The Mission of God – Week 3
The Mission of God in the Church
This week, we’re finally getting into what is usually taken to be the starting point of missions – The mission of God in the Church. The mission of God in the people of God.
The past two weeks have been necessary to lay the foundation for understanding the Mission of God flowing, first and foremost, out of who God is (his nature as the triune God) and then unfolding throughout his one unified plan of redemption, from OT to NT, creation to new creation.
You’ll recall two important concepts.
- Centripetal and Centrifugal. Toward the center and away from the center.
As we’ve seen, God’s Mission first follows a centripetal pattern, through a process of election. God is accomplishing his mission—his plan of redemption – through a particular people. Israel is like a magnet, designed to draw the nations in.
And God’s mission narrows down to a singular point—the life, death, and resurrection of (Incarnation/Atonement/Resurrection/Ascension) of Jesus. Christ fulfills all the OT covenants. Everything was pointing forward to him and finds its fulfillment in him and the new creation.
And today, we will look at that outward explosion – the centrifugal movement of God’s mission after Jesus has now made it possible from people of every tribe, tongue, and nation to get in on God’s covenant promises.
- Trinitarian Mission
Last week, we talked about God existing as Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And the “Trinitarian Mission” refers to 1) the Mission of God the Son Incarnate and 2) the Mission of the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
There were two trinitarian terms we learned:
Ad intra – Who God is in himself. (Immanent or ontological Trinity.) Eternally existing as one God in three persons: Father-Son-Holy Spirit
Ad extra – God’s work (economic Trinity) action in the world
Last week we looked at how the Mission of the Son (God’s sending of the Son) occurs in time with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
Likewise, the Mission of the Holy Spirit occurs in time through the promised Spirit who would proceed from the Father and the Son and would be poured out on all flesh at Pentecost.
The mission of the Holy Spirit was promised by Jesus.
The Upper Room Discourse (John 14-16), Jesus promises a future coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, or Helper. (what follows comes from Gregg Allison and Köstenberger, The Holy Spirit, chapter 14 and 15).
“The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.” (John 14:26)
“When the Counselor comes, the one I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me.” (John 15:26)
“I am telling you the truth. It is for your benefit that I go away, because if I don’t go away the Counselor will not come to you. If I go, I will send him to you.” (John 16:7)
Taken together, these verses demonstrate that the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. The Spirit proceeds from the Father, and Jesus himself will send the Spirit.
This is sometimes called double procession. But this whole idea leads to what’s known as the filioque controversy.
Filioque Controversy. There is a split among the Eastern and Western churches today on this. The Orthodox (eastern) maintain that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. The Western church says he proceeds from the Father and the Son.
In 589, a church council, Third Council of Toledo, added the Latin word filioque (“and the Son”) to the Nicene Creed.
So now, the creed says, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.” (embarrassing story visiting an Anglican church – who did not use the filioque)
All that to say—it’s political… and I believe the biblical evidence suggests the double procession.
The Mission of the Holy Spirit is actualized on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), where the Spirit is poured out on all flesh, thus continuing the ongoing presence and power of God to accomplish his mission in and through the Church. (We’ll talk more about this in detail later).
The Mission of God in the Church, then, is dependent upon the Mission of the Holy Spirit. The mission of God in the Church is a part of “the one mission of the Triune God.” (Allison, 422, The Holy Spirit).
The Missional Nature of the Church
Before we get into the particulars regarding how the Mission of God in the Church unfolds in the NT story… let’s think about the Church’s nature, broadly.
What is the church? Here’s a definition by Gregg Allison (my PhD dad):
“The church is the people of God who have been saved through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ and have been incorporated into his body through baptism with the Holy Spirit.” (Sojourners and Strangers, 29).
The church is made up of regenerate believers. Membership in the church is demonstrated through baptism. A public declaration of faith and formal entrance into the life of the church body.
The church has a missional identity. Here’s Gregg Allison again: “The missional church is identified by and engages in the missio Dei” (148).
So, As J.D. Payne writes, “Mission began with God, is sustained by God, and will culminate with God. Mission is not an activity developed by the church; rather, the church participates in God’s mission. Mission belongs to him.” (Theology of Mission, 9)
Here’s what this means. Missions isn’t something the church “has” independently of God. Mission is God’s idea. Mission doesn’t originate from the church. Missions is not a program. Rather, God creates the church through his mission.
The church is then enfolded into the mission of God and becomes a part of God’s mission.
What the church does, flows out of what the church is. (The church is missional, and thereby engages in mission).
Historically, we’ve defined the nature of the church this way:
The Nicene creed says we believe in “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church.”
Unity: The church is characterized by unity. Unity of sound doctrine as it accords with Scripture. The metaphors of Scripture… we are one body, under the authority of Christ, who is head of the church. (We might laugh at the idea of unity with all the different denominations… but on essential matters—i.e., The Apostles Creed, The Nicene Creed, which are nothing more than concise summary statements about what Scripture teaches—all Christians agree).
Holy: The church is characterized by holiness. (Again, we may be tempted to laugh—yeah right… another day, another headline about some fallen pastor, etc.) But the holiness in view here has to do with how the church is set apart for God and his purposes. The church is the body through which Christ will continue his work until he comes again in glory.
Catholic: The church is catholic!? Okay, Aaron—whoa, whoa, whoa. Not catholic in the sense of the Roman Catholic Church. Catholic comes from a Greek word that means universal. The church in a universal, global sense. All times, all places. (lowercase c, capital c) The universal church is manifested in local churches. That’s how you find and become a part of the universal church— in the local church!
Apostolic: The church is apostolic. It is founded upon the teaching of the apostles. We understand this to mean that the church is apostolic if it adheres to the teaching of the apostles that was written down in Scripture.
(Gregg Allison, The Church: An Introduction, ch 3)
Let’s tie this all together.
The church is the regenerate people of God… and as such, it’s important to understand that the church is missional.
Mission is an essential identity-marker of the church
Here’s Gregg Allison again…Lengthy quote, but worth quoting in full… He’s going to summarize the past two weeks in a single paragraph:
“the church is missional, that is, the body of divinely called and sent ministers proclaiming the gospel and advancing the kingdom of God. […] There is one mission of the triune God, and it is given to the church as its witness empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Father commissions the Son with the mission of becoming incarnate, living a holy life, dying, resurrecting, and ascending to accomplish salvation for sinful human beings. In turn, the Son commissions his disciples with the same mission, with this modification: the church is sent not to accomplish salvation but to announce the salvation accomplished by the Son and how to appropriate it. The mission is all of a piece. It is not two missions but one, from the Father to the Son and from the Son to the church.” (The Holy Spirit, 422).
To sum up: There is one mission of the triune God (with two aspects, i.e., the mission of the Son and the mission of the Spirit – but these are subsumed under the one mission of God).
The mission of the Spirit-filled church, then, is to continue to announce to the world the salvation accomplished in and through the Son.
The Post-Resurrection Appearances of Jesus
So that was a broad conception of what the church is… the church’s nature, etc. So now that we’ve thought about the church broadly… let’s do a biblical theology of the church’s mission… mission in the church as it unfolds through Scripture.
A starting point for thinking about the Mission of God in the Church is with Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances.
John chapter 20 is sometimes known as the Commissioning Scene (20:19-23).
The disciples are on Covid lockdown… fearful, downcast, fragile. Their hiding behind locked doors for fear of the Jews.
Jesus, in his physical resurrected glorified body passes through the doors and stands in their midst.
He tells them “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”
This centrifugal movement is going to be “transferred” if you will to the disciples. The disciples are drawn into the Mission of God. They are going to be participants in a new way—extensions of God’s continued activity in the world. This is going to be accomplished (appropriated) through the Holy Spirit.
Vs 22 “And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
Does that mean they received the Holy Spirit right then before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in Acts 2? Are there two “Pentecosts”? (A Pentecost in John and a Pentecost in Acts?) I don’t think so.
I agree with Köstenberger, who writes, “The reference to Jesus’s breathing on his disciples while saying, ‘Receive [the] Holy Spirit’ probably represents a symbolic promise of the soon-to-be-given gift of the Spirit, not its actual impartation, which occurs soon thereafter at Pentecost.” (77).
And in John 20:22, we have fulfillment in view with the verb “breathed on.” It’s the same verb form of when God imparts physical and spiritual life to Adam.
The initial creative act of God anticipates the regenerative, restorative, and re-creating power of the Holy Spirit that will be poured out on all flesh in Acts 2.
Creation to new creation. Jesus breathes on them and now constitutes them as a new messianic people who will continue the Mission of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
They will receive the Holy Spirit, and one of the purposes of receiving the Holy Spirit is to further the Mission of God through the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18), the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins for those who believe in Jesus.
The Great Commission
We move from the Commissioning scene to the Great Commission. Matt 28.
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
First thing to take note of here is the fact that some of the disciples doubted. Isn’t that interesting?
But this whole experience must have been disorienting and surreal. They had certain expectations… it seemed like those expectations were shattered… and then the resurrection.
And they were already on lockdown for fear of the Jews. If the resurrection is true—as it is—they now know that they’re going to potentially suffer for it. They’ll be enemies of the Jewish religious leaders. Guilty by association with the scandal of a crucified Messiah. Jesus would have been viewed as a seditious enemy of the state. He was a “traitor” who led a failed uprising.
So… The Great Commission is triumphant. The Resurrection is triumphant. Don’t get me wrong. But some among Jesus’ disciples had their doubts. They were fearful.
So, Jesus responds by commissioning them under his authority. For those who worshipped and for those who were doubting (what does this mean for me?) Jesus says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”
All authority is foundational to the “Go.”
It’s God’s authority… in his power and in his name. It’s not a self-granted authority. For those who are fearful about what this might mean for them…
We can hear echoes of Jesus’ words earlier in the gospel: “do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” (Matt 10:28).
Don’t fear them—you’re going in my power and in my authority.
Then there’s the famous “Go.” The image is not the starting pistol at a track meet. The verb form is actually “as you go.” So, it’s a “as you’re walking around.” “As you live your life.” As you are out and about in the world—
Make disciples (make students of Jesus).
Panta ta ethne. (of all nations). All the nations…
Ethne is the root word of our word for ethnicity. So it’s not formal nation states in view here.
It is more likely that it is people groups. All ethnic groups from around the world. A multi-ethnic multitude. The gospel of Jesus knows no racial barriers.
Of course, there have been evil distortions of the Bible to reinforce racist ideology… (e.g., The Bible told them So) But that’s only half the story.
But it is because of this understanding that the gospel is for “panta ta ethne” that forgiveness of sins is available to all people and all ethnicities that led many Christians to get behind the abolitionist movement.
The abolitionist movement and the civil rights movement were largely successful because of the religious foundation. And the foundation of both of those movements was the idea of human dignity based on the doctrine of the imago dei. (don’t want to be too controversial, but there is a clear difference between the abolitionist movement, and civil rights movement and the BLM movement today… the religious foundation).
People from every tribe, tongue, and nation. That’s the vision that will find it’s fulfillment in heaven as the multi-ethnic multitude gathers around the throne of God and worships.
Rev 7:9 “9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands…”
Every nation – ethnous… all ethnic groups.
So, as we go—we are to make disciples from all people groups… baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Teaching them to obey all that I have commanded. Discipleship is at the heart of the Great Commission.
Dallas Willard’s book The Great Omission says the church has “omitted” or forgotten this fact. Discipleship is for the world.
And then, the Great Commission concludes with Jesus’ promise of his continued presence and power for ministry. He is with us always—this will culminate with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Luke-Acts
Jump to the book of Acts. The Acts of the Apostles. This is the story of the early church- the people of God.
And it’s not a new story ex nihilo. There is one God – one story. Luke-Acts is actually a two-volume work. Luke is about the life and mission of Jesus. Acts then is designed to be a continuous development of that story as Acts tells the story of Jesus’ continued presence to empower the church as it is part of the Mission of God.
Luke ends with the ascension of Jesus. Acts begins with the ascension of Jesus… told from another angle.
The ascension of Jesus is about his enthronement. e has been vindicated as the Son of God because of his triumph over death in the resurrection… and now in ascending to the heavens, he is exalted as holding supreme authority.
Acts continues the story of Jesus’ ascension.
Jesus tells them to remain in Jerusalem and await the promised Holy Spirit.
And here we begin to see the centrifugal movement of God’s mission.
Jesus says in Acts 1:8
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In the past, in the OT, the Spirit would rush upon people to empower them temporarily for a specific purpose. There was no sense of permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the OT.
So in the OT, the Spirit will “come upon” someone… but it’s temporary and for a specific task or purpose. This filling is usually indicative of showing God’s favor upon an individual.
David is anointed as King and the Spirit “rushes upon” him for that specific task (1 Sam 18).
Or think of Saul… 1 Sam 10, the Spirit rushes upon him and he prophesies… And then after Saul’s sin, 1 Sam 16:14, the Spirit of the Lord departs from Saul.
Following Saul’s sin, the Lord removes his favor and his empowerment for Saul—he is no longer fit for office. The Lord removes the Spirit (for empowerment).
So with that in mind think of David’s cry in Psalm 51 after his sin of adultery… “take not your Holy Spirit from me.”
Take not your Holy Spirit from me like you did Saul. And does God? No… because God entered into covenant with David—God would be faithful even where David failed. God doesn’t allow David to build the temple. God forgave David of his sin, but his life suffered the consequences of his decision that he never really recovers from.
So – when we think about the activity of the Spirit… this is where covenants are important. We have to think about what covenant are we “under.” Today, we are under the new covenant. We have the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit (I don’t believe one can “lost their salvation”).
So, we might think—Ps 51 “take not your Holy Spirit from me” must mean that if I sin, God will remove his Holy Spirit.
No… they were under a different covenant. And the Spirit operated differently.
The Spirit would empower someone for specific tasks in the OT. Now, in Acts, this is why Pentecost will be so significant. The Spirit will be poured out on all flesh—and this is understood to be a permanent indwelling of God’s Spirit—the promise of the new covenant.
Pentecost
Acts 2
What is Pentecost – why is it significant?
Pentecost marks the giving of the Law to Moses at Sinai.
To use Paul’s language… now we are no longer under the Law as a covenant… we are now under the Spirit. So Pentecost will mark a new outpouring a new moment in the Mission of God.
This is tied to the fact that God’s kingdom has come. In the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Jesus is now seated and enthroned as the Davidic King… and he now will pour out his Spirit to mark the fulfillment of the new covenant age in which he will write God’s law on our hearts through the Spirit.
And here it’s important to see how the Great Commission is tied to Pentecost. Great Commission Jesus says all authority has been given to him… and he promises to give us the Spirit. So the Spirit is associated with power. God’s power and authority will now be given through our union with the Spirit.
Acts 2:1-4
2 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested[a] on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now, I’m not gonna get into this business with tongues. Here, I take this to mean different languages… and that makes sense to me if we understand this passage in the larger biblical narrative.
So here are the major connections with Acts 2 and the OT.
Tower of Babel (Genesis 11)
This is a reversal of the tower of babel incident. God confuses the people’s languages and scattered them across the face of the earth.
Here, you have the nations gathered in one place all understanding each other.
Moses receives the Law at Sinai (Exodus 20)
Now… we are in the age of the Spirit.
Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2)
With the new covenant will come the outpouring of the Spirit. Marking God’s new covenant people.
As we look at Peter’s sermon in Acts 2, he wants to demonstrate how Jesus is the fulfillment of all that has come before.
**Something to take note of throughout the book of Acts—you look at the pattern of Peter’s sermons and speeches… Stephen’s speech, etc. – you have the theme of fulfillment.
“Scripture had to be fulfilled.” “As it is written…” … The gospel that the early church proclaims is the fulfillment of the Mission of God in the OT and in the life of Jesus. They proclaim that Christ died in accordance with the Scriptures. Here, in Acts 2, “according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.”
And Peter’s sermon concludes with an evangelistic gospel invitation. “Repent and be baptized.” For the promise of forgiveness and salvation belongs to all peoples.
Pentecost marks just the beginning of what will continue to work itself out throughout Acts—all the way to the present day…. Here at River Community Church in the café on a Sunday afternoon.
Acts 13
Major turning point in Acts is what happens in Antioch.
Paul gives a major sermon demonstrating that the gospel included the gentile mission.
It’s important to consider Paul’s life before this. I won’t rehearse the story that is likely familiar to you all. Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Acts 9.
There’s a great article on the Gospel Coalition called “No, ‘Saul the Persecutor’ did not become ‘Paul the Apostle’”
The argument goes… There is biblical historical precedent for God changing people’s names. Abram/Abraham. Exalted father to Father of Multitudes.
But there is no textual evidence that is what happened with Paul.
Rather, it’s a textual technique employed by Luke. So—God did not change Saul’s name to Paul.
The shift from Saul/Paul actually occurs in Acts 13 with Paul’s sermon at Antioch, which is about the gentile mission away from Jerusalem.
This is significant because Paul is the Greek name/ the Greek version of the name Saul. Paul views himself as the apostle to the gentiles… so this is just a textual feature that is acknowledging Paul’s unique mission to the gentiles.
So, what happens at Antioch?
Paul gives a sermon about the Mission of God! He preaches Christ from the OT.
Read: Acts 13:16-41
To summarize: Direct line of continuity of the Mission of God now extended in the missional nature of the church. There is one mission of the Triune God. The Father commissions the Son. The Son commissions his disciples with the same mission, empowered by the Holy Spirit… to accomplish God’s plan (to announce God’s salvation) in and through the church.
Three final considerations about the Missional nature of the Church
Gregg Allison (Sojourners and Strangers, chapter 4).
The church is:
- Expansive
- Contextually sensitive
- And (potentially) catholic/universal
Expansive. We’ve talked about the expansive/centrifugal nature of the church. Manifest through the book of Acts.
Day of Pentecost – approx. 3000 souls. The church spreads with breathtaking momentum. Despite all the church’s problems and persecution early on… “The Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”
God’s abundant blessing was on the church. The end of Acts is “unfinished.” It ends with Paul continuing to proclaim the gospel… and this is designed to draw our attention to the fact that this work continues in and through the church today.
Contextualization. Acts gives us different examples of how the gospel is contextualized in different communities.
Contextualization does not mean that the content of the gospel changes… but the presentation of the gospel changes mindful of that certain audience.
We might think of Peter’s Jewish audience in Acts 2 at Pentecost. His sermon was full of the OT… because these people knew the OT.
Acts 14… these peasants think Paul and Barnabas are gods. He says—no, we are just like you… we’re men. But let me tell you about the living God. (no lengthy OT narrative). Rather, he just spoke about the living God who was the creator of heaven and earth.
And the famous scene with Paul at the Areopagus. Paul among the Greek philosophers, Acts 17. Paul quotes from Greek poetry… and he uses their Greek poetry as a launching point to demonstrate the fullness of the truth as revealed in Scripture.
This is the challenge for us that happens every day around the globe. How do we bring the gospel to the surrounding culture. We don’t change the gospel message. But we need to speak in a way that the gospel makes sense.
Honestly, this would be a great question to ask next week. What does contextualization look like in their ministry context? (A great – if controversial movie that depicts well the problem of contextualization is Silence by Martin Scorsese).
Catholic/Universal. The goal for the church is that it would extend broadly throughout the entire world. The church is designed to be catholic. It is designed to spread globally.
The church is spreading rapidly in the global South right now… (non-Western places). So many scholars talk about the future of the church looking very different… as it grows in South America, Asia, Middle East, Africa.
Implications
Connect the Great Commission to the OT.
Missions is not a program, it’s an identity (A sent people: paradigm shift)
Missions is not sociology; Missions is not merely providing for social needs (case study: Protestants Abroad)
How are we to be involved in missions as we await Christ’s return?