And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6,7) C. Missions in the New Testament Since the Israelites failed to be a kingdom of priests, Christ provided away for people from any nation to be a priest. Christ died as a ransom to pay for sin, and serves as Mediator between God and man. So those who repent and believe in Christ are forgiven of sin. Since Christians are forgiven of sin, they can serve as priests who tell others about God 1. Jesus It was not the purpose of Jesus to serve as a missionary to the nations in his incarnation. Jesus focused on bringing the message of salvation to the Jews. But there were isolated incidents of Christ sharing the Good News outside the purely Jewish culture. For example, Jesus led Samaritans (Jews who were intermarried with other cultures) to faith ( see John 4:39-41). Instead of evangelizing Gentiles, Jesus primarily trained disciples to be missionaries. Jesus was the ideal model for church planters. He demonstrated how to make disciples, to evangelize, to preach, to teach, to shepherd his sheep (care for his disciples. He taught by example, teaching his disciples to follow his lead. He took his disciples with him, letting them observe him daily. Jesus instructed his disciples to put into practice what they learned.
Share with your friends: |