The Blueprint for Missions: 4 Steps Our Lord Took as the First Evangelist

The Great Commission

What is mission? Many Christians answer this question by turning to Jesus’s familiar words in Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations . . .” Known as the Great Commission, these words are essential for understanding the mission of the church in the world. But using only the Great Commission creates an incomplete picture. There is so much more to the story of God’s mission!

I often start by asking my students to make a list of Bible passages that speak about mission. These lists always include Matthew 28 and usually many other verses: Acts 1:8 (witness); 2 Timothy 4:5 (evangelism); Matthew 5:16 and 1 Peter 2:12 (gospel community); 1 Peter 3:15 and 2 Corinthians 10:5 (apologetics); or related activities like Hebrews 13:2 (hospitality). Some students add Old Testament passages, like Genesis 12:1‒3, Exodus 19:5‒6, and Psalm 67, or even Isaiah 45:22 and Isaiah 61:1‒3.

The deeper concern, however, is how these (and similar) passages fit together to form a comprehensive theology of mission. We know instinctively that faithful mission practice must be grounded in a biblically based theology, but we often struggle to present a clear and concise—yet also comprehensive—definition of mission.

We need to see how mission fits within the full panorama of Scripture before we can formulate a more comprehensive definition. For now, let’s look briefly at two pivotal passages: Genesis 3:1‒21 and Acts 1:1‒11.

God’s Mission in the Garden

In Genesis 3:9, God speaks to Adam for the first time after the fall, asking: “Where are you?” God had spoken the world into existence at creation, but now he speaks within his world for the purpose of redemption. Now we see God seeking out sinners who are trying to hide from him. This divine activity in Genesis 3 is the beginning of God’s mission of redemption. It is the start of the story, a glorious history of redemption that will continue until Christ concludes God’s mission when he comes the second time to judge all nations.

Consider the mission activity of the Lord, the first evangelist in the fallen world. First, the Lord comes to his world (Gen. 3:8). God’s world had been created very good, perfectly displaying his power, wisdom, goodness, and beauty. The whole creation, with Adam and Eve at the pinnacle as God’s vice-regents, had unfailingly declared his glory. Adam’s sin, however, brought into God’s world the reign of death (Rom. 5:12). As a result, the sovereign Creator could have destroyed all nature and created something new in its place. But God acts with sovereign grace, choosing rather to redeem dying sinners from their fallen state in the now sinful world.

The Lord also calls out to sinners in hiding (Gen. 3:9). Before the fall, Adam and Eve had enjoyed fellowship with God as their Creator. But after their rebellion against him, they also know God as their Judge and his righteous wrath against sin (Rom. 1:18). Now Adam and Eve experienced fear, guilt, and shame for the first time. They responded in fear by running from God, hiding behind human attempts to cover their sense of guilt and shame. But God, being rich in mercy, chose to seek and to save these lost sinners (Luke 19:10; Eph. 2:4).

The Lord then convicts sinners by exposing their lies with probing questions (Gen. 3:9, 11, 13). God already knew where Adam was hiding and what he had done, but he asked these questions so that Adam would be convicted with a sense of his own guilt and shame. God drew Adam out of hiding, unmasking his human attempts to hide from the truth and exposing his fallen condition.

God has sovereignly chosen to save sinners who deserve eternal death.

Finally, the Lord comforts sinners with the gospel promise. This first promise is the beginning of the story of redemption: another Adam is coming who will carry the curse of sin, crush Satan’s head, and remedy the mess that the first Adam had made (Gen. 3:15; cf. 1 Cor. 15:45). The Lord himself is the first evangelist; he himself comes to this sinful world to declare the glorious gospel message of forgiveness and hope.¹

All three persons of the Trinity are at work already in Genesis 3. The Christ enters his world in his preincarnate form as the Word to evangelize sinners who are running away. The Spirit is also present, working with the Word to expose guilt and shame; he convinces Adam and Eve of sin, righteousness, and coming judgment (John 16:8). In this way, the Father begins to reveal his plan of redemption. This passage introduces mission as, first and foremost, the work of the triune God.

We may summarize several essential truths about mission already taught in Genesis 3, in the aftermath of the fall. We see the context of mission: God’s created world, once beautiful and very good but now cursed after sin, having become a mixture of both the truth of God’s revelation and the opposition of Satan’s lie. We see the objects of mission: humans created in God’s image to glorify him but now running from God’s righteous judgment. We also see the consequences of sin: fear, guilt, and shame, which motivate man-made religions and ethical systems as attempts to hide from God’s truth. We learn the wonder of mission: God has sovereignly chosen to save sinners who deserve eternal death. We get a glimpse into God’s comprehensive plan of mission in the first promise of the gospel (Gen. 3:15), though the details are not yet clear. We also realize that there is more to the story than merely the redemption of elect sinners; there are also strong hints of a coming final judgment, when Satan will be punished and God’s righteousness will be fully vindicated.

This article is adapted from You Will Be My Witnesses: Theology for God’s Church Serving in God’s Mission by Brian A. DeVries.

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