Mission in the Old Testament
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Who are we and what were we made for?
Who are we and what were we made for?
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
We were made to be Kings and Servants We were blessed by God.
What is blessing?
What is blessing?
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Genesis 2:1
Blessing is to be in a peaceful present relationship with God and his creation, such that you are at productive and fruitful in the earth.
What Happened to Us?
What Happened to Us?
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be contrary to your husband,
but he shall rule over you.”
And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:13
WE physically, intellectually, socially, spiritually are dead and are alienated from the life of God and are under the curse that is in reverse of the blessing.
“
God’s mission is the final destruction of all that is evil from his whole creation. Our mission therefore has to be as comprehensive in scope as the gospel the whole Bible gives us. — Christopher Wright
What is God’s Mission in the World?
What is God’s Mission in the World?
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God’s mission to deal with the problem of sin through his people - the people of Abraham. Abraham’s people were blessed to be a blessing, so is the church of Jesus Christ — the completion of Abraham’s people.
For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.”
According to Christopher Wright, God connects Election, Ethics, and Mission together and they can not be untangled. Election = the promise that God selected Abraham and he selected the believer. Ethics = doing righteousness and justice (social justice) as God in Christ did for you for EACH OTHER. Mission = that the Lord may bring about his blessing to his people AND his creation who also experience the blessing of God.
Exodus 19:4-7
‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him.
God’s people were formed through their redemption from Egypt and were now ready to do the same for the people around them by obeying their redeemer. God called these people Israel.
As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
Jesus is the New Israel who is the blessed covenant-keeping son of Abraham who brings the blessing into the world through the cross to all who would place their trust in him and these people go and do likewise with the service of their lips and style of their life.
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Jesus is the New Israel who is the blessed covenant-keeping son of Abraham who brings the blessing into the world through the cross to all who would place their trust in him and these people go and do likewise with the service of their lips and style of their life.
The Mission of God’s People: A Biblical Theology of the Church’s Mission Relevant Questions
1. What does the word “blessing” usually bring to mind for you? In what ways has your concept changed in the light of this chapter?
2. “Being a blessing” might not seem an adequate description of “the mission of God’s people” (and indeed, by itself it isn’t!), but what aspects of our mission would be challenged or improved by thinking in such Abrahamic terms?
3. Abraham was called to “leave and go”. Whether or not you are called to physically leave your country and go overseas as a missionary, what elements of your present cultural and social context do you need to “leave” if you are to follow Abraham in “faith-obedience”?
4. Does the notion of the demand of obedience to the mission of the church sound like legalism to you? How might this unbiblical notion be biblically rebutted?