Why Is It Important To See God As A Missionary God?

Why is it Important to See God is a Missionary God? – (Gen. 12:1-20)

Quote: God only had one Son and He sent Him to earth as a missionary. W. T. Watson

Quote: For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory both now and to day of eternity. (Rom. 11:35,36)

1. God is a Lord of promises. (Gen. 12:1-15) God gave a great promise to Abraham which we are now able to participate in. The emphasis is on what God would do far more than on what Abraham was expecting to attempt. There was a triple fulfillment of the promise:

A. The promise was partially fulfilled in Abraham’s day and throughout the period of the OT.

B. The promise was fully portrayed in the life of Jesus.

C. The promise will be perfectly fulfilled at the end of the age.

D. The promise is now being fulfilled as He builds His church.We must understand the grounds upon which missions rest otherwise we will tend to give in to the hostile, apathetic or incorrect views that people have about the great commission.

Many people think that the Christian missionary enterprise is politically disruptive and religiously narrow-minded because it makes exclusive claims that Jesus is the only way to salvation. People say, “Religion is my own affair. You mind your business and I’ll mind mine.” Only when we understand the Lord’s attributes as one who gives His love to the whole world, every tribe, every tongue, every people and every nation (Rev. 5:9) will we fully be able to worship, obey and trust Him in all things.

2. God desires and commands that we worship Him alone. Only when we worship God, Christ and the Holy Spirit as a missionary God – true apostle (sent forth one) will we be able to have the perseverance, courage, humility and love to be effectively involved in the missionary enterprise.

3. God is an overcoming God who makes us more than conquerors through Him who loves us. (Rom. 8:37,38) We can then claim the promise, “Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” (Rom 12:21) Allow the life of Christ to overflow, overshadow and overpower any oppositionary force to the advancement of Christ’s church and kingdom. (Matt 16:18) Jesus said, “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”

4. God can only be understood when we love, trust and obey Him. (John 14:21) Jesus said, “He who has my commands and keeps them He it is who loves me and I will love Him and disclose myself to Him. When we understand Gen. 12:1-12 then we see that missions are a matter of trusting, obeying and worshiping the Lord instead of merely responding to the need of the hour. Let us trust and obey for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

5. God is the source of true satisfaction, fulfillment and meaningfulness. True satisfaction comes when we hunger and thirst for righteousness. (Matt 5:6-8) Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be satisfied. God’s righteousness is the only hope for peace, blessing and reconciliation in the world. All other promises, process and patterns are mere false hopes or temporary solutions for problems that do not treat the root cause - the sinful nature of mankind.

6. God is a global Lord on mission of whom Jesus said, “God so loved the world.” We need to be on mission with God. Many people in American think narrowly about the USA only represents 4% of the world’s population but the Lord loves all 6.3 billion people on the planet equally because He created us for His glory, fellowship and purposes. God is a God of global purposes whereas we tend to see life through our shriveled vision that is limited by our own concerns and culture and worldview. We lay hold of God’s vision by knowing and following the Lord toward a vision which extends far beyond ourselves and horizons.

7. God is the foundation by which we get everything pertaining to life and godliness. We must understand the grounds upon which missions rest otherwise we will tend to give in to the hostile, apathetic or incorrect views that people have about the great commission. Many people think that the Christian missionary enterprise is politically disruptive and religiously narrow-minded because it makes exclusive claims that Jesus is the only way to salvation. People say, “Religion is my own affair. You mind your business and I’ll mind mine.” Only when we base missions and everything upon a complete understanding of the character of God we will be able to see our complete adequacy, source and power in His divine nature and the fulfillment of everything we need.