Mission after Eschatology

or the Interrelationship

Previous: “Mission” is not in the Bible!

I believe that mandate to at least first part of the definition “to propagate faith” is evident, but what about the humanitarian work and social action? This is where biblical justice and God like motives come into the picture under the light of eschatological idea “already” and “not yet”.

“…, because the kingdom represents the perfect realization of God’s will for human society, it will also be the motive for Christian social action in the present. The kingdom is anticipated now primarily in the church, the community of those who acknowledge the King, but Christian social action for the realization of God’s will in society at large will also be a sign of the coming kingdom. Those who pray for the coming of the kingdom (Mt. 6:10) cannot fail to act out that prayer so far as it is possible. They will do so, however, with that eschatological realism which recognizes that all anticipations of the kingdom in this age will be provisional and imperfect, that the coming kingdom must never be confused with the social and political structures of this age (Lk. 22:25–27; Jn. 18:36), and the latter will not infrequently embody satanic opposition to the kingdom (Rev. 13:17). In this way Christians will not be disillusioned by human failure but continue to trust the promise of God. Human utopianism must rediscover its true goal in Christian hope, not vice versa.”^[1]

A behavior that strives to enable Gods kingdom on this earth, a behavior that enables Shalom ought to be engraved in every Christian as a natural outcome of the hope one carries in the eternal life and the age to come. This perspective does not leave us as mere observers waiting for the eternity, but prompts us to be actively involved in the “not yet” part of our existence fighting suffering, injustice and Satan’s dominion, while oriented towards the time when God will establish his rule universally. On this account justice, social action and mission are to be exercised cooperatively as a result of a holistic mindset that avoids utopian standpoints which ignore the reality of evil in this world.

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^[1] Wood, D. R. W., & Marshall, I. H. (1996). New Bible dictionary (3rd ed.) (335). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press.

 

The week deal

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“A dreadful thing is the love of money! It disables both eyes and ears, and makes men worse to deal with than a wild beast, allowing a man to consider neither conscience nor friendship nor fellowship nor salvation.”

John Chrysostom

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1Tim. 6:17-19; Lk. 12:15; Rom. 8:35-39; 2Tim. 3:12;

 

Question suggestion

a question to consider….

How do you see other religions? Are you familiar with the fundamentals of their teaching?

…Give it a thought!

(If you would like to share your answer underneath the article, you are more than welcome!)

 

20 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Sex!

Presently so propagated action that appears to meet us in every area of our lives is often considered to be intrinsically evil by so many Christians. The lust and desires that are now shown to be outlived to extreme measure not only in private spheres, but more and more publicly out, e.g. on television in Big Brother, Paradise Hotel or other reality shows.  We might think that Bible does not really say much about sex and when it does then it is in a negative manner – only prohibiting, limiting, condemning sex in a prudish way. But is that really true?

Some Christians present themselves just as these pure and clean holy people without any desires or lustful thoughts. I am afraid I must quickly say that this is simply not true. I believe that we are fully sexual beings, that God created us as man and woman with a sharp distinction, that God had sex in mind when he created us and it is good.

Sex is truly a huge thing in a life of every person and it is important that we see it as it really is; that we understand it and we delight in it correctly. So shall we take a look at what Bible really says about sex altogether? The first step I would encourage you to take is that when searching for some answers in connection to this, stop searching for the word “sex” and type in “all things” as “sex” is after all a subset of “all things“…

• Sex is created by God (“by him all things were created”—Col. 1:16).
• Sex continues to exist by the will of Christ (“in him all things hold together”—Col. 1:17)
• Sex is caused by God (he “works all things according to the counsel of his will”—Eph. 1:11).
• Sex is subject to Christ (“he put all things under his feet”— Eph. 1:22).
• Christ is making sex new (“Behold, I am making all things new”—Rev. 21:5).
• Sex is good (“everything created by God is good”—1 Tim. 4:4).
• Sex is lawful in the context of marriage (“all things are lawful”—1 Cor. 10:23).
• When we have sex, we are to do it for the glory of God (“whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”—1 Cor. 10:31).
• Sex works together for the good of God’s children (“for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose”—Rom. 8:28).
• We are to thank God for sex (“nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving”—1 Tim. 4:4).
• Sex is to be sanctified by the Word of God and prayer (“every-thing . . . is made holy by the word of God and prayer”— 1 Tim. 4:4-5).
• We must be on guard not to be enslaved by sex (“I will not be enslaved by anything”—1 Cor. 6:12).
• We are not to grumble about sex (“do all things without grumbling”—Phil. 2:14).
• We are to rejoice in the Lord during sex (“rejoice in the Lord always”—Phil. 4:4).
• We are to be content in sex (“having all contentment in all things at all times”—2 Cor. 9:8 mg.).
• We are to practice and pursue sexual relations in holiness and honor (“each one of you [is to] know how to control his own body [KJV: “possess his vessel”; RSV: “take a wife for himself”] in holiness and honor”—1 Thess. 4:4).
• Spouses are not to “deprive one another [sexually], except perhaps by agreement for a limited time,” that they might devote themselves to prayer (1 Cor. 7:5).
• But then they are commanded to “come together again [sexually], so that Satan may not tempt [them] because of [their] lack of self-control” (1 Cor. 7:5).
• In this fallen age, sex is both pure and impure—“To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled” (Titus 1:15).

Inspired by “Sex and the supremacy of Christ” by Piper J. & J. T., Taylor

 

“Mission” is not in the Bible!

Previous: Justice – temporary or definite?

The term “mission” cannot be found in the Bible even once, thus it is in place to ask ourselves: “Why is it that we so much focus on mission today?” I would suggest that although we lack the exact term, the idea or the concept of mission stretches across the entire Scriptures. Moreover I would add that mission objectives were always inclusive, not exclusive. In other words they always included all the people and not only Israel nation, even though Israel nation was the chosen nation in the focus of the Old Testament.

To be on the same page, I will again use the definition offered by Merriam Webster’s dictionary about mission: “a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry on humanitarian work”

Mission in the Old Testament

After the flood we can find genealogies of all three brothers Japheth, Ham and Shem listed in Genesis 10. Even though the major enemies of Israel – Canaanites, Egyptians, Hittites or Philistines came out of Ham’s lineage, they yet appear here equally, for they were also included in God’s plan of salvation. In Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV), God said to Moses:

“…Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. ² “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great,and you will be a blessing. ³ I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Later Jeremiah is appointed to be a prophet over nations (Jer. 1:5-9) and Isaiah also prophesied over people of all nations (66:18-24). Furthermore Psalms refer to extent of God’s grace through worship (Ps. 67:1–2; 72:8, 17) and Solomon’s prayer includes seeking foreigners.

Mission in the New Testament

While Jesus’ ministry was mostly oriented on the Jews, he also ministered to others like Roman centurion (Mt. 8:5-13) or Samaritan woman at the well (Jn. 4). Yet His words to disciples are clear and unambiguous in all four Gospels and Acts, in which the entire world and people of all nations are included (Matt. 28:19–20; Mark 16:15–16; Luke 24:46–49; John 20:21–22; Acts 1:8). Secondly also Apostle Paul received a calling from God in a unique way with the same objective (Acts 26:16-18).

Following: Mission after eschatology

 

The week deal

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“Today not only in philosophy but in politics, government, and individual morality, our generation sees solutions in terms of synthesis and not absolutes. When this happens, truth, as people have always thought of truth, has died.”

Francis Schaeffer

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John 1:1; 2. Timothy 3:16;