Redeeming His Promise

At the time of the birth of John the Baptist, God was once again working actively to redeem His promise (vv. 72-73). Zechariah praises God, for He has come and has redeemed His people.

God is doing what H promised. His word will come to pass. These events are as He said through His holy prophets of long ago. The promise involves rescue: God will save His people from their enemies and from all who hate them. Such salvation reflects the mercy of God and the recollection of the covenant made with Abraham.

All six of the requests in the Lord's prayer concern God's kingdom. The prophets predicted that when God acted decisively, these developments would take place: He would be recognized as holy, His kingdom would come, His will would be done, daily bread would be given, sins would be forgiven, deliverance from evil would be granted. When Jesus offers this prayer to those who are listening, then, He is saying that God's kingdom is breaking in even now.

The Lord told the prophets that He would act to establish His kingdom in a new and better way through a new and better king from the line of David, who would vanquish evil, redeem His people and reign in righteousness (Isaiah 9:6, 11:1-5).

We long for Him to vanquish evil and reign in righteousness, but we do not realize that the evil is in our own hearts. The kingdom we envision is one that defeated our enemies; Jesus came to defeat the enemy within - Satan, who had exerted such influence within our hearts that we were no longer interested in following God.

When we pray that the Father's kingdom would come, we again are praying dangerously. It means we are praying for Him to vanquish evil, to remove even the smallest spec of dust that does not bring honour to Him.

Bread is not as important as forgiveness, nor is forgiveness as important as deliverance from evil.

One who prays this prayer today, then, acknowledges their deeply rebellious state, that they are prone to be influenced by the evil one away from the call of the kingdom, away from the devotion to the king, away from "the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:3). It is an acknowledgment that they cannot deliver themselves. It is a prayer that casts oneself on the mercy of God.

When Satan caused the death of Christ on the cross, he not only lost his power over those he held captive in death, but he also demonstrated the extent to which sin had corrupted him. He was willing to murder the source of health and strength for all mankind to accomplish his selfish purposes. In this he lost any sympathy he might have had from all who had remained faithful to God. He proved himself worthy of eternal destruction.

It was part of God’s plan and purpose for the salvation of man to allow Jesus to be tempted by Satan. The activity of Satan is therefore governed by God. The purpose of God in allowing His Son to be tempted was two-fold. In the first place, ‘God displayed in the Person of His Son, as on a brilliant screen, how hostile and persistent an adversary Satan is against the salvation of man.

Secondly, that Jesus willingly underwent the temptations, and met the devil in a trial of strength, ‘that

by His victory He might win us the victory.’

 

 



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God pursues a global purpose

I am fascinated by some of Pope John Paul II comments on some of the purposes of God.

I also have other reasons and aims: to respond to the many requests for a document of this kind; to clear up doubts and ambiguities regarding missionary activity ad gentes, and to confirm in their commitment those exemplary brothers and sisters dedicated to missionary activity and all those who assist them; to foster missionary vocations; to encourage theologians to explore and expound systematically the various aspects of missionary activity; to give a fresh impulse to missionary activity by fostering the commitment of the particular churches - especially those of recent origin - to send forth and receive missionaries; and to assure non-Christians and particularly the authorities of countries to which missionary activity is being directed that all of this has but one purpose: to serve man by revealing to him the love of God made manifest in Jesus Christ.

He points out the redemption blessing quite clearly and simply.

Jesus of Nazareth brings God's plan to fulfillment. After receiving the Holy Spirit at his Baptism, Jesus makes clear his messianic calling: he goes about Galilee "preaching the Gospel of God and saying: 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel'" (Mk 1:14-15; cf. Mt 4:17; Lk 4:43). The proclamation and establishment of God's kingdom are the purpose of his mission: "I was sent for this purpose" (Lk 4:43). But that is not all. Jesus himself is the "Good News," as he declares at the very beginning of his mission in the synagogue at Nazareth, when he applies to himself the words of Isaiah about the Anointed One sent by the Spirit of the Lord (cf. Lk 4;14-21). Since the "Good News" is Christ, there is an identity between the message and the messenger, between saying, doing and being. His power, the secret of the effectiveness of his actions, lies in his total identification with the message he announces; he proclaims the "Good News" not just by what he says or does, but by what he is.

Even how he ties the Church together on this issue is quite an inspiration.

The many dimensions of the kingdom of God do not weaken the foundations and purposes of missionary activity, but rather strengthen and extend them. The Church is the sacrament of salvation for all mankind, and her activity is not limited only to those who accept her message. She is a dynamic force in mankind's journey toward the eschatological kingdom, and is the sign and promoter of gospel values. The Church contributes to mankind's pilgrimage of conversion to God's plan through her witness and through such activities as dialogue, human promotion, commitment to justice and peace, education and the care of the sick, and aid to the poor and to children. In carrying on these activities, however, she never loses sight of the priority of the transcendent and spiritual realities which are premises of eschatological salvation.
 

I believe he catches the missionary heart of God through the Gospel of John very well.


John is the only Evangelist to speak explicitly of a "mandate," a word equivalent to "mission." He directly links the mission which Jesus entrusts to his disciples with the mission which he himself has received from the Father: "As the Father has sent me, even so I send you" (Jn 20:21). Addressing the Father, Jesus says: "As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world" (Jn 17:18). The entire missionary sense of John's Gospel is expressed in the "priestly prayer": "This is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (Jn 17:3). The ultimate purpose of mission is to enable people to share in the communion which exists between the Father and the Son. The disciples are to live in unity with one another, remaining in the Father and the Son, so that the world may know and believe (cf. Jn 17:21-23). This is a very important missionary text. It makes us understand that we are missionaries above all because of what we are as a Church whose innermost life is unity in love, even before we become missionaries in word or deed.

He makes of point of understanding that the blessing is not only vertical in nature toward our relationship with God, but in fact that relationship becomes a blessing horizontally as we celebrate community.

One of the central purposes of mission is to bring people together in hearing the Gospel, in fraternal communion, in prayer and in the Eucharist. To live in "fraternal communion" (koinonia) means to be "of one heart and soul" (Acts 4:32), establishing fellowship from every point of view: human, spiritual and material. Indeed, a true Christian community is also committed to distributing earthly goods, so that no one is in want, and all can receive such goods "as they need" (cf. Acts 2:45; 4:35). The first communities, made up of "glad and generous hearts" (Acts 2:46), were open and missionary: they enjoyed "favor with all the people" (Acts 2:47). Even before activity, mission means witness and a way of life that shines out to others.

Just in case anyone missed the point, he makes it even more simpler.


This mission is one and undivided, having one origin and one final purpose; but within it, there are different tasks and kinds of activity. First, there is the missionary activity which we call mission ad gentes, in reference to the opening words of the Council's decree on this subject. This is one of the Church's fundamental activities: it is essential and never-ending. The Church, in fact, "cannot withdraw from her permanent mission of bringing the Gospel to the multitudes the millions and millions of men and women-who as yet do not know Christ the Redeemer of humanity. In a specific way this is the missionary work which Jesus entrusted and still entrusts each day to his Church."

My hope is that we can follow such an example of passion and understanding of God purpose's - His desire to be worshipped from all people, in all nations - His intention to redeem every people - His power to come to the aid of all in order to liberate them and set them free.

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God pressed His purpose forward

God causes everything to work together for good to those who love God and are called by His purposes. Jesus stated God's eternal purpose in those verses we just read. The apostle John expressed it in John 20:31: "these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name."

The Apostle presents God's eternal purpose for our lives in Romans 8:28-30. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." The important truth in these verses is God causes it to happen. God caused all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes. It is not some haphazard evolutionary scheme. "In the beginning God . . ." It is not by accident that you are here today. If you know Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour it is not by accident or chance that you have come to know Him.

The task of missions may not be merely to win as many individuals as possible from the most responsive people groups of the world, but rather to win individuals from all the people groups of the world.  It may not be enough to define missions as leaving the safe shore of our own culture to do rescue operations on the strange seas of other languages and cultures.   Something may need to be added to that definition which impels us to leave one rescue operations to take up another.

Talking about billions of people might seem overwhelming, astounding progress continues to be made. In 1974, we were stunned by the revelation that 4 out of 5 of the non-Christians in the world were beyond the reach of same-culture evangelism. In the last three decades, that number has been reduced to 3 out of every 5 non-Christians. An easily remembered new insight is that you can roughly divide the world up into meaningful thirds.  One-third of the world would at least claim to be Christian; one third are non-Christians that live within reached peoples; the final third are non-Christians within unreached peoples.

In 1974, more than 60% of the world’s population lived within unreached people groups. Today, that has been cut to 40%. This has happened in just a few decades because missionaries have focused on establishing church movements in thousands of previously unreached peoples.   While this is significant progress, there is still much to be done.

The essential missionary task is to establish a viable indigenous church planting movement that carries the potential to renew whole extended families and transform whole societies. It is viable in that it can grow on its own, indigenous meaning that it is not seen as foreign, and a church planting movement that continues to reproduce intergenerational fellowships that are able to evangelize the rest of the people group. Many refer to this achievement of an indigenous church planting movement as a missiological breakthrough.

“Prayer is the most important activity a born-again Christian can perform. It should head your list of priorities, for certainly the world around us desperately needs prayer. Prayer will open the door for God to do a glorious work in these last days. Prayer will stem the tide of evil.” 

The gospel of the kingdom (Mt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Mk. 1:14). This is the declaration in which Jesus Christ is to set up His kingdom on earth and is present physically to rule.


By “witness” Jesus meant that the “gospel of the kingdom" will be proclaimed in open view throughout entire communities. The gospel of the kingdom is Christ prevailing over evil, liberating people so that they can live obediently and freely under His lordship and blessing.  God wants a persuasive display of that kingdom victory exhibited in every people.  What better exhibit of God's kingdom than a community of people who are living under Christ's authority?  That's why we should aim at obedient disciplemaking fellowships of believers within every people.  While not the only way to glorify God, nothing puts Christ's lordship on display like a community of people dedicated to following Him and effectively pushing back against the dominion of darkness.

It is difficult to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of god in societies where the kingdom of man and woman is working so well. This is true with today's urban culture where man is so busy building up his own dream world.

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God's purpose regarding evil

A tsunami wipes out an unsuspecting village. An act of violence kills an innocent bystander. A criminal goes free on a technicality. A child is abused. We ask ourselves why is there evil in the world and can this be a part of God’s plan? It all causes us to wonder if God is watching, if He cares, or if He even exists at all.

Jesus had to share our humanity, because that gave Him authority to defeat the devil. The power of the devil came through human disobedience and sin. By paying the penalty for sin, Jesus destroyed his authority. Forgiveness of sin translated into defeat of evil powers and authorities.

Satan’s PLAN was defeated to stop the promised Messiah from fulfilling His mission from God the Father on behalf of the human race here on Earth, and that mission of God was to take full punishment for each and every person’s sins, which He DID by being crucified on the cross, and the visible proof of that victory was that Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead three days later, and many spirits who had been waiting for this moment in time were released from captivity and were allowed to follow Jesus into the heavens!

The world is not man's eternal destiny, but the kingdom of God. Man cannot become too attached to the goods that are linked to a perishable world.
We find unceasing cries for "peace," "love," "toleration," and "unity." For what purpose? So that the Church might present a united front in order to present the gospel to the lost millions. What is hindering the battle for souls? 

The kingdom of God is not food and drink. It is righteousness, peace, and joy which come by the powerful working of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The one who serves Christ in this way—depending on the work of the Spirit for all the help you need and renouncing all self-reliance—pleases God and manifests His kingdom in the church and extends His kingdom in the world.

The words of our prayer
meaningful in the context of our worship today
the charge for the congregation, for each of our hearts
to fight against evil, no matter where we find it
a unison prayer, on Memorial Day
to not rest on the past
but to march on
to work as we may
to fearlessly contend against evil
with the aid of God.
This is our prayer.

The transformed life in Christ is our focus, releasing His power and presence to transform society physically, socially, spiritually, intellectually in establishing His Kingdom.

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