DFD 6-5 - WORLD VISION

WORLD VISION

God is concerned for all mankind on an individual basis. With the billions of people in the world today, you might wonder how it is possible to have an effective part in communicating God’s love to so many. We can do this by advancing the gospel so that spiritual generations will be planted and become fruitful all over the world.

World vision is getting on your heart what is on God’s heart — the world. — Dawson Trotman

GOD’S CONCERN FOR THE WORLD

1. How do and reveal the breadth of God’s concern for mankind?

John 3:16 NIV84

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

2 Peter 3:9 NIV84

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

2. God reveals a wonderful glimpse of heaven in . Who is present with God, and how do you think they got there?

2. God reveals a wonderful glimpse of heaven in . Who is present with God, and how do you think they got there?

Revelation 7:9–10 NIV84

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

3. In order for the future envisioned in to occur, God’s plan through people must be fulfilled. Jesus invested deeply in a few people in order to see multiplication, and He explained what would become our role in God’s plan. In what ways did Jesus state His Great Commission?

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV84

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Mark 16:15 NIV84

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

Luke 24:47 NIV84

and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

John 17:18 NIV84

As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

John 20:21 NIV84

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

Acts 1:8 NIV84

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

John 17

How does God want to use us to influence others spiritually?

It is certainly commendable to have the vision for reaching an individual, a campus, a military base, a workplace, a neighborhood, a community — even an entire nation — for Christ. But the Lord’s concern is for the whole world, and this should be our concern as well. In the Great Commission Jesus gives believers the responsibility and privilege of reaching every person of every nation in every generation with the gospel. All our major decisions in life should be made with the whole world in mind.

THE WORLD TODAY

4. From the following passages, summarize how the Bible describes world conditions in the last days.

1 Timothy 4:1–3 NIV84

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.

2 Timothy 3:1–5 NIV84

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

2 Peter 3:3–5 NIV84

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water.

Circle the conditions you listed that seem to be evident today.

5. What awaits those who reject the gospel of Jesus Christ?

2 Thessalonians 1:8–9 NIV84

He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power

Revelation 20:12 NIV84

And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

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Revelation 20:15 NIV84

If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

6. As Jesus saw the needs around Him, what did He ask His disciples to pray? ()

Matthew 9:36–38 NIV84

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” ()

The total world population is approximately 6,499,358,843 and growing every second.*

“LOOK AT THE FIELDS”

Here are some practical ways to “look at the fields”:

Use world map to pray for countries around the world — that the people living there would come to trust Christ and grow in their walks with Him.

Pray for persecuted believers and church leaders around the world.

Correspond with missionaries. Learn about various mission fields and agencies.

Read missionary biographies, books on missions, and missionary periodicals.

Pray for your own daily contact with nonbelievers — that you will demonstrate the love of Jesus to them.

Give financially to support believers and missionaries in another country.

SPIRITUAL GENERATIONS

Keeping informed, praying, and giving are three important ways to help reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even more directly, we can be involved through our personal focus and outreach. In all these things, we should continue to trust that God will multiply generations of Jesus followers around the world, whether we live to see this happen or not. This includes both spiritual and physical generations.

7. What was God’s promise to Abraham? ()

Genesis 22:17–18 NIV84

I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

8. Jesus lived in an agricultural context and thus used metaphors of farming and seeks and organic growth to illustrate spiritual generations. Read . How does God’s kingdom grow?

Matthew 13:31–32 NIV84

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”

Other passages you may want to study include , , and -26.

Mark 4:1–20 NIV84

Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.” Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables so that, “ ‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”

Mark 4:26–29 NIV84

He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

John 12:23–26 NIV84

Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

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During His last meal with His disciples, Jesus prayed specifically for them — both then and now. He asked God to continue ministering through His disciples to the lost people in the world. Jesus had planted seed for the future and was asking God to multiply it!

9. Read thoughtfully through Jesus’ prayer in . If you are a disciple of Jesus, then He was praying for you! Write down several observations about the following:

John 17:5–26 NIV84

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

Jesus’ vision that the world will be reached with God’s love through generations of His disciples

Jesus’ prayer requests for us as we fulfill His vision

How Jesus equips and prepares us to fulfill His vision

HOW DO YOU FIT IN?

Jesus loved the world and helped thousands, but He closely trained only twelve men. He saw spiritual generations multiplying through these disciples.

Pursuing a divine vision is really an act of worship. It is a declaration of our confidence in God. It is a proclamation of how important we believe his agenda to be. And God is honored. — Andy Stanley, Visioneering

10. As you reflect back over , how do you see yourself in this prayer? What will you ask for regarding the ministry God wants to have through you?

John 17:5–26 NIV84

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

11. Consider . Have you asked God to give you one person with whom you can put this verse into action?

2 Timothy 2:2 NIV84

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

a. You can help change the world for Jesus Christ by allowing God to reproduce His life through you in the life of another. Specifically, how will you allow God to use you in His plan for spiritual generations?

b. If you have children, how will you trust Him to pass on your spiritual legacy through them?

c. Are there other children you can minister to?

12. Are you investing your life, time, and money with the world in mind? What can you do to become more involved in reaching the world with the good news of Jesus Christ?

Remember to pray. Many of us cannot reach other nations on our feet, but we can reach them on our knees. And God hears!

13. Read . Relate what Paul says here in regard to your life and to world vision.

2 Timothy 3:16–4:8 NIV84

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

SUGGESTED VERSE FOR MEDITATION AND MEMORIZATION

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV84

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”