On Mission with God
Discovering the primary purpose of the Church
Matt 28:18-19 The first passage from Matt is known as the Great Commission and is related to the mission of God I want to talk about today.
John 4:35-36 This second passages show us the urgency of the timing. The Time is Now!
- The mission of God is often referred to as the “missio dei” which is the Latin.
- Since the moment Adam and Eve fell in the garden God has been on a mission, the missio dei
- And that mission has been to restore the relationship between mankind and God Himself.
- The sin of Adam and Eve separated them from God.
- In the OT era God’s mission was primarily seen through the practice of the temple and priests.
- The priests would make animal sacrifices to make right for the moment the sins of the people.
- But this system was flawed in that the priests who made the sacrifices were also sinners.
- And the effect of the sacrifice only lasted until the next time you sinned.
- So, there was a need for the mission of God to advance.
- And that mission has been to restore the relationship between mankind and God Himself.
- Part of what the word mission means is to go or to be sent.
- God the Father sent His Son Jesus on a Mission to go to earth, to be sent, to finish the work of missio dei.
- Jesus comes to earth, lives a sinless life, and dies on a cross to be the final sacrifice needed to make right the sins of mankind before a holy God.
- He takes the place of the animals the priests used to sacrifice.
- Then after His death and resurrection, Jesus does something amazing.
- He hands off this missio dei to the Church for all people.
- Throughout the ages God has relentlessly been on mission to restore His people to Himself.
- That mission is now complete in the person and work of Jesus.
- Now the mission of God it to simply spread the word of what Jesus did.
- Jesus gave the church the Holy Spirit to empower us to take the baton of missio dei and run with it to spread the word.
- First, missio dei is first and foremost God’s mission.
- Second, the church does not have a mission of its own.
- Rather the primary emphasis for the church is what God did through Jesus for the redemption of the world.
- So, to be on mission with God, means to make Jesus known.
- And to be on mission means to go or to be sent. Across the street and around the world, local and trans local.
- Throughout the Gospels Jesus says again and again, GO! Matt 28:19
- God the Father sent His Son Jesus on a Mission to go to earth, to be sent, to finish the work of missio dei.
Now of course there is a problem
- Remember back in the garden when Adam and Eve fell into sin?
- There was a snake in that garden. The enemy the devil.
- The enemy will do everything he can to stop the mission of the church.
- Now the mission of the church is the primary target of the enemy.
- He must stop the church from making the missio dei from being known.
It seems that the church has been distracted from the mission of God.
- The church is consumed with meeting the needs of the people already in the church.
- I often wonder if the desire to have felt needs met in the church is the enemy’s tactic to keep the church from the mission of God.