Jesus: The Model Missionary

INTRODUCTION

Where and when does missions begin? Who gives the desire and the power to fulfill the Great Commission? Who gives the passion for Christ and the world? Though the word “missionary” is not in the Bible, the missionary movement began with God. A Biblical theology of missions begins and ends with God. Missions is the heartbeat of God. The mandate for missions was carried out from Genesis to Malachi. In the annals of time, God was the first Missionary when He shed the blood of an innocent animal to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve for their disobedience of His clear command. They were lost and doomed, but God took the initiative and slew and shed the blood of an innocent animal and covered them with its skin. The Bible does not mention that Adam and Eve called upon God to save them. It was His initiative. Their sin and its consequences transmitted eternal death to the human race, for all have sinned and need a Savior (Rom. 3:23).

God is the Father of missions, Jesus is the Pattern of missions, and the Holy Spirit is the Executor of missions! God had only one Son and He sent Him as a missionary! If God was not a missionary God, there would be no Incarnation. If there were no incarnation, there would be no salvation!

Jehovah is portrayed as a missionary God. David Livingstone said, God had one Son, and He was a missionary. He has always revealed His desire to save. Missions was in the heart of God when He called Abraham and his descendents of the Jewish nation to represent Him and His message for the need of redemption to the world (Gen. 39-47). God was willing to spare Sodom and Gomorrah, if he would find only 10 righteous people. Moses led the people of Israel in the Exodus, Mordecai interceded with the intervention of the Jews doomed to genocide (Ezra 1-10). Nehemiah interceded for the people of Israel and God spared them. God spared Nineveh with the preaching of Jonah. Jesus of the New Testament is the Jehovah of the Old Testament (Heb. 3:1).

But, missions is not the ultimate. God Himself is. He seeks His own glory (Psa. 96:4)! We have the joy and honor to participate in the very passion He has for His own glory (John 15:11; 17:13)! Christ, the God-Man, was God’s Messenger as well as the living Message to the world. He is the Essence and Core Theology of world missions, the Example to all who would follow Him in global missions today. Biblical theology of missions is not to be man-centered based on his needs, whether spiritual or physical.

Jesus began His mission to the Jews first, but His mission was to the world. In the Gospel two truths are emphasized: God loved the world (John 3:16)--all races, all classes, Jews and Gentiles, in all walks of life, and at all levels of society. Christ died for all (II Cor. 5:15). He was the Light of the world (John 8:12) and the Lamb which takes away the sin of the world (John 1;29), the Savior of the world (John 4:42). In the Gospel of John, “kosmos” (Greek for world) is used 77 times. He was the Bread of Life. In the Parable of the Weeds, the field is the world (Matt. 13:38) and the temple was to be a house of prayer for all nations, not to the Jews only (Mark 11:17). Jesus obtained by His death and Resurrection eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12), for the sins of the whole world (I John 2:2), the Savior of the world (I John 4:14), and His mandate was to preach the Gospel to the whole world (Matt. 28:19, 20). The last great sermon is a missions call…a call to salvation.

Rev 22:17-And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.

The mission of the Church is simply an extension of the Incarnation of Christ (John 20:21). It is to be endued with the same power (Luke 11:13; Matt. 3:28, 29; 10:29; 28:19; John 7:38, 39; 14:12-17; 18:26; 15:26; 16:7-15). The mission of the Church could only be carried out in the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8). The Holy Spirit is also the Agent that calls to missions.

So, missions from Adam to the present has been an expression of the Trinity: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When God created the earth, the Spirit brooded upon the face of the waters. God slew an animal, thus signifying how man would need a sacrifice for forgiveness. Then God gave the prophecy about the coming of the Seed of Christ which would destroy Satan’s seed (Gen. 3:15). Thus, we have all of the Trinity involved in Creation and Salvation.

As we shall see, the ultimate motivation we shall look at is Christ, the Model Missionary in His life, His message, and His methods. We shall explore some of His characteristics in defining a Biblical Christo-centric theology of missions. Hopefully, we shall make personal applications based on His life and ministry. We shall begin our study with the goal of world missions. God’s plan of redemption will succeed: mission accomplished (Revelation 11:15-19; Matthew 24:14; Mark 13:10; Matthew 6:9, 10; 16:18, 19)!