The "Lost and Found" Chapter in the Bible

Luke 15:1-5 "Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” 3 So He told them this parable, saying, 4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing."

Introduction:
In every church there is what is called a "lost and found" room. This designated room, shelf or place in an office is where one can find lost Bibles, hats, shirts or toys. Amazingly, as a pastor, I have never once had a lost phone put in a lost and found area (people keep track of their phones, I suppose). When a given item is found by its owner or the one looking for it, there is an expression of relief; in other cases, joy or jubilation. I myself had recently lost a set of important keys. I searched and searched for two days. When the keys were found, I told two other people (it was a cause for celebration)! Lost and found rooms or finding valuable items that we thought would never be retrieved entail life's little victories. 

There is one sort of seeking and retrieval that can never compare: namely, when God convinces a sinner to forsake their dependence on themselves and their sins and to trust in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Luke 15 represents what one could call the "Lost and Found" chapter in the Bible. When we say "Lost and Found" we are referring to how this theme threads its way through three parables told by Jesus concerning:

a).  the finding of a lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7) 

b). a lost coin (Luke 15:8-10) 

c).  a lost son (Luke 15:11-32). 

We want to consider the broad details of Luke 15 to grasp this theme of "lost and found".

1. What is lost and found is very valuable 

Jesus begins with a sheep. A valuable animal for sure. However, in the second parable, we find the losing of a coin which represents a larger proportion of the woman's wealth in the parable. The third parable presents the most valuable thing that, when lost, and then found, cannot be compared in terms of value: namely a human soul. Jesus purposefully strings three parables together like a string of pearls to drive home the point of the value of the lost item or person to the one desiring to be reconnected to it. So, we find then that the value of a lost soul being reconciled to God is extremely valuable. Now notice the second trait...

2. Whatever is lost and found was desperately lost

Once again, we find Jesus presenting this theme of "what was lost is now found". We saw the emphasis of value, now we consider a second trait of the lost items or people in these parables: namely their desperation. As Jesus shared these parables, everyone would had identified with them. Who hasn't lost an animal (or in their case, a sheep). Who hasn't lost money? Who hasn't had a wayward child? Each situation presents an increasing level of desperation, a decreasing likelihood of the object being reconciled to the person and a greater amount of effort expended to find it. Finding a lost sheep requires the shepherd leaving the 99 to search hills and valleys for that one lost sheep. The parable of the lost coin entails a woman searching in the cracks of her stone floor. The cracks are thin and the house would be dimly lit. To be able to find such a coin in such conditions would, amazingly, be even harder. What about a lost son coming back to his father. The situation is so desperate, the assumption is that the runaway son is dead. 

The level of desperation for a lost soul is more profound than anyone can imagine. The decreasing proportion of the lost item to the overall remaining items or people (one sheep in one hundred, one coin in ten and one of two sons, or we could even say, both sons) only highlights this second point of the value of the lost item. Only God can save lost souls. 

3. What is lost and found is cause for joy when found 

So far, we have seen Jesus teach about the value of the lost and the desperate situation of the lost. Jesus then, in all three parables, gets to the point when their is joy over finding the lost item or person. Virtually the same phrase is said once the item is returned or found. The shepherd says when finding the lost sheep in Luke 15:6 "And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ The woman exclaims after finding her lost coin in Luke 15:9 "When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!" Then of course, the greatest exclamation of joy of finding what was formerly lost is the Father's words concerning his formerly wayward son in Luke 15:24 "for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate." As a matter of fact, the joy of the Father is so emphasized that we find him proclaiming his joy once more at the close of the third parable in Luke 15:32 "But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

4. The Father rejoices when what was lost is found

So we have seen how much the lost are valued, in a desperate condition and the joy experienced when the lost are reconciled or found. We find the Father (God the Father) to be present in incognito throughout these parables and increasingly identified in all three. He is likened to a shepherd in the first parable and alluded to as the source of rejoicing in Heaven whenever one lost sinner is found. In the second parable, we find Him likened to the owner of a house and then (indirectly) alluded to as rejoicing in the presence of His angels (see Luke 15:10). The third parable features a father figure showing lavish grace. We expect by the nature of the progression to have the heavenly Father directly identified. 

Interestingly Jesus concludes the parable with the tenderness of the father figure toward his son and his conversation with his older one pointing the way to the heart of the Heavenly Father. The actions and words of the father-figure so capture the character of the Heavenly Father (which no man has seen, nor can see), that Jesus' parables together capture the efforts of the Father in seeking the lost. 

Closing thoughts
Today we have explored Luke 15 by considering the theme of "lost and found". We noted how Jesus ultimately points to how God the Father is seeking after the lost. We noted the following four observations that tie together the three parables found in Luke 15...

1. What is lost and found is very valuable

2. Whatever is lost and found was desperately lost

3. What is lost and found is cause for joy when found

4. The Father rejoices when what was lost is found

God's greatness shown from the Father explains evangelism

Psalm 67:1-2 "God be gracious to us and bless us,And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah. 2 That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations."

Introduction:

Why does the church engage in the activity of evangelism? Over the past couple of posts we have proposed that the only answer that makes sense is for the greatness and glory of God. God's glory and greatness is the mission of the church and the message of the Gospel. We have seen that God's greatness through the Person of the Son, Jesus Christ, establishes evangelism's foundation. He is why we do what we do. We aim to make Him known and aim to know Him. We then considered that by the Person of the Holy Spirit, the greatness of God empowers the work of the great commission. Through both the Son and the Spirit, the greatness of God is the driving motivation and message of the mission. God's greatness is shared co-equally and eternally by the Son, the Spirit and the Father. In today's post we want to understand how God's greatness from the Father explains evangelism.

God's greatness from the Father explains why we do evangelism as Christians
Inasmuch sinners need to hear the gospel and be saved from the wrath to come, unless God's glory is the chief reason for our evangelism, we won't do our evangelism out of desire. Certainly seeing our families, loved-ones and friends saved from sin, satan and the coming judgment ought to be motivation enough. Sadly, as Christians we battle with left over sin and if God's glory and greatness is not our chief motivation, we will do what we do out of guilt, emotional manipulation and duty. Our depth of commitment to sharing Jesus with unconverted people will be no deeper than our highest view of God's greatness. 

Missions and evangelism are the Father's idea, not our own. Henceforth our evangelism must begin with God, go to man and end up back at God. Consider some passages below that reinforce this line of thinking. Psalm 67:1-2 "God be gracious to us and bless us,And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah. 2 That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations." Unless the greatness and glory of God (which is His greatness put on display) is frontloaded into our missionary strategy, both His way and salvation won't be made fully known among all peoples. Psalm 99:1-3 proclaims - "The Lord reigns, let the peoples tremble;He is enthroned above the cherubim, let the earth shake!
2 The Lord is great in Zion, and He is exalted above all the peoples.
3 Let them praise Your great and awesome name; Holy is He." Isn't this the goal of our evangelism - to tell sinners that God reigns and that He has claim on their lives and that they need to surrender to King Jesus by faith? 

Prophetic texts repeatedly state that the Messiah, the Savior, would be "sent" by God. This act of sending entails two Persons. Isaiah 52:13-53:1 states -
"Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted. 14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred more than any man And His form more than the sons of men. 15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see, And what they had not heard they will understand. 53:1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?" We know that the "arm of the Lord" is none other than Jesus Christ, since New Testament passages like 1 Peter 2:24 expound on Isaiah 53 as being about the sufferings of Christ in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecies. The Father is the One who sent the Son into the world, as explained by the very familiar text of John 3:16. 

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 gives us the clearest statement regarding the Father's plan of worldwide missions - "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God,who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." The text of 2 Corinthians goes onto explain how we are God's ambassadors. What do ambassadors do? They represent the interests of the sending nation or monarch. We proclaim God's greatness to a people who think that other things are great but not God. Scripture reminds us that mankind has been blinded to the truth of God's greatness (2 Corinthians 4:1-4); is spiritually dead to such truth (Ephesians 2:1-3) and gladly exchanges His glory for created things (Romans 1:21-25). Mankind intutitvely knows of the greatness of God as seen in the general revelation of creation (Psalm 19:1-2; Romans 1:18-20). Despite knowing about God, unbelieving man suppresses such knowledge and knowingly rejects Him. God the Creator of all men only becomes the Father to believers once the Spirit's convincing work of receiving Jesus Christ by faith is confirmed by a response of faith from the sinner's heart. (Romans 8:14-16; Galatians 4:6). 

Unless God's greatness is made the priority starting point and endpoint of our evangelistic efforts, reaching lost souls for His sake will have no lasting passion nor ultimate purpose. Today I want to close with this amazing insight from John Piper regarding God's greatness as our mission as Christians and the church - "God is calling us above all else to be the kind of people whose theme and passion is the supremacy of God in all life. No one will be able to rise to the magificence of the missionary cause who does not feel the maginificence of Christ. The will be no big world vision without a big God. There will be no passion to draw others into our world where there is no passion for worship." Piper later adds: "Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exist because worship doesn't." May that be our mission: the greatness of God from the Father, through the Son, by the Holy Spirit explaining, empowering and establishing the mission of the church. How great is our God!

God's greatness shown by the Holy Spirit empowers evangelism

Acts 1:8 "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Introduction:

Yesterday we began considering how God's greatness is the drawing power of the great commission. In all reality, God's greatness is the mission of the church. We labored yesterday to understand how God's greatness is revealed in the Son, Jesus Christ, and how He stated repeatedly in John's Gospel that if He be lifted up, He will draw all men unto Himself. Matthew Henry in his great commentary explains the importance of Jesus' words - "The great design of our Lord Jesus, which was to draw all men to him, not the Jews only, who had been long in profession as people near to God, but the Gentiles also, who had been afar off. For He was to be the desire of all nations (Haggai 2:7), and to Him must the gathering of the people be.  Henry later adds - "Observe how Christ is all in all in the conversion of the soul. First, It is Christ that draws: 'I will draw'. It is sometimes ascribed to the Father (John 6:44), but here to the Son, who is the arm of the Lord. He does not drive by force, but draws with cords of a man (Hosea 11:4; Jeremiah 31:3), draws as the loadstone (a magnetic stone). The soul is made willing, but it is in a day of power. Secondly, it is to Christ that we are drawn." Then Henry finally adds - "Christ was now going to heaven, and he would draw men's hearts to him thither." Hence it is God's greatness in Jesus Christ that is the power of the Gospel. (Romans 1:16) Today we conclude this short series of posts by noting how this same power of Deity is expressed through the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.

The Greatness of God draws sinners to saving faith by the Holy Spirit

In the opening verse of today's post, it is made clear by Jesus that the church would not be able to achieve the great commission without the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is equal in authority, glory and power to the Father and the Son. (John 14:23; Acts 5:4-5; 1 Corinthians 3:16) When we speak of the greatness of God, we speak equally of how the One Divine essence that defines the Oneness of God is expressed equally and totally by each Person of the Godhead, with our focus here on the Holy Spirit.

Scripture asserts that the Spirit works in evangelism to point the way to the Greatness of God, since He as the Third Person of the Trinity shares in that same, undivided Divine essence with the Father and the Son. Without a doubt, the greatness of God through the Person of the Holy Spirit is credited in the scriptures for the success of the early church's evangelistic efforts. Acts 2:4-6 states - "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. 5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language." It quickly must be noted that the "tongues" spoken on the day of Pentecost was not some type of escatic speech or prayer language as advocated by groups today, but rather literal languages previously unlearned by the speakers. The Spirit gave them the ability to preach the Gospel to over a dozen nationalities. What was the message and thrust? Acts 2:11b explains - "we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” The Holy Spirit is the Person in the Godhead who chooses to shine the spotlight on the other Two Persons - the Father and the Son. His role is to get the sinner to go from being manward and inward to being transformed into someone by faith who focuses outward and Godward. 

The greatness of God was the draw proclaimed by the early church, all thanks of course to the power and Person of the Holy Spirit. Acts 16:14 indicates that the Lord (in this instance, the Person of the Holy Spirit) had opened up the heart of a woman to receive the goodnews of Jesus Christ, believe and be saved. Paul prays in Ephesians 1:16-18 - "do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints." The Holy Spirit's work of continuing to make known the greatness of God to believers enables them to be motivated to make such Greatness known to others. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:10-13 about the Spirit's work in the scriptures - "For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words."

Henceforth we cannot expect to proclaim the Gospel from the scriptures nor share how great God is in a convincing way apart from the work of the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit labors to make known the greatness of God revealed in Jesus Christ as His chief mission, we must therefore see it to be our chief aim. This is why God's greatness is the drawing power of the Great commission, because the Person of the Spirit labors through us and in the hearts of sinners to respond, believe and be saved. 

God's greatness shown through Jesus Christ establishes evangelism

John 12:32 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself."

Introduction:

What makes the great commission so powerful? How is it that the church expects to influence unconverted people for Jesus' sake? What is the "draw" so to speak in our efforts to evangelize and do missions in our neighborhood, state, nation and our world? Is it technique? Is the ability to win converts to saving faith based upon our efforts, marketing strategies and ability to make our churches "seeker friendly"? The answer given by the modern day church would be in the affirmative. But what does Jesus teach us and how does the wider context of scripture answer such questions? Frankly, the only drawing power we have in the presentation of the Gospel is the greatness of God. Notice...

The greatness of God the Son draws sinners to be saved

Whenever we turn to the Gospel of John, the phrase "lifted up" appears on several occassions with reference to the accomplished work of Jesus Christ. Jesus is presented as God in human flesh (John 1:14), and thus is the Greatness of God revealed in full humanity and undiminished deity. Jesus at the beginning of his earthly ministry referred to his "lifting up" in John 3:14 "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up." Jesus was predicting early on the manner in which He was going to be displayed as God's banner of salvation, God's ensign, for all to see. The famous verse of John 3:16 reveals that Jesus was sent, indicating His pre-existence. Moreover, John 3:16 reveals further that Jesus Christ is God's "only-begotten" Son, indicating His sharing in the same eternal nature as the Father who sent him. 

Other passages in John add further details to the greatness of God in Jesus Christ as being the drawing power of the mission given to the church. John 8:28 states - "So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me." Is not the goal of evangelism to know Jesus and make Him known? How do we do that? We elevate and exalt the greatness of God revealed in Jesus Christ. As He is lifted up before the eyes of the sinner, the promise is given: "then you will know that I am He". As the Spirit of God does His convincing work (John 16:8-12) and as the Father does His drawing work (John 6:44), the Son works with the Father and Spirit as One God drawing all kinds of people from every nation, tribe and tongue to the cross. We read in John 12:32-34 "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to Myself.” 33 But He was saying this to indicate the kind of death by which He was to die. 34 The crowd then answered Him, “We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?” Properly speaking, the "lifting up" of Jesus had to do with He on the cross being lifted up before the eyes of his enemies. As an event, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was a once for all event. (1 Peter 3:18) However as one commentator notes: "The word 'all', which he employs, must be understood to refer to the children of God, who belong to his flock. Yet I agree with Chrysostom, who says that Christ used the universal term, all, because the church was to be gathered equally from among Gentiles and Jews, according to that saying, 'There shall be One Shepherd, and one sheepfold, (John 10:16)." The great commentator Adam Clarke notes in his commentary regarding John 12:32 - "After I shall have died and risen again, by the preaching of my word and influence of my Spirit, I shall attract and illuminate both Jews and Gentiles. It was one of the peculiar characteristics of the Messiah, that unto Him should be the gathering of the people be." Clarke quotes Isaiah 11:10 in support of this understanding - "Then in that day the nations will resort to the root of Jesse,
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious." Without the greatness of God revealed in Jesus Christ, there is no personal draw available for missionaries and the church to convince sinner's of their greatest need - the Great God. Jesus has revealed Him perfectly (John 1:18), is God in human flesh (John 1:14; 1 Timothy 3:16) and is necessary for the gospel to work. After all, tethered to the great commission is Jesus' own self-declaration of His greatness and Divine authority in Matthew 28:18-20 - "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” The greatness of God in the Son is the drawing power of the great commission and the greatness of God in the third Person of the Trinity acts in the same manner, which will be our focus tomorrow.

God's Greatness is central to evangelism

Romans 11:25-26a "For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; 26 and so all Israel will be saved.....".

Introduction: A Father's great love towards two people who didn't deserve it 
I'll never forget the time I attempted to build a stool for my mother's birthday. My father was a carpenter and so I asked him how I needed to go about doing the project. After he explained to me a basic plan, I went to work. Sadly, I thought I knew better than my dad and so I chose my own plan and went about finding some scraps of wood and borrowing an old worn-out handsaw. As a young adolescent boy, it became immediately clear that my father's carpentering abilities had not been inherited in the genes. After about an hour into the project, I realized the stool was going to take longer than I had planned. My little sister came along trying to help, only to be met by a smug and overbearing big-brother telling her to go way. It did not take long until we got into a big argument. I called her names and thought I had finally taken care of any more attempts on her part to "help". My sister thought it would be wise to take the pieces of the project and throw them into the weeds. 

Now I'll admit, I totally deserved it! The problem now was we had the classic "two-wrongs don't make a right" scenario. Moreover, my dad had to hear the whining adolescent brother complaining about his sister and the little sister crying because of the hurtful things that had been said. The project was doomed. By the way we both had handled out disagreement, my dad could had said enough was enough and not be obligated whatsoever to intervene and complete a project that we obviously could not finish. 

But do you know, my dad not only intervened, he ended up building a far better stool for my mother and get this: after working with us to reconcile our differences, the day came for my mother to get the stool and my dad gave my sister and I both the credit. It was obvious he did the work and it was even more obvious that because of him and what he taught us in our relationship with him, everything got achieved, and then some. Neither my sister, and even moreso neither did I deserve that gracious intervention from my dad. I more than she had been overbearing, and in many ways her actions were provoked by mine. Nonetheless, my dad did not give up. 

Today's post is all about highlighting how God's greatness overcomes a great problem through His greatness. God's greatness is man's greatest need. Unless God's greatness in the glory of Jesus Christ is proclaimed as the prime motive and purpose of missions, the effort to evangelize will quickly run out of fuel and fervor. To see how God's greatness is so central to evangelism, we will consider three headings: A great problem, a greater solution and the greatest truth of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

The Great-problem: Humanity has rejected the Great God
Two groups of people, the Jews and the Gentiles, had separately rejected God and were at odds with one another. The greatness of Romans 11:1-32 is found in Romans 11:33-36. The Jews had been given everything they needed to achieve God's purposes, and they rejected Him in exchange for a plan of their own. Romans 9:4-6a states - "who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the templeservice and the promises, 5 whose are the fathers, andfrom whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. 6 But it is not as though the word of God has failed." God didn't fail, nor His word, but rather the failure to respond to God's gracious calling lies with man. With that said, Paul raises and answers an important question in light of the Jews rejection of God and the Messiahship of the Lord Jesus Christ in Romans 11:1a  "I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be!" The Gentiles are now being given the opportunity to hear the Gospel and respond to God's gracious offer of salvation. 

The Gentile nations had not exhibited any better track record than the Jewish people, and are really no more deserving of God's grace than Israel. The Gentiles are guilty of the unthinkable: exchanging and trading the Greatness of the God who made everything for lesser, created things. Romans 1:21-23 "For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." Both Jews and Gentiles have a great, insurrmountable problem of which is a result fo their own doing. Unless a greater solution is offered, there will be no hope nor answer. The book of Romans indicates that God justly hands over Gentiles (Romans 1:25-31) and Jews (Romans 11:21) to receive justice. This is the great problem - man's lostness, enmity with God and condemnation.

The Greater solution - the Greatness of the Gospel 
However the Book of Romans and the whole Bible tells us that God is not giving up. There is a great salvation. Romans 1:16-17 reminds us about the Gospel - "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” One of the definitions I have heard about God's righteousness is that it is His greatness and glory put on display. The greatness of the Gospel is plainly stated in Hebrews 2:3 - "how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard." Now what makes this Gospel so great? Hebrews 2:4 reveals the source: "God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will." 

Because God is such a great God and because God has set his affection on a large number of people from every nation, including the Gentiles, salvation's plan is going to be achieved because God desires to reconcile people from every tribe and nation and tongue, Jews and Gentiles, who respond to the Holy Spirit's saving call to them to believe, repent and be saved.   

The Greatest truth of God revealed in Jesus Christ 

Whenever you read Romans 11:25-32, the essential message is two-fold: Israel has not been ultimately rejected but momentarily set aside by God and the Gentiles are being now given the opportunity to be called by the Spirit to respond to the message of the Gospel. Evangelism and missions makes no sense without God's greatness. 

Romans 11:25-32 is tethered to the great doxology of Romans 11:33-36, which spells out clearly how great God is. Romans 11:33-36 contains over 50 words, and yet those 50 or more words cover such vast stretches of eternity and time and glory. When we walk across the suspension bridge of Romans 11:33-36, we are looking as it were into the very heart and majesty of God Himself. If we had more time we would break down this amazing text. Suffice it to say, I know of no other text in the New Testament that captures what is meant by the greatness of God. God's greatness is not so-much captured by a well-articulated definition as it is an outpouring, awe-inspiring fountain of thanksgiving and worship (what we all a doxology). 

When Jesus gave His great commission in Matthew 28:18-20, He reminded His disciples of the fact that all power had been given to him on heaven and on earth. Why? Because He promised them that He would remain with His church until the time He returns. Jesus could not make such a promise unless He was the Great God revealed in human flesh. Titus 2:13 "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."

Closing thoughts
Missions/evangelism needs the Greatness of God. If God is not great, then the Gospel is not good news, since it claims to reconcile sinners who respond by grace through faith to this Great God. The Great problem and Greater solution both need the Great God. Whenever we take in God's greatness, the reasons typically given for not sharing the Gospel are defeated: fear of rejection, lack of confidence and ackwardness. God's greatness cannot be contained. Think about it: an entire universe was made just to declare the glorious greatness of our God. (Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-20) God's greatness is central to our evangelism because: A great problem, a greater solution and the greatness of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

The "co" in commission - God's intention to co-operate with believer's in the Great Commission

Acts 2:47 "praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved."

Introduction:

These last several days have been devoted to thinking through God's mission to save sinners. We have looked at how the Bible describes God as the Sole, Great Missionary. The mission for which He has in saving sinners that He sets His affection upon and calls to respond, believe, repent and be saved is of His doing. God in the Person of the Father invented missions; the Son issues forth the mission and the Spirit empowers the mission.

The last several posts have intentionally labored to demonstrate that without God, there would be no mission. With that emphasis, we must now consider by what means God has ordained to execute the mission which He as Father invented, as Son issued and as Spirit empowers. It is at this point that the term "mission" must be prefixed with the little letters "co". In other words, the mission of God presented in the Bible is really the co-mission including His people telling those who are not yet His people how they can be His people. 

As I think about my involvement in the preaching of God's word, I really am just an incidental, small conduit. God really does not need me to achieve His purposes of grace in gathering those sinners whom He desires to save. Yet, God chooses to use the foolishness, fraility and at times ackward, often times weak and many times inefficient means of preaching to win sinners unto Himself. (1 Corinthians 1:17-21) God, like us, uses means as well as ends. The pre-fix "co" is small in comparison to the grander word "mission". The prefix "co" by itself means nothing. Yet in the hands of God, "co" is transformed into a powerful, effective tool. God chooses to use the church, composed of regenerate saints. This is not my plan, nor your plan, but His. 

God's intention all along in inventing, issuing and empowering His mission to save believing sinners and to redeem this fallen created order has been to have a co-operative work with His people. He intends and invites you and me believer to go forth, make disciples, baptize and teach His word. The evidence for this truth is legion in the New Testament. In the verses below it will be seen that the early church took their central identity as those who were in a "co-mission" with God to win others to Jesus. Notice....

1. Acts 4:4  "But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand."

2. Acts 4:32 "And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them."

3. Acts 5:28-29 "saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men."

4. Acts 6:7 "The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith."

5. Acts 8:4 "Therefore, those who had been scattered went aboutpreaching the word."

6. Acts 14:17  "and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

7. Acts 14:27  "When they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles."

8. Acts 16:31 "They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

9. 2 Corinthians 5:19-20 "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

10. Philippians 1:27 "Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of thegospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel"

11. Colossians 1:6 "which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it andunderstood the grace of God in truth."

12. 1 Thessalonians 1:8 "For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has gone forth, so that we have no need to say anything."

13. 3 John 1:3 "For I was very glad when brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you are walking in truth."

As you read through the first sixty years of church history recorded in Acts And the Epistles, you see the people of God working with God in carrying forth the Great Commission. Whether persecuted, whether taunted, whether with low resources or whether in plenty, the church of living God rose to the occassion and by the Spirit's empowerment, the Son's issuing and the Father's intention proclaimed the Gospel far and wide. Such a vision is the church's today. May we go forth and work with God as he so desires to work with us!

The Holy Spirit empowers missions

Acts 1:8 "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Introduction:

The last couple of posts have focused upon how the great commission is really God's mission. The Person of the Father is the One Who invented missions. All missionary efforts have their origin in the mind and heart of the Heavenly Father. We then saw that the Person of the Son issues forth the Great commission. The three Persons of the Godhead work together in and through One another to put forth and execute the missionary endeavor. Today's post will feature the Person of the Holy Spirit. What role does the Holy Spirit have in missions? God in the Person of the Father invented missions and in the Person of the Son issues forth the command to go into all the world. The Holy Spirit, as we shall see, empowers missions. Whenever we consider all Three Persons, we can say that God is indeed the Great Missionary.

The Holy Spirit empowers missions
Acts 1:8 is Jesus' restatement of the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 along the lines of the Holy Spirit's specific role. Before anyone can "go into all the world to make disciples" or baptize or teach the Word of God, the pre-requisite empowerment of the Holy Spirit must be in place. The Triune God is the power source behind the Great commission - as will be seen by the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. God prescribes the Great Commission, as already seen in the achievement of the Son. God has planned the beginning and outcome of the Great commission, as witnessed in our past study of the Person of the Heavenly Father. God planned it, prescribed it and empowers the mission - we as His people need to trust Him and go forth, carrying forth the message of the Gospel to a lost and dying world. 

The Book of Acts details for us how the Holy Spirit empowered the early church to do it's missionary work. Acts 1:8 gives the reader a nice outline of the entire book. Thus notice the following key thoughts in our consideration of how the Holy Spirit empowers the Great commission.

1. "but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you...."
This first part of Acts 1:8 covers the first two chapters of the Book of Acts. The disciples waited in the upper room and the Holy Spirit descended. Power from on high was given and the flame of the Spirit has burnt in the church ever since those early days. 

2. "and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem....."
As the early church began to meet, worship, break bread and adhere to the Apostle's teaching, word spread quickly with regards to this new Christian movement. As the Apostles preached the Word of God, multitudes were converted (Acts 2:41; 4:4), miracles were wrought and the early church grew. Acts 4:33 notes - "And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all." As the church grew and spread through Jerusalem, persecution arose. Though greatly afflicted by their opponents, the early church thrived under hardship. Acts 8:4 records - "Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word." The Spirit empowered the church to go from Jerusalem into the next region....

3. ...."and in all Judea and Samaria...."

Acts 1:8 continues to explain the overall spread of the church by the Spirit empowered strategy given by Jesus. The church would eventually spread into the surrounding regions of Judea and Samaria. Just as there was a Jerusalem Pentecost with the brithing forth of the church in general, Acts 8:14-17 records a Samaritan smaller version of the Spirit's outpouring: "Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent themPeter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for themthat they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply beenbaptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then theybegan laying their hands on them, and they werereceiving the Holy Spirit." Once again the Holy Spirit was empowering the church to go on mission and spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. However there was one more element to the overall strategy we read of in Acts 1:8....

4. ...."and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The Samartian and Judean mission of the church, led by Peter and eventually featuring the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, would stretch from Acts 9-12. With the conversion of Saul of Tarsus to becoming Paul, the early church would expand into Gentile lands. How would this be possible? The Holy Spirit would pour out Himself not just once, but twice in Acts 10:44-48 and Acts 19:6-8. By the end of Acts, we see Paul's missionary journeys early completed. Within a span of 30 years the early Christian movement would come to encompass nearly the entire Roman world, growing from over a 100 to tens of thousands. Acts 28:30-31 closes out the book with these words: "And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered."

Thus we can see that the Great Commission is God's mission due to the fact that it is empowered by the Person and work of the Holy Spirit. He is the One who convicts and calls forth sinners unto salvation. (John 16:8-16)

The Son Issues forth missions

Matthew 28:18-20 "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Introduction

In yesterday's post, we saw that God in the Person of the Father invented missions. God sought after sinners such as Adam, Abram and the children of Israel. We then saw secondly that He spoke the Gospel to them. Thirdly God chose to send His grace so that those whom He sought would respond in faith and repentance and be saved. Then finally we witnessed the fact that God supplied a substitute for Adam and Eve in the form of two innocent animals, foreshadowing what would be the sending of His Son in human flesh. (John 3:16) It must be noted that God the Father did not invent missions after the fall, rather God had His missionary strategy in His mind from all eternity. (Ephesians 1:1-5; Titus 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:9-10) 

Today's post wants to continue on uncovering this remarkable truth of the fact that the Great commission is truly God's mission. We saw already that the Father invented missions. But now what about the Person of the Son? In the opening passage of today's post, we see the Son issuing forth the great commission. As we shall see, the Son has equal authority and status as the Father, which is why it can be said that the mission of the Gospel is as much the Son's mission as it is the Father's. Below we will point out a few thoughts....

1. The Son's Supremacy is the basis for the Great commission. Matthew 28:18
Christ's supreme Lordship is revealed through His Word.  The great late pastor and theologian Dr. W.A Criswell writes in his commentary on Revelation about Revelation 1:19 - "The Great Executor of this Divine plan is none other than Deity Himself.  Christ is not one thing in one age and another thing for another age and another time and another country and another people.  Christ is the Lord God, 'the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).  

2. The Son's Strategy guides the Great commission. Matthew 28:19
Notice the four-fold strategy laid out by the Son: 

a. Go 
b. make disciples  
c. Baptize these disciples  
d. Teach the disciples. 

How is a disciple made? We pray to the Lord of the harvest that laborers would be sent, that those laborers (all true Christians) would share the Gospel and that the Spirit of God would attend such communication with conviction leading to faith and repentance. (John 16:8-12; Acts 13:45; Ephesians 2:8-9; 2 Timothy 2:25) God makes disciples through our efforts of presenting the Gospel. (Romans 10:8-17) So then when a disciple has been made through Spirit wrought faith and repentance, what's the next step? Baptism. I puzzle over how people can confuse this plain order and teaching of Jesus, yet the commands are plain: make disciples first, then baptize them. Then finally teach them. We teach them the Word of God which is effective in the saving of their souls and ours. (1 Timothy 4:16)

3. The Son's Spiritual presence encourages the great commission. Matthew 28:20 

How can it be that God the Son is able to remain with His church while being in Heaven? This final verse speaks volumes to both the humanity and Deity of Jesus Christ, and how much the ministry of the Holy Spirit makes such a reality possible. On the one hand, we know that Jesus ever remained a human being with a glorified, physical body. He ascended and is awaiting the time the Father tells Him to return back to earth. Thus touching His humanity, Jesus Christ is localized in heaven. Yet the Person of the Son is also Divine, sharing in the same nature as the Spirit who brings His Person and power to His people. By the Holy Spirit we are able to enjoy the Person of the Son. As God He is able to be with us. As man, his humanity and all its properties, though localized in heaven, yet are communicated mystically by the Spirit in the union we have in Christ. Thus it can be literally said that when the church is carrying out the great commission, the Lord Jesus Christ is ever with His church.

Closing thoughts
We saw today that the Son issues forth the Great Commission by way of His Supremacy, His Strategy and His Spiritual presence. Bryan Beyer, Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Internation University Seminary and School of Missions in Columbia South Carolina, writes: "Jesus plays the central role, as the living Word, in prosecuting the mission of God in the world. His coming was repeatedly announced with anticipation by the Old Testament writers. Jesus' titles and roles from both Old and New Testaments likewise point to his central role. Jesus taught the Word of God with authority, but more than anyone else he embodied the Word of God by his life. Our challenge and calling as Jesus-followers is to lay hold of that Word, to lay hold of God's mission, and to allign ourselves totally with His purpose. To know Him is life itself (John 17:3), and to make Him known is our only reasonable response (2 Corinthians 5:14-21).1

Endnotes:
1. Mike Barnett, Editor., Robin Martin, Assoc. Editor., Bryan Beyer: Jesus Christ and the Living Word in the book: "Discovering the Mission of God." IVP Academic. 2012. Page 128

God the Father invented missions

Genesis 3:7-9 "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. 8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

Introduction

When it comes to considering missions in the Bible, where is the first place to look? Many would rightly point out Matthew 28:18-20, which is called by many "The Great Comission" by Jesus to His church. Others may point back much earlier to Genesis 12:1-7 wherein God is calling forth Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees to be a blessing to all the nations and thus laying the ground work for the Abrahamic Covenant. Indeed both of these texts are fundamental when it comes to understanding missions and evangelism in the Bible. Both Genesis 12:1-7 and Matthew 28:18-20 demonstrate that God's missionary heart runs from Old to New Testament. However there is one text that I would suggest gives us the very first mention of the great commission, a text that features God as the first and lone missionary - Genesis 3:7-21. 

God the Father invented missions

Genesis 3:8-21 presents the tragic scene of Adam and Eve right after their epic rebellion in the Garden of Eden. The following pattern witnessed in Genesis 3:8-21 gives us a general pattern for which we see God's master plan missions throughout the Bible.

1. God seeks sinners. Genesis 3:8-14
God as the Person of the Father pressed further into the garden with the idea of having a face to face conversation with his now estranged created son and daughter. The Hebrew of this text suggests that God is persisting in His efforts, with the Spirit of God blowing away the path directly to fallen man. The Father ever sends forth His Spirit to engage the heart of sinners, and that initial pattern is what we see here. Genesis 3:8 depicts the man and his wife going into hiding and shame from God. Thus we see that it was not man who invented missions - but God. The Father's first missionary effort involved Himself seeking after a lost son - Adam. 

As one scan the remainder of the Old Testament, we can see this pattern time and time again of the Father initiating the effort to seek after those who are lost and whom He has set His affection. Abram was such a man in Genesis 12 whom God called out of Ur of the Chaldees. Though Abram was lost, an idolater and foreigner to the things of God (Joshua 24:1-2), yet God called Him forth out of darkness into light. Or how about Abraham's descendants some 430 years later. God called Moses to call them and lead them out of Egypt. After they left Egypt, God then gave instructions to Moses for the construction of the tabernacle. The Father desired to be in the midst of His people and thus tabernacled Himself in a tent. 

Is it no wonder that Jesus told the famous parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, featuring a father and not just one but ultimately two estranged sons. The Apostle Paul would later write in 2 Corinthians 5:18 "Now all these things are from God,who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation." The Father's will and the Son's will are not at odds, but rather are in perfect unity. The origin of missions began with the Father. The Apostle Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." God as Father is the One who seeks after sinners. But notice secondly...

2. God speaks the Gospel. Genesis 3:15
Genesis 3:15 has been termed by some as the first mention of the Gospel or the "protoevangelium". It is the first time God sets forth the promises of a redeemer who will defeat Satan. The "seed" of the woman will defeat the Serpent. This Gospel was stated by God and is developed in progressive, revelatory detail throughout the Bible. The "seed" promised in Genesis 3:15 is reitterated in sharper detail to Abram in Genesis 12:7. Through His bloodline is promised an ultimate seed who will bless the nations. A millennia later the "seed promise" is even more specified to King David in 2 Samuel 7:13-16 by means of the Davidic Covenant. Jesus of course is the fulfillment of both covenants in a specific sense as traced out in the opening genealogy of Matthew 1:1-17. Whenever we read 2 Corinthians 5:19, we discover God the Father making his appeal through the church: "namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation." So God as Father seeks after sinners and speaks the Gospel. Now notice the third pattern of God's invention of missions in Genesis 3:8-21...

3. God sends grace. Genesis 3:16-20
What is grace? Grace is God doing for us what we could never do for ourselves. In Genesis 3:16-19 we see how utterly helpless man is in repairing the covenant of works that was broken. God had issued forth commands to the man and his wife, and they chose not to heed that original covenant. Thus the man and his wife were naked both physically and spiritually before God. When Adam calls his wife "Eve" in Genesis 3:20, that is his "confession of faith" with regards to her role as a life giver. Adam had heard the first mention of the Gospel and God's promise to Eve in Genesis 3:15. 

The terms by which God chose to deal with man was going to be grace alone. No effort of man would be adequate to bridge the infinite chasm between himself and Holy God. Thus the salvation needed by man needed to come from God. God's dealings with man had always been by grace, even prior to the fall. God revealed His word - an act of grace. God placed Adam and his wife in a lush garden - an act of grace. Despite their rebellion and well deserved penalty of death, God chose to extend grace by means of the Gospel and thus the official covenant of grace. Adam's response of faith was a product of God's graceful dealings. Salvation from Genesis 3:15 forward would be totally from God, by God and for God. 2 Corinthians 5:20 reminds Christians of their role in God's great mission - "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
So God seeks sinners, speaks the gospel and sends grace. The pattern being almost complete requires one final element from God the Father on behalf of his estranged son and daughter, namely...

4. God supplies a substitute. Genesis 3:21
Genesis 3:20-21 records the first blood sacrifice in the Bible - "Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. 21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them." Unless innocent blood had been shed on behalf of the guilty, Adam and Eve would had to have borne the penalty due to them in the Garden. The resulting shedding of innocent blood and the covering of our original parents' nakedness provides a riveting picture and foreshadowing of what God had planned in the sending of His Son. 2 Corinthians 5:21 states - "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Other texts could be cited to demonstrate how God supplied the subsitute, Jesus Christ, on behalf of sinners. (John 3:16; 1 Peter 3:18 and many others)  

Closing thoughts
The point is clear, God the Father invented missions, as seen in the four following ways from Genesis 3:8-21

1. God seeks sinners. Genesis 3:8-14
2. God speaks the Gospel. Gen 3:15
3. God sends grace. Genesis 3:16-20
4. God supplies a substitute. Gen 3:21

The Bible's greatest missionary

IDENTIFYING THE BIBLE'S GREATEST MISSIONARY

As we consider today the greatest missionary in the Bible, we need to ask two questions: What is a missionary? Who is the greatest missionary in the Bible?

To answer the first question, a missionary is one who is sent to communicate a particular message to a particular people on behalf of the God of the Bible.  The word “mission” itself comes from a Latin word “missio”, which in its most ancient meaning referred to artillery that was “shot out” to a given target. Thus in the Old Testament, oftentimes the prophets were the ones sent by God to speak forth the message of salvation and repentance to the people. The term "prophet" in the original Hebrew refers to one "bearing forth" a message. In the New Testament, the original twelve disciples came to be called "the apostles" or the "sent ones" as the word translates from the Greek. These "Apostles of Christ" were directly called by Jesus, had witnessed His earthly ministry and post-resurrection appearances and did miracles in His name. (2 Corinthians 12:12) Though "Apostles of Christ" were a restricted group including the twelve and the Apostle Paul, another class of "sent ones" were called "Apostles of the church" and correspond to missionaries today who are laying new ground and expanding the frontiers of the Gospel. (see 2 Corinthians 8:23)

With regards to the second question: Who is the greatest missionary recorded in the Bible?  some may say the Apostle Paul, who wrote two thirds of the New Testament. Paul was declared to be the “Apostle” or “Missionary“ to the Gentiles (that is, the non-Jewish Nations).  Others may try to argue for the Apostle Peter, since he preceeded Paul's ministry and dominates the first 12 chapters of the Book of Acts and was the inaugural preacher on the day of Pentecost. Peter's sermon resulted in the salvation of 3,000 souls, so surely he would qualify. Still others may name a prophet like Moses, who was “sent” to the Jewish people in Bondage in Egypt. God used Moses to proclaim the Gospel to them, and by God's power Moses divided the Red Sea and the Children of Israel walked across on dry ground.

Though these are good suggestions, they are not even close.  The greatest missionary in the Bible is none other than God Himself. 

GOD'S FIRST MISSION

The first mention of missions in the Bible is found in Genesis 3:8-21.  The circumstances in the text follow the great rebellion of Adam and Eve against God’s command to them to “not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil”.  This command is the foundation behind what Bible teachers call “The Covenant of works”.  It was an arrangement given by God to man whereby Divine blessing and eternal benefits would be granted conditioned upon man’s obedience.  If Adam and Eve would had fulfilled the Covenant of works, they could had eaten from the tree of life, and entered into eternal communion with God.  Instead they chose to heed the voice of the serpent, and the Covenant of works was broken.

What was needed was another covenant, another arrangement.  God would have to be the one to do the work.  Man would never and could never attain right relationship with God through obedience.  It was going to have to be a covenant of grace, whereby God would extend Himself to man, with man receiving such grace by faith alone.  It is in this context we find God, the great missionary pursuing man.  Below is a brief outline of what God did, and is still doing today in His great missionary activity in this world.  Genesis 3:8-21 provides the seeds for understanding the missionary activity of God throughout the rest of scripture. 

SO HOW IS GOD THE GREAT MISSIONARY?

1. God seeks after the sinner Genesis 3:8-14

Notice how the man and the woman hide from God.  God is the one calling after them.  God is the One who comes down to them.  They are lost, needing to be found. Man blames God.  Man has no interest in reconciling with God.  He is content to remain where He is.  God is the one needing to affect the reconciliation

2. God states salvation to the sinner  Genesis 3:15

This verse is the first verse we see referring to God’s promises of a Redeemer.  “The Seed” is a term that when traced throughout the scriptures, leads to Jesus Christ. Genesis 3:15 also points to the great conflict between the people of God saved by Grace alone through faith alone and those who persist in their rebellion and unbelief.

The salvation that begun in a garden would find its resolution in another Garden, the Garden of Gethsemene.  In the first Garden Old Adam failed and refused to allign with God's will.  At Gethsemene the Second Adam, Jesus Christ, alligned his human will with the Father's Divine will and agreed to pay for our salvation.

3. God sends Grace to open the sinner’s eyes Genesis 3:20

Adam calls his wife “Eve”, the mother of living, in response to the promise given through her in Genesis 3:15.  This is what I term his confession of faith

The Bible is pretty clear that faith is a gift given by God, whereby we are set free to freely trust in Christ and confess with our mouth Jesus is Lord (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 10:9)

4. God supplies a Substitute to die in the sinner’s place  Genesis 3:21

God provided coats of skins from two animals He killed in place of Adam and Eve.  This sets the pattern of the innocent dying for the guilty and the blood being the payment in appeasing the wrath of Holy God.  God’s clothing of Adam and Eve meant He reckoned to them the fitness to be in His presence due to the innocent life of those slain in their place.  This is what we called “imputed righteousness”.  This is the cornerstone of salvation.  God’s declaration of this truth over us the moment we believe is what is termed “Justification by Faith”.

As we close out this post today, let us say: "Thank you Lord for being the Great Missionary!"