Bible Basis of Missions

Involves the totality of human relationships. Far from being merely an imitation of people in another culture, identification means, not being someone else, but being more than oneself. It is a purposeful participation in the lives of others.

• -God cannot be tempted, yet Jesus was.
• -God is self-sufficient, yet Jesus was not.
• -God does not get weary, yet Jesus did.
• -God is omnipresent, yet Jesus was not.
• -God is all-knowing, yet Jesus was not.

• -Flesh and blood human being
• -No unfair advantage over the rest of humankind
• -Jesus did not cease being God, but in becoming a man he did
• -Jesus emptied himself of all the rights, privileges, and powers of deity.

Yes (Acts 10:38; John 5:30; Luke 5:16)

• -Complete submission to the Father's will
• -Fervent prayer life

By the miraculous power given to him

• -Jesus has been exalted to a position higher than his earthly role but not to his former state of equality with God.
• -Matthew 28:18—his authority has been given to him.
• -Christ’s oneness with humanity has not ceased.

It is everlasting.

• 1.) Unreserved Commitment to God
• 2.) Knowledge of God’s Word
• 3.) Sacrifice
• 4.) Humble Service
• 5.) Humble Obedience
• 6.) Compassion
• 7.) Love for the Lost
• 8.) Confidence
• 9.) Fortitude
• 10.) Also, courage, patience, prayerful, etc.

• 1.) Example
• 2.) Group Teacher
• 3.) One-on-one Counselor
• 4.) Soul-winner
• 5.) Discipler
• 6.) Peacemaker
• 7.) Leader
• 8.) Worker

• 1.) Jesus went to the people
• 2.) His message was relevant, understandable, and
• practical
• 3.) He worked with a team.
• 4.) He trained others to carry on his work.

• 1.) See the need
• 2.) Pray
• 3.) Take Action
• 4.) Understand what we are commissioned to do

• a. This was the evening of the resurrection day in Jerusalem
• b.The Lord has never asked his disciples to do anything that he was not willing to do himself.

• c.
• Christ’s followers are sent to do what Christ himself was sent to do.

• a. This discourse was in Galilee.
• b.The word translated “Go” is actually an aorist participle and is better rendered: “Having gone...”
• 1) Rather than giving a command to “go” (which is the implied imperative of John 20:21), here Jesus assumes that his disciples will already be going.
• 2) “Having gone,” Jesus says, here is what is to be done . . .
• b. Mathēteúō = “make disciples” or “train in discipleship,” by the two-fold
• process of:
• 1) “Baptizing” – one cannot be a disciple of Jesus without baptism (cf. Acts 2:37-38; 8:12, 36-39; et al.).
• 2) “Teaching” – one cannot be a disciple of Jesus without having been sufficiently taught (Luke 14:25-33; Acts 2:40; 8:12, 30-36; et al.).

• a. This was spoken by Jesus in Jerusalem as the disciples sat at the table.
• b.The message that is to be proclaimed and that undergirds the Great Commission is the Gospel (“Good News”) of Jesus Christ, including faith, repentance, baptism, and the remission of sins.

• a. This was spoken to the apostles on Mt. Olivet prior to Christ’s ascension.
• b. They were to begin where they were and branch outward.
• c.The rest of the book of Acts records the next 32 years of the Great Commission being carried out in Jerusalem, all Judea, Samaria, and beyond.

• Matthew 28:16-20
• A. Jesus is speaking to the eleven remaining apostles (v.16), thus the Great Commission is directly applicable to them.
• 1. However, the Great
• Commission is not limited to them.
• a. It would have been impossible for a dozen men, even with miraculous abilities, to evangelize “all the nations.”
• b.When the Great Commission was carried out in the first century AD, more thanjust the apostles were involved (Acts 8:1-5; 11:19-24; etc.).
• c.
• God desires the participation of every Christian, not just a select few (1 Cor.12:12-27).
• 2. Those who become disciples are to be taught “to observe all things” that Christ had commanded the apostles, which surely includes what he had just commanded: “make disciples of all the nations.”
• 3. Jesus’ promise cannot be restricted to the lifetime of the apostles: “and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
• B. This is consistent with what Paul later instructed: “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).

• Acts 8:1-4
• A. The persecution was not against church officials only, but against the whole church, both men and women (v. 3).
• 1. Those who were scattered “went everywhere preaching the word”(v. 4).
• 2. The term “preaching” (euaggelizomai) is not limited to public proclamation, but means “to proclaim as good tidings, to announce good tidings . . . to address with Gospel teaching, evangelize” (H. K. Moulton, Analytical Greek Lexicon 172).
• 3. The word is used with reference to speaking to an individual (Luke 1:19), two people (1 Thess. 3:6), a small group (Luke 2:10), or a crowd (Luke 3:18).
• B. Proclaiming the gospel message is not limited to full-time, paid evangelists (cf. Acts 9:20; 11:19-20; 18:26).

• 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
• A. This is applicable to “anyone” who is a new creation “in Christ” (cf. Rom. 6:4; Gal. 3:27).
• 1. Note the first person
• plurals (“we,” “us”) in reference to those who are in Christ:
• a. God “has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ” (v. 18a).
• b. And “has given us the ministry of reconciliation” (v. 18b).
• c. And “has committed to us the word of reconciliation” (v. 19b).
• d. “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ” (v. 20a).
• e. God “pleading through us, we implore . . .” (v. 20b).
• 1) Note: the “you” in most English translations is absent in the Greek text.
• 2) An alternative translation is: “We are therefore Christ’s representatives–as though God were urging action throughus; on Christ’s behalf we implore [people], ‘Be reconciled to
• God’.” (cf. R. K. Moore, “2 Cor. 5.20b in the English Bible,” The Bible Translator 54:1 [2003] 146-55).
• f. Christ was made “sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (v. 21).
• 2. Whoever has been reconciled to God through Christ not only has special privileges and spiritual blessings, but has also been given the responsibility of serving as Christ’s ambassador and fulfilling the ministry of reconciliation by proclaiming the word of reconciliation (cf. Col. 4:17).
• B. The only ones to whom this responsibility has not been given are those who are outside of Christ and estranged from God.

Those who were scattered.

Us

Jesus Christ

God

Men

To offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ

That you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.