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The Ambassador Group

Biblical Missionaries

0. Biblical Missionaries: The Great Commission

01. Biblical Missionaries: The Missionary Nature of God

02. Biblical Missionaries: Abraham- the First Missionary

03. Biblical Missionaries: The Unlikely Missionary

04. Biblical Missionaries: The Jonah Saga

05. Biblical Missionaries: Exiles as Missionaries

06. Biblical Missionaries:  Mordecai and Esther

07.Biblical Missionaries: Jesus- The Master of Missions

08.Biblical Missionaries: Cross-Cultural Missions

09. Biblical Missionaries: Peter and the Gentiles

10. Biblical Missionaries: Philip as Missionary

11. Biblical Missionaries: Paul- Background and Call

12. Biblical Missionaries: Paul- Mission and Message

13. Biblical Missionaries: Must the Whole World Hear?

Welcome to another in-depth exploration of biblical missionaries written by Borge Shentz edited for audio and produced by the Ambassador Group.

Exploration 7 Jesus, the Master of Missions Here is our theme text for this exploration.

As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.

John 20.21 NIV According to Scripture, a core activity of the Trinity is mission.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are involved in saving humanity.

Their Word began at the fall and continues through until the end.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will then restore this redeemed world to full unity with the divine will.

According to the Gospels, Jesus underwent the radical change into human form necessary for his mission to succeed.

In Jesus Christ, the meaning of history comes into focus.

The total mission activity of God becomes coherent, and the deepest needs of humans for meaningful existence are fulfilled.

In the New Testament, we discover the purposes of the incarnation of Jesus Christ.

We find here how he outlines the program for mission, and we get glimpses of how Jesus met people from other nations, people of other faiths.

In the Word of God, we can see the incredible saving activity of God on behalf of fallen humanity.

Jesus in the Old Testament Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began." Besides being great texts about the futility of salvation by works, these texts reveal the eternal nature of salvation.

They show that the plan for our redemption has been formulated long, long ago.

So it is no wonder that all through the Old Testament, Jesus Christ is revealed in 1 way or another.

Especially powerful are the prophecies, which clearly show that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

We will now listen to 5 Old Testament texts all apply to Jesus.

What do these texts say about Jesus and his role as Messiah?

Our first Old Testament text is Isaiah 61 verse 1 which says, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed and qualified me to preach the gospel of good tidings to the meek, the poor, and afflicted.

He has sent me to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the physical and spiritual captives, and the opening of the prison and of the eyes to those who abound.

Daniel 9 24-27 70 weeks, or 490 years, are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city, Jerusalem, to finish and put an end to transgression, to seal up and make full the measure of sin, to purge away and make expiation and reconciliation for sin, to bring in everlasting righteousness, permanent moral and spiritual rectitude in every area and relation, to seal up vision and prophecy and prophet, and to anoint a holy of holies.

Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem until the coming of the anointed 1, a prince, shall be 70 weeks of years, and sixty-two weeks of years it shall be built again with city square and moat, but in troubleless times.

And after the sixty-two weeks of years shall the anointed 1 be cut off or killed, and shall have nothing and no 1 belonging to and defending him.

And the people of the other prince who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary.

Its end shall come with a flood, and even to the end there shall be war, and desolations are decreed.

And he shall enter into a strong and firm covenant with the many for 1 week, 7 years, And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and offering to cease for the remaining 3 and one-half years.

And upon the wing or pinnacle of abominations shall come 1 who makes desolate, until the full determined end is poured out on the desolator.

Isaiah 7 verse 14 says, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign.

Behold, the young woman who is unmarried and a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us.

Isaiah 9, verse 6 tells us this about the Messiah, For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 42 verses 1-9 reads, Listen in silence before me, O islands and regions bordering And Isaiah 42 verses 1 to 9 reads, Let them offer their strongest arguments.

Let us come near together for judgment and decide the point at issue between us concerning the enemy advancing from the east.

Who has roused up 1 Cyrus from the east, whom he calls in righteousness to his service and whom victory meets at every step he the Lord subdues nations before him and it makes him ruler over Kings he turns them to dust with the sword of Cyrus and to driven straw and shaft with his bow.

He, Cyrus, pursues them and passes safely and unhindered even by a way his feet had not trod and so swiftly that his feet do not touch the ground.

Who has prepared and done this, calling forth and guiding the destinies of the generations of the nation from the beginning?

I the Lord, the first, existing before history began, and with the last and ever-present unchanging God, I am he.

The islands and coast lands have seen and fear.

They help every 1 his neighbor and say to his brother in his tiresome idol-making, Be of good courage.

So the carpenter encourages the goldsmith, and he who smooths the metal with the hammer encourages him who smites the anvil, saying of the soldering, That is good, and he fastens it with nails so that it cannot be moved.

But you, Israel, my servant Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham my friend, you whom I, the Lord, have taken from the ends of the earth and have called from the corners of it and said to you, you are my servant.

I have chosen you and not cast you off, even though you are exiled.

Now that we have heard the 5 Old Testament references, what did these texts say about Jesus and his role as Messiah?

The prophet Isaiah describes the mission of Jesus with these words, Here is my servant whom I uphold, my chosen 1 in whom I delight.

I will put my spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.

I the Lord have called you in righteousness.

I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison, and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness." Isaiah 42 verses 1, 6, and 7, your international version.

Think about the incredible idea that Jesus, the Creator, took upon Himself, our humanity, and in that humanity, lived and died as he did.

What great hope does this offer you in a world that in and of itself offers no hope at all?

The Desire of Ages Jesus Christ is Lord of both the church and the world.

His coming is a fulfillment of the Old Testament expectations of a saved community that would extend far beyond the Jewish people.

The coming of Jesus, especially his suffering and a resurrection, ushered in a new age in which the distinction between Jew and Gentile, as far as the gospel is concerned, disappears.

Jerusalem would remain the center, at least for a while.

However, the point of departure was no longer Herod's temple in Jerusalem, but the Jews converted to Christ.

These Christian Jews would then be the true remnant of Israel at that time in the early church, the ones called to bring the gospel to the world.

This announcement of the worldwide universal mission of Christ as Savior of all nations was repeated at his birth, during his childhood, and at his baptism.

What do the following texts teach us about the universal mission of Jesus to the world?

Luke 2, 8-14 And in that vicinity there were shepherds living, out under the open sky, in the field, watching in shifts over their flock by night.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terribly frightened.

But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall come to all the people.

For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior who is Christ the Messiah the Lord.

And this will be a sign for you, by which you will recognize him.

You will find after searching a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

Then suddenly there appeared with the angel an army of the troops of heaven, a heavenly knighthood praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among men, with whom He is well pleased, men of good will of His favor.

Luke 2 25-33 Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, cautiously and carefully observing the divine law, and looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And it had been divinely revealed, communicated to him by the Holy Spirit, that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed 1.

And prompted by the Holy Spirit, he came into the temple enclosure, and when the parents brought in the little child Jesus to do for him what was customary according to the law, Simeon took him up in his arms and praised and thanked God and said, And now, Lord, You are releasing Your servant to depart, leave this world in peace, according to Your word.

For with my own eyes I have seen Your salvation, which you have ordained and prepared before in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, to disclose what was before unknown, and to bring praise and honor and glory to your people Israel.

And his legal father and his mother were marveling at what was said about him.

Luke 3, verses 3-6 And he went into all the country round about the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance, of hearty amending of their ways, with abhorrence of past wrongdoing, unto the forgiveness of sin.

As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, the voice of 1 crying in the wilderness, shouting in the desert, prepare the way of the Lord, make his beaten paths straight.

Every valley and ravine shall be filled up, and every mountain and hill shall be leveled, and the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough roads shall be made smooth.

And all mankind shall see, behold, and understand, and at last acknowledge the salvation of God, the deliverance from eternal death decreed by God.

John 1.29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Look!

There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

No question, Jesus came as the Savior for all humanity.

What does this truth mean for you in the context of mission?

Prayerfully consider these empowering words written by Ellen G.

White in the book Testimonies for the Church, Volume 6, on page 29.

The missionary spirit needs to be revived in our churches.

Every member of the Church should study how to help forward the work of God, both in home missions and in foreign countries.

Scarcely a thousandth part of the work is being done that ought to be done in missionary fields.

God calls upon His workers to annex new territory for Him.

There are rich fields of toil waiting for the faithful worker.

I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.

Matthew 15, verse 24, New International Version.

Between his first public appearance and his crucifixion, Jesus focused his ministry almost solely on the Jewish, particularly in Galilee.

The Lord addressed himself first to Israel.

Before the cross, there are very few messages of good news to the Gentiles.

Apparently, Jesus wanted to awaken the Jewish people to their place, purpose, and role in God's overall mission for lost humanity.

Israel was to have the opportunity to be the witnesses of God's message to the world.

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Biblical Missionaries

07.Biblical Missionaries: Jesus- The Master of Missions

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