Participating in the Missio Dei | Part 8
Last time (part 7), we saw how Jesus began to restore Israel to her calling of being a light to the nations by calling twelve disciples to learn from him, along with his call for people to repent of their sins, believe the gospel, and follow him. Jesus had ushered in God’s kingdom and invited all who would enter the kingdom through repentance and faith. Additionally, we ended up asking, “how can Israel live up to its God-given mission when it has failed significantly in the past? “
The answer to the question is God’s grace. Specifically, God’s grace in gifting his people the righteousness required to be the missional people God called them to be. There are three primary ways we see this occur in the New Testament.
First, God restores his people to a relationship with him through Jesus. Jesus says this in John 17:3:
3And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
The Old Testament prophets looked forward to the day when all people would come to know the Lord. We read this in Jeremiah 31:34 and Isaiah 11:9, respectively:
34“No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
9They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
In the gospel of John (chapters 14-16), Jesus describes how his disciples are invited into an intimate relationship with him and God the Father. What uniquely sets Jesus apart from the Jewish teachers is that he calls God his Father, pointing to his intimacy with God, primarily as his very Son in the flesh. Jesus’ Father becomes the Father of all who believe in Jesus and becomes a part of the family of God.
The second thing we notice about God’s gift to Israel is that Jesus proclaims the forgiveness of sins.Jesus liberates his people from guilt, shame, and the power of sin. The gift was also a promise of the Old Testament prophets. Jeremiah, for example, in the passage above, speaks of God’s forgiveness. Ezekiel speaks of the same in 36:25 and 33. If God’s people were to take up the call to be faithful witnesses of his reign and rule amid a broken and sinful people, they would need to experience the powerful forgiveness of God himself.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is the third evidence of God’s grace. Again, the Old Testament prophets pointed to a future blessing of God’s Spirit poured out on people. We read this in Ezekiel:
26And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV)
Joel also proclaims:
28“Then, after doing all those things, I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on servants—men and women alike.” (Joel 2: 28-29 NLT)
Jesus tells his followers that it is now possible to receive the Holy Spirit from God the Father because he has ushered in God’s kingdom:
13If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13 NIV)
Jesus offered Israel a new heart that would set them apart as the restored people of God. In this way, Israel could begin anew to be the missionary people God had set them apart to be. All three of the gifts from God above would help root God’s people in their missionary calling.
The fullness of these gifts would be experienced after Jesus’ death and resurrection and as he pours out his Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2). Jesus’ life and ministry demonstrate the power of the kingdom of God, which will likewise empower this gospel-centered community to be a light to the nations.
But what does Jesus expressly declare, demonstrate, and demand from his followers that show the world the light of God’s kingdom? We’ll tackle that question in part 9 next week.
