The Church and Mission

Write by:Gabe Powell

The theme of Scripture can be summarized this way: “The glory of God in the revelation and exaltation of His Son particularly through the salvation of sinners.” Immediately after the fall of man (Genesis 3), it was God who took the first step to reach out for man who sinned and save him. This salvific theme is evident in the first protoevangelium (Gen. 3:15). God’s plan was redemptive and/or salvific throughout the Bible. However, when we look deeper the theme is more than man’s salvation. The redemptive history is salvific but the ultimate end is doxological, i.e., God gets the glory!  “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast, and let not the mighty boast of his might, let not the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,’ dec lares the Lord” (Jeremiah 9:23,24). The apostle Paul admitted his limited comprehension of God’s deep wisdom and knowledge, Romans 11:33, then concluded doxologically in v.36, “For from Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever, Amen.” Similar doxological declarations are found throughout the letters of Paul (Romans 9:22,23; 1 Cor. 1:29-31; 2 Cor. 4:6; Eph. 1:3-14) and apostle John echoed a similar theme in Rev. 5:13,14.

John MacArthur affirms this God-glorifying theme as the purpose of the church. “We teach that the purpose of the church is to glorify God (Eph. 3:21), by building itself up in the faith (Eph. 4:13-16), by instruction of the Word (2 Tim. 2:2, 15; 3:16.17), by fellowship (Acts 2:47; 1 John 1:3), by keeping the ordinances (Luke 22:19; Acts 2:38-42), and by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world (Matt. 28:19; Acts 1:8).” In this list, the last is not the least. The phrase “by advancing and communicating the gospel to the entire world” is mission and evangelism. The first four God-glorifying ways necessitate the whole body’s participation especially the last one. It is important to impress this concept in the mind of every Hope Bible Church members.

We need to see and share the glory of God in the gospel. “The gospel is the self-authenticating display of the light of the glory of God in the face of Christ. The greatest good in the gospel is the gift of seeing and savoring the glory of God in Christ forever. This is supremely important if we would use the gospel biblically in evangelisms, missions, and the ministry of the church to sanctify the saints. The holiness of Christian people and the conversion of perishing people hang on seeing and savoring the glory of God in the gospel.”

Another point to consider in mission is a burden (as Jonathan Edwards described it) for ordinary people and illiterate unbelievers not just the educated. Where are these people? Answer: generally around us and in remote places. I wish I could do more. The two or three week overseas mission is a minutia compared to the time given by our missionaries in the foreign land. Can you honestly sing “O How I love Jesus” or the stanza “Take my silver and my gold not a mite would I withhold?” “We are poor evangelists because we have many idols in our hearts.” (Tim Keller).

John Piper concludes the doxological concept this way, “Therefore it is crucial for evangelism and missions that we understand that true saving faith is grounded on a spiritual sight of the glory of God in the gospel. This will have a huge impact on the way we think about missions and evangelism. The primary impact will be to make sure that the missionary and the evangelist are spiritual people who see and savor the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

Let’s go and make disciples for the glory of God!

We can apply Pastor Tony’s exhortation in the following ways:

• Consider how our ministry at Hope effects World evangelism
• Pray for a burden for souls
• Commit to participate in special meetings like the missions emphasis weekend that are designed to encourage us in the things Pastor Tony is talking about

Gabe Powell