evangelism. The Lausanne Covenant states, “Christ’s evangelists must humbly seek to empty themselves of all but their personal authenticity, in order to become the servants of others”. Some people will reject the gospel not because they think it is wrong, but because it seems foreign to them since it is coming from foreign people. As missionaries, it is our job to lessen the degree that this happens as much as we can.
