Missions: A Journey with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

In the Old Testament, God revealed Himself through chosen men like Abraham, Moses, and David to orchestrate His reconciliation plan to the world.  The seed promised that would crush the serpent’s head can be seen played out through the narratives in the Old Testament.  This journey with the Father was known, yet little was known about the roles of the Son and Holy Spirit until the New Testament.  Does God do everything alone or choose to work through His people?  We can look at Amos 3:7, which says, “For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants, the prophets.”  God the Father shows us his plans for us to fulfill the mission by working with Him.  Secondly, His coming to Noah, Abraham, and Moses with instructions shows that He desires to work out His Kingdom reign involving us along the journey.  The beauty of this is that His desire for us to “know Him more” happens as we walk with Him, just as it was in the garden.

In the New Testament, we are shown the mission of Jesus as He reveals the heart of the Father.  He has made us a kingdom of priests to serve His God and Father (Rev. 1:6). The mission of the church that Christ established is to declare the gospel centrifugally to the whole world, and then the end will come.  The great commission was not an issue in the early church because, by default, those who followed Christ witnessed for Him.  We are disciples of Jesus and are viewed as seeds and laborers in the harvest of souls. (Matt. 9:37-38)

I can see both attractive and expansive forces working in the New Testament plan of God.  In Acts 2, the early church had to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit, which was the baptism of fire from Jesus.  This was in love, unity, and obedience, which looks like an attractive force.  Afterward, we see the boldness in Peter and others to go to the world with this mission and proclaim the good news!  In summary, we are called to a mission with our Lord and Savior, Jesus, to bring His power and authority to free the captives.