MISSIONS: Passion for the World
The Genesis of Missions
by Pastor Dennis Mongoso
The first two chapters of Genesis might be so simple to read, but its profundity extend from the limits of God’s creative act, His creature and His mandate. Basically, our common understanding of the text is narrowed to what is explicit. However, these chapters teach us a lot more with regards to our divine and earthly role as His image bearers.
From this text, the Psalmist knew that God gives special attention to man; and on this text Paul drew his theological treatise on marriage.
The foundation of understanding world missions is also based on this text. On Genesis 1:26 God said to himself, “Let Us make man in Our image”. Here, God’s divine purpose for creation is clear, man (on verse 27, male and female He created them) is to reflect God’s perfect image on earth. God, giving His covenant of work, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule”, empowers man to display the excellencies of God. As God’s coregent and co-creator, man is to fill the earth with other God’s image bearing creations. For this, God at the end of the day “saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good (verse 31)”.
To put this in process, man bearing the image of God builds a family, family bearing the image of God builds a community, community bearing the image of God builds a nation, thus the earth is filled with God’s image bearer. This is the fulfilment of what Isaiah wrote – “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory (Isaiah 6:3)”.
Our primary goal in mission is for every man, tribe and nation to glorify God. Missions is all about God’s glory proclaimed to the everyone for them to experience and express.
God by himself can fill the whole earth with His glory. However, out of God’s divine prerogative He created man to bring forth that same glory back to Him. God is most glorified when man displays God’s excellencies in all aspect of life. This in fact is clear on Paul’s letters, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31)”.
In practical sense, our work area is our immediate mission field. Our Lord Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Our mission field then are places where people can see the glory of God through us that they in response will glorify God.
We have to constantly remind ourselves that doing missions is not about what we are doing for God; moreover it is about what God is doing through us. The “light” that shines in us is not from us but from God, our Lord Jesus Christ (John 8:12; 9:5). Jesus is the “light” that shines through us and in us.
God also said to Himself, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him (Genesis 2:18)”. Primarily, it is within a divine partnership that God’s purpose will be accomplished. Filling the earth with His glory is a mission not only for an individual but for a community. After giving the mandate to Adam, God emphasized the necessity of partnership or else the earth will not be filled with other image bearer. We are not to be alone in this task; it is our mission along with our fellow image bearer. It is the task of the church and not of an individual.
Therefore, in a nutshell we can say that Genesis is the beginning of God fulfilling a mission, Him creating a perfect world with beings that bears His image filling the earth with His glory. And this is part of the profundity of the first two chapters of Genesis.
CARE GROUP QUESTION: How am I showing God’s glory in my life? What are glorifying things that I am doing at home? Neighbourhood? School? Office?
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