what are the  biblical foundations of mission?

God shows is  mission in Genesis by creating all that is in existence and all that we can not see, he demonstrate is mission by  reaching out to his creation showing them his unconditional love. He delights in what he has created and he provides for and protects everything that is his by his love and sovereignty.

God called Abraham, who he blessed and made into a great nation. God said all people who live on the earth will be blessed through Abraham. We all are children of Abraham and the fruit of his mission . P57

‘When he elected, then called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldean’s, we are confronted with the beginning of salvation history’. p57

Moses was given a mission in the Pentateuch which was to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. God wanted to deliver from slavery the people that he had chosen and lead them to a new land.

‘Under Moses’ mediation they accepted by acclamation the rule of God over their lives and pledged to keep his covenant (Ex 19:5-8)’. God also gave them his law or Torah. P72

Before entering the land that God had given them, the Israelites were given their mission to overthrow the kingdoms of Canaan. ‘When the Lord our God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, show them no mercy’ (Deut. 7:2). Leviticus 18:21-25 says that the Canaanites were excessively wicked and so lost their right to live in the land. P95

Moses disobeyed God and failed to lead the Israelites into the Promised Land, so the job of leading the Israelites was given to Joshua. God used Joshua to fulfill his mission to drive out all wickedness from the land of Canaan.P96.  In this case one could ask a question, how can God so loving and full of mercy and compassion be willing to wipe out all the Canaanites?  Well, God made the answer very clear by showing that he hates sin and because of the  wickedness of the Canaanites God took their land and gave it to the Israelites.

The Israelites now had good reason to boast about their God, now ‘three major emphases dominate the “confessionals” of the people of God: their election via the call of Abraham; their deliverance from Egypt through Moses’ instrumentality; and the gift of the land’. p98

Glasser says that ‘these elements are parallel to the spiritual triad found in the New Testament’, and the eschatological in gathering of all nations; ‘the election of people to belong to God: their deliverance from the guilt and consequence of sin through the cross; and the divine gift of the Holy Spirit through the resurrection of Jesus.’ P98-99

During their time in Canaan the Israelites were ruled by Judges and among them were the prophet Samuel. However, the Israelites rejected his council so God granted them a King to rule over them, and his name was Saul. Unfortunately Saul did not keep the commands of God and so he was utterly defeated in battle. This opened a path for David to be King of Israel just as Samuel had prophesied before. p103

God’s mission for His Kingdom was to use David to strengthen and enlarge Israel, and bring all the tribes of Israel under his leadership. David captured Jerusalem and made it the capital of Israel, his desire was to build a temple for the Ark of the Covenant but that was left to his son Solomon to complete. The Davidic monarchy collapsed due to ‘neglect of God and the ethical failure of its rulers, priests and people’. p105-108

During this time Israel divided with only Judah remaining, however after a succession of Kings, everything that David had worked for was utterly overtaken by the Babylonians under the leadership of Nebuchadnezzar. However, it is clear that the line of David was not completely destroyed during this time, as it was the mission of God to present his son Jesus out from the line of David. p109

The mission in the History writing

Proverbs: This book in the bible along with Psalms and Ecclesiastes are also known as the books of wisdom. Proverbs is a not just a book of sayings that are true about life, they are according to Stott, sayings that deal with ‘the basic issues of life that together give order and system to human existence in this world’ (p157). Throughout history God has reached out in order to show that his wisdom permeates the conscience of every man and that is why man should fear him.

Psalm: The uniqueness and universality of God: If Genesis is about what God created then the Psalms are about who he is and why he did it. The Psalms reveal the magnitude of God’s understanding, his infinite wisdom, his gentleness and attention to detail. These writings reveal God to be both Father and Mother, ‘you knit me together in my mothers womb’ he is; a Sovereign King, an accountant (he records infinite quantities such as grains of sand and volumes of water), a doctor, a mechanic, scientist, a gardener, a cleaner and he can multitask, surely nothing is impossible for God. Gods ways are beyond human understanding, he is wise righteous, benevolent and merciful above our futile comprehension, and so it seems that God gave the Psalmists an insight into his nature that surpasses any subsequent knowledge man has about the universe he lives in. Most interesting of all is that scientists and philosophers frequently contradict themselves but the Psalms originate from the source of creation they are the mind of God.

 ‘As a Great King by right of creation and enduring absolute sovereignty, he ultimately will not tolerate any worldly power that opposes or denies or ignores him. He will come to rule the nations so that all will be compelled to acknowledge him. Because the Lord is the Great King beyond all challenge, his righteousness and peaceable kingdom will come, overwhelming all opposition and purging the creation of all rebellion against his rule – such will be the ultimate outcome of history. (Niv Study bible, p784-5) The Psalms show that God will is to justify the whole of creation

Ecclesiastes  :

we can see God in is unfailing love teaching us wisdom to deal with every things around us trough ecclesiastic.

Songs of Solomon

Job: The mission of God through the history of Job, was to prove that regardless of human suffering we can still be lead by God and follow his commands. regardless of the challenge or the suffering there is nothing God cannot do. Job is not an Israelite, but Job knew God and lived by his commands.

Gods Mission Through The Prophets.

Gods Mission in the Gospels: The book of Matthew was written to reflect the universality of God and his mission, the theme of the book is to highlight the importance of and the faith of the Gentiles. According to Glasser, the fact that the gospel writer opens with the genealogy of Jesus is important because it shows that the lineage of Jesus is from David and Abraham. This genealogy would have been important for the Jews who were waiting for the Messiah to ‘establish an eternal kingdom’ (p183). God sent a prophet John the Baptist to announce the coming of the new kingdom, both John and Jesus ‘baptised the repentant, both called for spiritual reformation as well as social responsibility’ (p184-5).

The Jews were greatly offended that Jesus called himself the Messiah, they might have believed in him and his miracles (he was himself a Jew), were it not for the fact that he embraced Gentiles into what Jews perceived to be an exclusively Jewish covenant. After all, for the Jews their Messiah would rise up against the Gentile leaders and usher in the final days unto Judgment, and Jesus did not fit their expectations.

Gods Mission in Matthew: Matt 2:1-12, verse one shows where he was born emphasizing that he came from a tribe and territory of Davidic Kings, and the Jews expected the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem as it is written by the prophet Micah and quoted in verse six. The Magi, who perhaps where astrologers from the middle east, came to the capital following a star which they believed would lead them to the fulfillment of an ancient prophesy ‘the King of the Jews.’ If at the beginning of the gospel he was the King of the Jews by the end he was ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords’ (p238).

Matthew 4:19, Jesus announces that the Kingdom of God is no longer immanent it has arrived and, according to Glasser ‘Jesus now projected himself into the role of the Servant of the Lord’, and began to carry out the duties of his ministries (p186). Firstly Jesus called people to himself proclaiming himself as the way to heaven, he also called people to work for the kingdom of God “I will make you fishers of men”, making his followers responsible for calling others to the kingdom.

Matthew 8:5-13. This scripture focuses on the faith of a Gentile Centurion, who Jesus described as having more faith in God than anyone in the whole of Israel. The centurion would have been aware that Jesus would defile himself if he were to enter a gentile home, but Jesus was more focuses on the healing of a gentile to show to all around him the universality of God. The Jews were still at an advantage in that prior to the death of Jesus him ministry was predominantly focused on their conversion.

Matthew 24:14. God’s plan was for the gospel of the death and resurrection of his son to be preached to the whole world, so that God can reconcile all men to himself. This is also God’s ultimatum to the world, his final call to repentance and the last of all prophecies to be fulfilled until the end of the world.  

Matthew 28:18-20. This is the last recorded time that Jesus appeared to the disciples before he ascended to heaven, it signifies the beginning of a universal faith, a universal call to repentance, and a call to submit to God through Jesus Christ. This marks a time when Jews are no longer considered as God’s covenant people, or special or set apart from gentiles, they were now as much in need of repentance and of the grace of God as every other person on the earth. This scripture also ushers in the presence of the Holy Spirit and its redemptive power, and the promise that the spirit of God could dwell in man.

What are the biblical foundations of Mission?