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...
Clean fine linen
Having been justified by
God,
we will participate in
the wedding feast of the Lamb in the new heaven and new earth.
Revelation 19:7-8 says:
"Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory!
For the wedding of the
Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and
clean, was given her to wear"
(Fine linen stands for
the righteous acts of the saints).
At this wedding feast,
the groom is Jesus Christ, and the bride is us,
who believe in Jesus and
have been justified.
The "fine
linen" we will wear symbolizes justification,
which God has clothed us
with
(Note: the verb in verse
8 is passive,
indicating that God has
clothed us with the fine linen).
As the bride, which is
the church, and those who have been justified by God,
we must prepare
ourselves (Note: the verb in verse 7 is active,
indicating that we, the bride, must prepare
ourselves).
This preparation
involves the righteous acts of the saints.
In other words, as those
justified by God,
we must prepare
ourselves with “righteous acts” or “righteous deeds” (v. 8).
From the perspective of
1 John, "righteous deeds"
refer to actions
performed by a righteous person like Jesus (1 John 3:7),
doing righteousness as
"Jesus Christ the Righteous One" (2:1) does (v. 6).
Specifically, these
righteous deeds are encapsulated in Jesus' twofold commandment:
"Love the Lord your
God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind"
and "Love your
neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37, 39).
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