The Missionary Nature of God

God is a missionary God.  We could not know God unless God chose to reveal himself to us.  That we have a Bible in our hands and that the Bible is God’s revelation of himself clearly indicates that God desires to be known.  The question, then, is not “What is the Biblical basis of missions,” but “What is the missionary basis for the Bible?”

            The idea, then, of evangelism and missions—telling people who God is flows from the very nature of God himself.  Also, from Genesis To Revelation, God always reveals himself as the God of all nations, not simply the God of Israel. 

            Throughout the Scriptures, God reveals himself and his will to people. 

I.                    Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:8)

(In the Garden of Eden)

II.                 Abraham (Gen 12:1-3)

A.              The aftermath of Babel (Gen. 11:1-6)

1.            They had refused God’s command to disburse over the earth and were united in rebellion against God.

2.            God dealt with the rebellion by dividing them into various people groups (or ethnic groups) in order to reconcile them to himself.

B.  The Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 12:1-3)

1.            The posterity

2.            The land

3.            The seed (cf. Gal. 3:16)

C.  The Covenant is Reiterated to Both Isaac and Jacob

III.               The Nation of Israel (Ex. 19:6)

A.              The Psalms

1.            Ps 2:8 I will give you the nations as your inheritance

2.            Ps 46:10 “I will be exalted among the nations.

3.            Ps 67-Nine references to “the peoples, nations, the ends of the earth.”

B.              The prophets

1.            Is 45:22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth…”

2.            Hab. 2:14 The whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord.

3.            Joel 2:28-3:12 The Spirit of God will be poured out on all flesh, and God will judge all nations.

4.            Micah 4:1-4 Prophesies the day when all nations will come to worship God.

IV.              Jesus Christ

A.  The Incarnation (Jn 1:1, 14) (Gal. 4:14)

1.            The Word was God

2.            The Word Became Flesh

C.              The Cross

1.            2 Cor. 5:18 God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.

2.            2 Cor. 5:21 “God made him who….”

V.                 The Church

A.              The Great Commission

1.            Matthew 28:18020

2.            Mark 16:15-20

3.            Luke 24:47

4.            John 20:21

5.            Acts 1:8

B.              The Book of Acts