Mission: God’s Sovereign Plan for the Whole World Missions Awareness Month Series, Part 1 Genesis 12:1-3 March 2, 2014 Pastor Paul K. Kim

DEBUNKING FOUR COMMON MYTHS ABOUT MISSIONS Myth #1: “Missions is only for extraordinary Christians.” Myth #2: “Missions is more for big churches.” Myth #3: “Involvement in missions is great but optional.” Myth #4: “I plan to get involved in missions when I have time and resources.”

BIG PICTURE: THE STORY OF THE MISSION GOD FOR THE REDEMPTION OF ALL PEOPLES 1)It is the sovereign God of the universe who calls us to his mission. Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. (v. 1) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God. Isaiah 45:5  This is not just “a tribal God” but the One True God who created the universe and all peoples of the earth.  He is the God of history—God has the sovereign plan to which we are called to join in.  Hence, our missions is a part of God’s own mission/plan.

BIG PICTURE: THE STORY OF THE MISSION GOD FOR THE REDEMPTION OF ALL PEOPLES 2)It is the sovereign grace of God by which we are blessed as the covenant people of God. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, (v. 2a) As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” Romans 9:25  To be called and blessed by God is completely by his sovereign grace and through his covenant with us.  God called us out of mercy and grace in Christ through his covenant with Abraham, one man to all peoples.  Hence, missions is a way of God-centered living in which we can respond to God’s BIG PICTURE of his plan.

BIG PICTURE: THE STORY OF THE MISSION GOD FOR THE REDEMPTION OF ALL PEOPLES 3)It is the sovereign purpose of God that we are blessed to be a blessing to all peoples. 2...so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” (vs. 2b, 3) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...” Matthew 28:19a  God’s purpose for blessing us is this: we are blessed to be a blessing—this is, in essence, what missions is all about.  We are to see ourselves and our lives as a conduit of God’s eternal blessing for all peoples of the world.  Hence, missions is not optional—but it calls for our obedience in this season of our lives for the glory of God!

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, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Revelation 7:9-12

Our God Is a Missionary God If God has promised to bless “all the families of the earth,” he has promised to do so “through Abraham’s seed” (Gen 12:3; 22:18). Now we are Abraham’s seed by faith, and the earth’s families will be blessed only if we go to them with the gospel. That is God’s plain purpose. I pray that these words, “all the families of the earth,” may be written on our hearts. It is this expression more than any other which reveals the living God of the Bible to be a missionary God. It is this expression too which condemns all our petty parochialism and narrow nationalism, our racial pride (whether white or black), our condescending paternalism and arrogant imperialism. How dare we adopt a hostile or scornful or even indifferent attitude to any person of another color or culture if our God is the God of “all the families of the earth?” We need to become global Christians with a global vision, for we have a global God. So may God help us never to forget his four-thousand-year-old promise to Abraham: “By you and your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” ― John R. W. Stott

THREE PRACTICAL QUESTIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE 1.What must be changed in you to see the BIG PICTURE of the sovereign God who calls you to be a part of his plan/mission? 2.What myth or obstacle do you need to overcome in order to begin to participate in missions—not later but in this season of your life? 3.In what ways can you live out God’s purpose of the BIG PICTURE—that you are blessed to be a blessing to others and to all peoples? What is your first step?