A. What Is Biblical Mission? “Biblical mission means more than simply going overseas to plant churches or spread civilization. It means the church participating in the ‘mission of God (Missio Dei)’ and seeking the restoration of God’s rule and glory throughout the whole earth. Mission is not a program that begins with human enthusiasm; rather, it is the heart of God that runs throughout the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, and is a fundamental reason for the church’s existence. Let me clearly summarize five essential principles of true mission as presented in Scripture. 🌍 1. The Mission of God (Missio Dei) The subject and initiator of mission is not human beings but God. In order to save fallen humanity, God first comes to us, sends His Son, and sends the Holy Spirit. He is the “missionary God” who sends. Biblical basis: “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” (John 20:21) Key meaning: The church acknowledges that God has the initiative in mission and serves as His agent, obed...
A servant of God who did
not imitate God’s loving heart.
The
prophet Jonah, who had been disobedient,
received
salvation from God twice.
The
first salvation occurred when the unbelieving sailors,
at
Jonah's suggestion, threw him into the sea.
God
had already prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah, thus saving him
(Jonah
1:12, 16, 17).
The
second salvation happened when God
commanded
the great fish to vomit Jonah onto dry land,
thus
saving him from being in the belly of the fish (2:10).
However,
even after experiencing God's salvation twice,
the
prophet Jonah, who proclaimed God's word, believed it,
proclaimed
a fast (3:1-5), and turned from evil ways, genuinely repenting.
Yet,
when God relented from bringing the disaster He had threatened
against
the people of Nineveh who also repented (v. 10),
Jonah
became exceedingly displeased and angry,
even saying, "It is better for me to die
than to live" (4:1, 3).
How
could Jonah, the servant of God
who
received salvation twice
at
the crossroads of life and death due to his disobedience,
be so
displeased and angry when the Ninevites,
who
lived in disobedience and committed evil deeds,
repented
and received salvation?
It is
because he did not imitate the heart of God,
who
cherishes those who cannot distinguish between good and evil (v. 11).
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