Yahweh Is a Missionary God (9-19-11)

Shalom,

Please begin by reading John 20:19-23.

Yahweh's mission of salvation is the Church's mission and calling. The initial call on the nation of Israel was to be a light to the world. Christians have now picked up the task. We should be doing this mission because this is simply the nature of the God we serve. Scripture teaches us that the living God is a personal God, and he's been in search of lost creation from the beginning.

It's through the life and ministry of Jesus that we truly know Yahweh's purpose and plan. The Father sent the Son. He sent him to earth to show humankind the way to heaven. The words of Jesus confirm his Father's purpose. "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." The mission is now ours to fulfill. Jesus has handed us the authority necessary to proclaim his Kingdom as his ambassadors.

This mission is only valid as we participate in the original mission set forth by our Creator. If we're not doing what Yahweh wants us to be doing, we're not being his people. We must be actively pursuing the lost, seeking to bring light into the darkness, offering hope and salvation to the people outside his covenant. Discernment is critical in accomplishing this task. What is Yahweh doing right now? Find that out and you find his will.

The call of Yahweh in Isa 45:22 is our guide. "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God and there is no other."

Mark 4:29 tells us, "As soon as the grain is ripe, God puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come." We're talking about a KAIROS time here, not a CHRONOS time. KAIROS means the fullness of time. CHRONOS is just the regular passage or measurement of time. KAIROS refers to Yahweh's perfect timing. It's what we need to be asking him to reveal to us. It's something we need to become better at discerning.

The Church should devise its model for missions from Jesus. Yahweh revealed himself to the world through the life and ministry of Jesus. Through him we see how the Creator acts in history and gets the job done. The Bible reveals how Jesus related to little children, the poor, the sick, the oppressed, the powerful, the rich, to most every kind of person. Remember that, because if you bring Jesus into your life, he's going to bring his friends along. Once we become Christians, we gain many new brothers and sisters, and they come in all shapes and sizes and personalities.

The heart of theology is that Yahweh is manifested as Love. Love is the center of everything. It's not a matter of emotions, but of the will. Yahweh's love isn't based on overflowing hormones or confused thought processes or any other human trait. Within the Greek language we find four words with different shades of the meaning of love. EROS is ego-centric and possessive, involving lust more than love. PHILEOS is brotherly, reciprocal and mutual, based more in give-and-take or common interests. STORGOS is the natural affection found within families.

The one Yahweh wants mankind to learn is AGAPE. This is the love of our heavenly Father. It's not natural to humans. It's source is supernatural, and we must be in intimate relationship with our Lord to manifest it. It only comes to us by a transformation of our hearts. It's a special gift from our Father. We receive our first taste of it at the point of our salvation. A major problem we humans have with manifesting AGAPE is that it implies vulnerability. It always involves sacrifice. Think in these terms: it's only mine if I give it away.

The Holy Spirit is who we rely on to supply us with sacrificial love. The Holy Spirit is the one who empowers each individual Christian to do mission and ministry. He gives us the ability to love and serve mankind. He gifts. He empowers. He fills. There's nothing we can do to stir up this kind of supernatural zeal.

The Gospel story highlights the initiative of Yahweh. He's the one who started the idea of missions. We never take our Lord by surprise. Our plans are never new to him. There's already a plan in place to reach the lost. We don't need to develop a new one, we just need to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance and direction. John Wesley said there's a thing called Prevenient Grace in our world. He said the grace of our God is already at work all over the world drawing people to his saving power. Our function is to assist our Lord and Master in his plan of salvation for the world.

The mission has a Church! The mission is already in place. The Church exists to do that mission. That's how Yahweh designed the plan. It's all his idea. Our only decision is whether to be obedient in serving him or not. Too many are currently living in disobedience within the Church today. Each one of us individually and each body of believers must choose whether to join our Lord or refuse him. If we're obedient, mission will happen. If we're obedient, we show that we have true faith.

Doing the mission requires an understanding of the socio-historical culture and environment we're operating in. Do we know the people we're trying to reach with Gospel? Do we speak their language? Plant the seed of the Gospel and let it grow without manipulating it with any man-made agendas. Realize that it doesn't have to grow the way we think it should. Trust that you've been obedient to your Father and allow the Holy Spirit to do his work of convicting hearts.

Christian conversion is the greatest benefit to social change known to mankind. Becoming a Christian should inspire people to work for true justice, reconciliation, and peace. It should make us better citizens of our nations, and better neighbors to everyone around us. Becoming a Christian should cause us to become part of the supernatural transformation of our communities. We should be actively involved in spreading scriptural holiness. If we want to see our towns and cities and areas changed for the better, the place to begin is with the Gospel. We have a Mandate from our heavenly Father and better Manna than the Israelites.

Every fellowship and body of believers should model the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. We need to be in agreement as a body to take on our God-appointed mission. Yahweh brings people together into support groups so his mission can be fulfilled. John 15:16 says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit." We've been brought together to accomplish something wonderful for our Lord and Master. He's fitted us together, bringing all our gifts into a Holy Mixture which he can use to save the lost and make disciples for his Kingdom.

There's no private religion found within the pages of the Bible. You can't be a Christian and avoid human contact. There's no valid Christianity in self-imposed isolation. Christianity is meant to be a social experience. We're to be in ongoing fellowship with other believers to encourage and be encouraged. We're to be in contact with the lost to shine the glorious light of the Gospel into their lives. If someone says to you, "I don't have to go to Church to be a Christian," tell them this: "Show me that in the Bible and I'll agree with you. But I believe you're very wrong, possibly dead wrong." Insisting that something totally unbiblical is worth putting your faith in will have you separating yourself from Jesus.

Imagine an orchestra playing a concert and one instrument is obviously out of tune. The conductor wouldn't eliminate every instrument, but he's likely to tell the bad one to stop playing. Spiritually, we're out of tune with our heavenly Father. He's righteous, and we're unrighteous. He's perfect, and we're imperfect. He's sinless, and we're sinful. Just as it's necessary to remove an out of tune instrument to allow the orchestra to stay in harmony, it's necessary for our perfect God to remove us from his presence because our sin isn't in harmony with his Kingdom. Sin can't exist in Yahweh's presence. His perfect righteousness must remove anything not in harmony with it from his presence.

Jesus taught more about the Kingdom of God than anything else. Many great Christian teachers throughout history have focused on the Kingdom of God. Many of today's good teachers are continuing to teach about the Kingdom. We need to transform our neighborhoods, villages, and towns by bringing the Gospel to all who will listen. Missionary work needs our feet and hands and mouths actively doing what's necessary to share our faith in Jesus with other people. Be an instrument of restoration, justice, reconciliation, and peace. Be a missionary, live in the image of your Lord and Savior.

Blessings & Peace, Mike