1. Word of God and Mission of God1
Word of God and Mission of God

2. A Personal Journey A change of paradigm
From: The Biblical Basis of Missions
To: The Missional Basis of the Bible
See the Bible, itself, as a “missional” phenomenon

3. The Bible: Product of God’s Mission
Bears witness to God’s
Self-disclosure
Efforts to reconcile rebellious man to God
Was often written in a missional context
Emerges from events, struggles, crises of God’s people living and speaking out in a fallen world
Both internal struggles and external
The text is a product of mission action

4. Jesus and Paul
Luke 24:46-47 – Jesus implies that Scripture finds fulfillment in his life and the mission to the nations flowing out of his resurrection
Paul bases his mission theology and practice on the OT
Creation – God’s desire to liberate all creation
Abraham – God’s people agents of blessing
Prophets – gathering the nations for Israel’s salvation

5. Jesus and Paul
Summary: “Jesus and Paul offer us a Messiah-focused and mission-generating hermeneutic of the Scriptures” (40)
Mission isn’t just “something we do”
Mission can’t be reduced to evangelism
Must focus on the ultimate purposes of God himself

6. Whose Mission?
God with a mission – bless the nations through the descendants of Abraham (Gen 12:1-3
Bible a narrative of God’s redemptive purposes worked out on a world stage
Must read the Bible with this in mind if you are to capture its meaning accurately

7. Whose Mission? Humanity with a mission – stewards of creation
Fill the earth, subdue it and care for it

8. Whose Mission?
Israel with a mission – preserving monotheism, election, ethics, eschatology
Yahweh the one God over all the earth – radical displacement of rival gods worldwide
God’s chosen people – called to be something special in the face of a rebellious world
God’s ethics and Israel’s holiness – called to be distinct among the nations, living righteously and justly
End times – the nations gathered to worship God

9. Whose Mission? Jesus with a mission
Restore Israel to Yahweh
Win salvation for men
Launch God’s redemptive mission toward the ends of the earth
The Church with a mission – commissioned to take the message to the ends of the earth

10. Conclusion We seek to read any part of the Bible:
In light of God’s purpose for creation
In light of God’s purpose for human life in general
In light of the historic election of Israel
In light of the centrality of Jesus of Nazareth
In light of God’s calling of the church to be His agents of God’s blessing to the nations for the glory of Christ
This changes the focus of our reflection and action