Introduction
A mission is a thrilling goal accompanied by a firm conviction to achieve a desired outcome. God’s mission can be understood through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. The mission is accomplished by sending people to different parts of the world to preach the word and convert souls to Christ.
The Four Acts of God’s Mission
Creation
The biblical philosophy of God’s mission is divided into four acts, as presented both in the Old and New Testament. The four acts are creation, the fall of man, redemption, and restoration. God created the world and all that is in the world and said that it was good. He then created man and woman in His image and ordered them to multiply. His mission was to protect people from all harm that may befall them.
The Fall of Man
The creation story, however, took a dark turn when the human beings went against their will and ate the forbidden fruit. God, however, promised to send them a redeemer, and the revitalization concept has extended to date. God’s mission is a continuous process in the contemporary world as the forgiveness of sins is preached, and people accept Jesus as their personal Lord and savior.
Disobedience led to the eviction of men from the Garden of Eden. The theological story is repeated every time a person disobeys God and moves away from the commandment.
Redemption
Redemption is the third act that emphasizes God’s mission through sending His only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on behalf of the word and take their sins away. When people accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, they are redeemed, and God begins making them be like his Son and achieve salvation (Smith, 2011). It is imperative to note that God’s mission intends to shape people’s church activities and ensure that the neighborhoods are reshaped because people are doing good deeds.
Restoration
The fourth manifestation of God’s mission is restoring people once they agree to be born again and let go of their sinful nature (Bricker, 2022). The restoration process will end when Jesus returns to act as the judge of Humanity.
God’s Mission During and After the Life of Jesus Christ
God’s mission to save Humanity did not stop when Jesus died for the sins of the world. He continued redeeming His people through the Holy Spirit, which guided them in the actions that they were supposed to do. Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, God planned for redemption, which involved sending Jesus Christ through the Virgin Mary to save Humanity from the shackles of sin.
Jesus attained his mission because he was a total ‘man’ and total ‘God’ in his manifestation (Strong, 2016). The preparation of Jesus to achieve the soul’s salvation hints that contemporary church ministers must also be trained and devoted to serving God before leading ministries successfully. Since the mission is achieved through sending people, global missionaries are under one instruction from Jesus to convert people to Christianity and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
During Jesus’ life, he stated that he was sent by God the Father to save Humanity and make disciples. He converted the fishermen and called them to be fishers of men, as they were made to be disciples (Bricker, 2022). After Jesus rose from the dead, he passed the mantle to his disciples and commanded them to go worldwide to proclaim the Gospel and baptize people. In the contemporary world and the global mission, the church ministers are fulfilling God’s will of converting people and making them believe in the Gospel. The Gospel of repentance started in the Old Testament as John the Baptist taught people to prepare the way for the messiah (Smith, 2011). The repentance Gospel is preached to date, and local and international churches unite to make people repent and believe in Jesus’ teaching.
God’s Mission in Scripture
Mission in the Old Testament
The Old and the New Testaments Manifest God’s mission of pulling people to himself despite the wrongs committed. When the Israelites were suffering in Egypt, God had a mission to save them from the Egyptian Pharaoh. God, in his infinite mercies, sent Moses to save them from their suffering. The people of God were saved through Moses and enjoyed their freedom.
However, salvation was a continuous process and was subjected to walking through the desert for forty years before reaching the Promised Land (Smith, 2011). Once the people engaged in sin again by worshiping a false God, salvation was required to save them from the shackles of sin. Through Moses, God gave them the Ten Commandments to help people lead a positive life. The first three commandments underscored the relationship between God and man, while the last seven underscored the relationship between humans. The mission was not completed as the people’s relationship with God improved. John the Baptist was selected to prepare the way for Jesus by preaching the Gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Mission in the New Testament
The New Testament strongly manifests God’s mission and goals toward Humanity. When Jesus was sent to save humankind, he lived among the people and started his ministry when he was 33. On the first day of his public appearance, he was given a chapter to read and declared himself as the anointed one of God sent to fulfill God’s mission on earth. Jesus stated that he was appointed to restore sight to the blind, set prisoners free, proclaim the year of the Lord, set captives free, and give good news to the poor. Jesus made his mission known to the world, and since then, he has started his ministry after being rejected in his hometown (Strong, 2016).
The contemporary world has people in the different categories stated by Jesus who need to be saved. God’s mission, therefore, continues to be relevant even in today’s world. All the categories of people stated by Jesus in his commissioning are caused by sin. Debauchery makes people blind, poor, captives, and prisoners. God’s mission is, therefore, to offer salvation to all the people.
God’s Mission in Church History
The church’s history manifests God’s divine will to save the world. It is proof that God does his work in mysterious ways, and nothing stops Him from saving his people. The Apostle Peter, who was named the rock, had numerous shortcomings. Paul, the persecutor of Christians, defended the word (Strong, 2016). After his name was changed from Saul to Paul, he started preaching the Gospel. Over thirteen books in the Bible were written by Paul, a person who was once a transgressor.
The development and history of the church prove that God does his deeds in divine ways, and human thinking cannot comprehend his plans to save the world. The church’s history includes different transitions, each affected by challenges facing the church. The political and spiritual turbulence that faced the church could have made it fail. However, due to God’s divinity and power to fulfill his mission, the church has stood the test of time.
The Christian church originated in Roman Judea in the first century, where Jesus gathered his disciples. The disciples became the first Christians, and Jesus demanded that they make disciples worldwide by baptizing people in his name. God’s divinity is manifested in the miraculous spread of the church. After the Pentecost, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they started speaking in different languages. A manifestation that they were appointed to spread the Gospel worldwide.
It is imperative to note that there were other regions at the beginning of Christianity, and secularism was at its peak, making Christianity a struggle. Early Christians were, therefore, persecuted by idol worshipers who believed that Jesus was a threat to the existence of their religion.
The age of Catholic Christianity was between 70AD and 312 (Jacobsen, 2015). The Christian movement grew in secret, as it had been prohibited. People who tried to worship in the open were stoned to death. Stephen was among the martyrs who died due to their faith in Jesus.
Martyrdom was a manifestation of the price people had to pay for the salvation of souls. Shading the blood of early Christians solidified their faith and led to the formation of the Christian empire. Since God’s mission was to spread the Gospel of repentance to all parts of the world, the faith was solidified.
In the Middle Ages, there were differences in the church, and catholic priests started to get married (Jacobsen, 2015). However, the pursuit of truth and God’s desire to save him continued because the will of God and his mission was to spread the word globally and ensure that all the people were saved. Despite the turbulence facing the change, including the age of reformations and the age of reason, where people investigated and researched God and what the truth meant (Wright, 2010). Regardless of the changes in the church’s history, people have always pursued God, and His mission to save Humanity has continued in the church’s history.
God’s Ongoing Role in Global Mission
God calls people to fulfill his will to make people live better lives through repentance and renewal. He is regarded as a sending God because, since creation time, he has been sending people to serve people worldwide. His first assignment was given to Jesus to preach the Gospel. Once Jesus returned to the Father and the Holy Spirit came, he filled the apostles, and they burnt with the zeal to spread the good news to all the people worldwide (Strong, 2016). Modern missionaries are under the commandment of Jesus to go around the world to make disciples. When the missions started, Paul wrote letters to the different churches, and the spirit of evangelism came upon people, who started reaching out to different locations. The great mission of changing lives was the prerequisite of all the missions in the world.
The Global Frontier Missions (GFM) is one Christian community that focuses on preaching to all nations worldwide. GFM focuses on mobilizing, training, and multiplying disciples in all parts of the world. Since God is the instigator of missions in the world, He uses divine means to ensure the success of the missions (Jacobsen, 2015). God manifested himself in the missions by preparing ways for the people to facilitate the preaching and customizing the preaching to fit the people in the regions.
Both Western and papal missions were led by the strict rules that only men served in the pulpits. Boniface formed benedictine monasteries to spread Christianity in the region. However, the shortage of male ministers led Boniface to ordain women into the ministry (Ott, 2019). God’s power in the mission was proved when the church spread in almost all parts of the world. Today, over one-third of the global population profess the Christian faith, and more are being converted daily.
God’s Mission for the Local Church
The scripture offers a vivid description of God’s mission in the local church. The local church is responsible for proclaiming, preserving, and displaying the Gospel through its deeds. Preaching the Gospel is the local church’s primary role in ensuring that the people understand the will of God and what is expected of them (Jacobsen, 2015). In most cases, the preachers live among the people and customize the biblical message of the Gospel to reflect the issues that affect them in the real world.
It is, therefore, the role of the church to make people understand God’s message and be taught how to integrate the bible teaching into their day-to-day lives. Through its ministers, the church further has a mission to nurture and baptize new believers. Local ministers had the power to organize crusades to have people converted to Christianity and experience the new birth. Therefore, ministers in the local church fulfill God’s mission by making the new birth come true in the lives of Christians. The local church is integral to fulfilling God’s mission at the grassroots level.
Jesus taught his disciples that faith without action is dead and that the local church is to respond to human needs. In his teaching, Jesus stated that whatever is done to the less privileged in society is indirectly done to him. The locals who have yet to believe in the Gospel may wish to see God’s good deeds before believing in the mission. Since God represents love, mercy, forgiveness, and positivity, the local church is selected to manifest the mission. The ministers and pastors serving in the local church must, therefore, analyze the needs of the people in their respective areas. It becomes easy to reach many people in the discourse (Wright, 2010). As people view the church as a source of hope and salvation, it will become easier to convert them and draw them closer to God. The mission is fulfilled by forming structures that help save people, such as orphanages from protecting strays and other social services to help people.
The fourth manifestation of God’s mission in the local church is for the ministers and other workers to identify the unjust structures in society and ensure equality is attained in the discourse. The local church must challenge the conflicts, violent activities, and any form of instability to show that God cares for his people and is there to protect them (Ott, 2019). As the local church pursues peace and reconciliation, it gives people hope that God is on their side and on a mission to save them.
The contemporary world faces numerous challenges that affect the integrity of creation and the sustainability of life on earth (Jacobsen, 2015). God’s mission is to ensure that people are safe from all the challenges in the world. Since the local church is the closest representation of God’s work, it must present God’s work. Local church ministers and pastors must, therefore, be prepared to serve God’s people on all the needs affecting them. At a time when the world is undergoing climate change, the local church can start initiatives to renew hope in the world.
God’s Mission for Life and Vocation
The scripture gives man a purpose to love God, glorify him, and serve him all day on earth. God’s mission is, therefore, fulfilled when a person leads a life enjoying a positive relationship with God. Since sin separates man from God as it occurred in the Garden of Eden, man has to live all his life believing in obedience (Ott, 2019). The scripture commands man to keep God first in all actions as the only way to manifest salvation and strong Christian faith.
Morality is one of the ways to help Christians manifest God’s will in life (Strong, 2016). A pastor or a church leader must live with the manifestation of morality as proof that God has an impact on their lives. When Jesus taught about the teachers of the law being judged harshly, he underscored that people must live a pleasing life to God as a way of manifesting God’s mission. Although people may fail at some temptations, they must be prepared to lead a good life.
God works through human hands and sends people to accomplish his purpose in life. He gives different people talents and abilities to solve emerging challenges. For example, preachers have to live a moral life to practice a successful preaching vocation. Although every person has a vocation to fulfill in life, God’s mission in a person will not be fulfilled if a person is enslaved by sin. Since sin distances a person from God’s love and favor, the purpose of life may not be fulfilled.
Pastors are mandated to preach God’s word and fulfill God’s mission, which is to ensure that they live a life of purity and morality and follow God’s commandments (Wright, 2010). Ministers and pastors, therefore, serve as role models in the church and the local community to convince the people of God’s goodness and convince others to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
Conclusion
God’s mission to Humanity is to ensure that people are safe from sin and lead comfortable lives. Disobedience brought sin into the world when man ate the forbidden fruit. After Adam and Eve were thrown out of the garden, God promised to save them. He sent a savior to the world to take away the sins of the world. However, the mission to save Humanity continued after Jesus was sent and died on the cross.
God’s mission is manifested in both the New and Old Testament, and the central theme is God’s passion to pull people close to Himself. It is further manifested in the local church when the pastors and leaders practice good deeds. A person’s life fulfills God’s mission when one lives according to the Ten Commandments. Vocations are affected when people disobey God’s rules and regulations.
References
Bricker, V. (2022). Are international missions more important than domestic missions? I believe. Web.
Jacobsen, D. (2015). Global Gospel: An introduction to Christianity on five continents. Baker Academic.
Ott, C. (2019). The church on a mission: A biblical vision for transformation among all people. Baker Academic.
Smith, G. T. (2011). Courage and Calling: Embracing your God-given potential. InterVarsity Press.
Strong, M. E. (2016). Divine merger: What happens when Jesus collides with your community. InterVarsity Press.
Wright, C. J. (2010). The mission of God’s people: A biblical theology of the church’s mission. Zondervan.