On the Theology of Missions

God’s desire is that all people would be reconciled to Him (1 Timothy 3:4, 2 Peter 3:9) and that has been the consistent theme in all of Scripture.  We can see this in both the Old Testament and the New Testament as well.

Old Testament
After the separation of the nations at the Tower of Babel, God chooses one man through whom a nation would be built.  Abraham becomes the Patriarch of a mighty nation, and even though that nation was God’s treasured possession, He never intended salvation and reconciliation to belong to them exclusively.  We can see this in the story of Jonah, where a prophet of God is told to warn a Gentile people of God’s coming judgment.  God’s glory is magnified in Daniel as well when the various kings respond to the wonders of Daniel and his companions acting from the Spirit of God.

Exodus 19:5-6 tells us that if Israel were to be faithful, they would be “a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.”  Priests served as the mediator between men and God, and as a nation of priests, they would serve as the mediator between God and the rest of the world.  Israel was to serve as a shining beacon that would draw the world to God.  This was achieved for a time during Solomon’s reign, but his sins would condemn the nation to be split and that brief window closed. 

When Israel failed to do their part (Ezekiel 36:22-23), God moved to vindicate His holiness from the damage they had done to His name.[1]  That is where the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 49:6 comes in.  He will be “a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” 

New Testament
Each version of the Gospels gives a Commission before Jesus leaves.  The most famous is Matthew 28:19-20.  This Great Commission is directed to all nations, and the historical pattern that is set up is established in Acts 1:8 (Judea, then Samaria, and then to the ends of the Earth).  Indeed, the Gospel is still going out to the ends of the Earth, as there are still a few people groups who have not heard the Good News of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection. 

Paul definitely saw it as his mission to preach the Gospel to the entire world so that all would act “for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name”.[2]  Indeed, his practice was to only travel where the Gospel had not been proclaimed before, according to Romans 15:20.  That would most definitely reach beyond the Jewish Diaspora and into the furthest reaches of the Gentile world.  That mission was not accomplished in his lifetime but could be achieved in ours. 

This global focus of the hope of reconciliation to the world can be seen as the consistent theme of the Bible and remains in effect today.

Footnotes:
[1] Ralph D. Winter and Steven C. Hawthorne, Perspectives on the World Christian Movement, 3rd Ed..  (Pasadena: William Carey Library, 1999), 43.

[2] Romans 1:5, Ibid, 45.

- Pastor Jason