God's purpose is three-fold

When we think of God as a missionary God, we realize that there is a plan, a biblical plan in place. 

Understand that my context is not just identifying God's purpose for our life, but that context is in the form of engaging God's missionary character within that purpose.

- against evil - kingdom victory: The magnificent vision which John saw in Revelations 4-5 will be the main consolation for him and for the struggling Church and an assurance for the final victory. God and Christ are in control of history, and truth and love will prevail, while evil will finally disappear from the world (Rev. 20:10), and a new life will come to the world created and saved by God in Christ (Rev. chs. 21-22)

- for the nations - redemption and blessing: From Abraham on, the pattern is to focus on God’s redemption and blessing. The customs of Genesis often differ considerably from those of our modern day. They must be explained against their ancient Near Eastern background. Each custom must be treated according to the immediate context of the passage before any attempt is made to explain it based on customs recorded in extra biblical sources or even elsewhere in Scripture.


- for God - global glory in worship: Missions is all about GOD who knows the works and thoughts of peoples and has set a time to gather all nations and tongues. Missions is about God who wanted His name to be known and his glory be seen. This God is the One who said,

“Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be.” (Isaiah 66:1)

In other words, The God of Missions is not only all-knowing; He is also all-powerful and all-consuming. He can do everything, He knows everything and He is everywhere. This God cannot be localized - His power unmatchable, His presence universal, His knowledge unlimited. This is the God of Missions and this is the God we serve.

Missions is also about the God who is not only able to do everything but is also sovereign. He is not only able, He is also in control. He said,

“I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.’” (Isaiah 46:9-10

In other words, He planned everything, He decreed everything and He will accomplish everything. There is nothing He cannot do. In fact, He will do whatever He pleased. “He does everything according to his will and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:35)

The God of Missions is the same God, who said,

“For my name's sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. (Isaiah 48:9-11)

In other words, God is not only able to do whatever He pleased; He does everything to please himself. He does everything to glorify himself. The most passionate heart in the whole universe for the glory of God is the heart of God. He said six times in this passage the motive behind his every action: “for my name's sake, for the sake of my praise, for my own sake, for my own sake, how should my name be profaned, My glory I will not give to another.”

Many times, we think Missions is about saving people, planting churches, sending missionaries, rarely we think that Missions is about God who is eager to make Himself known. God is the center of Missions, not souls, not churches, not missionaries, not us. Missions is about God.

This great and sovereign God revealed himself to Abram in a vision, just so He could bless him and his descendants. What grace the LORD shows to His people. Sure Abram had concerns about how this was all going to “pan out”- - he is human. He doesn’t know how this will all come about, but because God has graciously revealed himself to Abram, He knows the LORD is able to keep His promises. In fact, the LORD not only accommodated and stooped to reveal himself to sinful Abram, but was about confirm His promise in an even more astounding manner. What was about to happen, Abram could have never imagined.

In light of His resurrection, Jesus simply restated the Father‟s purpose from the beginning – that all the world‟s peoples know Him as God.

"I was speaking at a Christian conference. But suddenly it hit me. In the folder on my lap was a flyer about a missionary conference with me as the keynote speaker. I did my best not to let the flyer fall out! This incident illustrates the tensions we face. The term “missionary conference” can imply a design for aggressive proselytism, polemical attack’s defaming Muslim culture and history, western colonialism or imperialism. As I sat next to my Muslim acquaintance musing, I thought how much better it would be if the theme of the conference was “blessing the nations.”"

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