Matthew 28:19 (“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…”) is likely the most famous mission verse in the Bible – although it’s only one of the Great Commission verses. (See Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47, John 20:21, and Acts 1:8 for other iterations of this sending.)
God’s Mission, however, started long before Jesus’s resurrection and ascension and is in fact one of the central threads of Scripture – a theme running from Genesis to Revelation.
God is on a mission to get His lost children back.
Perhaps the first word of Gospel in the Scriptures is Genesis 3:9, “But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’” God was not confused; Adam and Eve had not hidden from His presence so fully that He couldn’t find them.
Rather, God was seeking out his disobedient children. Even though they had broken their relationship with him – trading honor for shame, innocence for guilt, peace for fear – yet He sought them out. This same God is still today seeking the lost – the foreigners, the exiles, those far away and without hope (Eph 2:12) – and calling them to Himself with a word of grace. “Where are you?”
Mission comes from the Latin word for send (v. mittere or n. missio) and when we read Scripture with eyes open for this theme, we see on every page that God is a God of sending.
God sent prophets, judges, and kings to His people.
- God told Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14
- “And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety.” 1 Samuel 12:11
- “And Samuel said to Saul, ‘The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel,’” 1 Samuel 15:1
God sent Christ to seek and to save the lost.
- “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Galatians 4:4-5
- “And Jesus cried out and said, ‘Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.’” John 12:44-45
God sent the Holy Spirit to His Church, to indwell believers and to teach, comfort, remind, bear witness, and empower them for mission.
- “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” John 14:26
- “Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’” Galatians 4:6
And God sends the Church – every believer – to participate in His Mission.
- “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.’” John 20:21
- “After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’” Luke 10:1-2
From the moment Adam and Eve sinned, God has been seeking the lost and sending people to participate in this mission with Him. God desires all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4), and he desires people of every nation, tribe, people, and language to come into the family of God by faith (Revelation 7:9).
So what does all this mean for you? Today?
- From the Garden of Eden, God has been on a mission to bring people back to Himself. This is still his mission for you and for all the peoples of the world.
- Scripture is the story of this mission. Reading with an eye for mission throughout the Scriptures (not just after Jesus’s ascension) gives a more complete picture of who God is and what He is about.
- You have a part in this mission. No matter who you are or what your gifts or career, you are one sent by God to bring people back to Himself. Ask Him to show you where and how He is sending you today (and in the future) and to give you courage to follow!
- As you go, know that you are sent as part of a long story of sending. You don’t go alone. Jesus is still on mission (Acts 1:1). God has sent you the Holy Spirit to dwell in you. And you are sent together with the Church – the cloud of witnesses that have gone before you and the saints who live now across the world.