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LIBERTY THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
THEOLOGY OF MISSIONS PAPER
A PAPER SUBMITTED TO
DR. CHRISTOPHER BALLEW
IN PARTIAL COMPLETION OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE COURSE
GLOBAL STUDIES SURVEY
GLST 500
BY
DANIEL D. GARNER (#24433709)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction… ....................................................................................................................... 2
Old Testament and Missions ................................................................................................... 3
New Testament and Missions ................................................................................................. 4
The Nature of God Relates to Mission… ................................................................................ 5
Mission Theology .................................................................................................................... 6
Key Themes of Mission Theology .......................................................................................... 6
Mission Theology Related to the Missionary, Church Leaders, and Lay People .................... 7
Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 8
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Introduction
Any good theology of mission should begin with the doctrine of creation
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. We
know from the Bible that God created Adam and Eve and they were pure beings, having no
knowledge of sin. They were placed together to help each other rule over God’s creation. They
were placed in the Garden of Eden to follow God’s will for their lives. We know from the
biblical account that Adam and Eve sinned and God witnessed the rebellion of the human race
against his love and authority. Most early history portrays this only at the family level but later
stories show how the entire human race becomes enmeshed in corruption and violence on a
global scale. Even the eradication of the human race with the exception of Noah and his family
was able stop the evil that was inside mankind. Prehistory concludes in Genesis 11 with tower of
Babel and the scattering of humanity and confusion from different tongues across the world. Still
remains the earth still under the curse of God.
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 Moreau, A. Scott, Gary R. Corwin, and Gary B. McGee. Introducing
World Missions; A Biblical, Historical, and Practical Survey. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic,
2004.
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Old Testament and Missions
The Old Testament tells the story which Jesus completes. This means that He is the central
interface that binds two great acts of God’s drama of salvation.
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As we look at
Jesus through the Old Testament we can see that Jesus came to fulfill what had already been
written about him. It begins with God’s promise to an old man and his wife. He promised him a
son in old age and through that son, he would become a great nation and through him all nations
will be blessed. This was so important because it points to part of the identity of the God of the
Bible. He is known as “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”. This distinguishes Him as the
God of promise and fulfillment and whose purpose embraces all nations.
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Genesis
12:1-3 God makes three promises to Abraham that is repeated on several occasions to Abraham
and through Isaac and through Jacob. God promises a personal blessing, a national blessing and a
spiritual blessing. God blesses Abraham personally by multiplying his descendants by making
them as numerous as the stars in the sky and sand on the seashore. He blesses him nationally by
raising up a nation of people to share his revelations to the rest of the nations. This blessing also
came with geographical implications. He promised Abraham in Genesis 22:17-18 that he would
multiply his descendants, and they shall possess the gate of their enemies, and in his seed all
nations of the earth will be blessed. Abraham expresses a missionary task in the light of what
God revealed to him. Obedience and a faithful witness was the proper response to God’s call.
God’s purpose to bless all nations and people of the earth through Abraham and his descendants
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 J.H.Wright, Christopher. Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament.
Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992. Pg 2
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 Ibid,10
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is evident. Psalm 67:1-7 are important verses in respect to missions in the Old Testament. Psalm
67:1-7 is a request for God to bless Israel so that all the people of the world can see the favor of
God on them and would desire to know the God of Israel.
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The consistent message through the Old Testament was that God is concerned about all the
peoples of the world
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. If God is concerned about all peoples then this must be the
missionary plan of God. Scholar Walter Kaiser notes: “There are more verses dedicated to
foreign nations in those twenty-five chapters of the three major prophets alone than are found in
all of the Pauline prison epistles in the New Testament. There can be little doubt that God was
more than mildly interested in reaching the nations outside of Israel.”
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Restoration
and reconciliation must be for all mankind.
New Testament text related to Missions
Probably one of the most mission directed verses in the Bible is Matthew 28:16-20, most
commonly known as the “Great Commission”. In final days of Jesus on earth before he
ascended to glory, he gave some specific instructions to his disciples. Then the eleven disciples
went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they
worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said: “All authority in heaven
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 Ibd,34
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 Fannin, Dr. Don. "Center for Global Ministries at
DigitalCommons@Liberty University." " The Old Testament and Missions" Themes of Theology
that Impacts Missions. Paper 1. 2009. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cmg_theo/1 (accessed
April 3, 2014)
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 Jr., W.C. Kaiser. "The Great Commission in the Old Testament,."
International Journal of Frontier Missions, January- March 1996: 13
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and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the
age.”(Matthew 28: 16-20) These last words were important because of the circumstances in
which He made them. They were important because of who gave them. Jesus Christ and because
of whom He gave them to. As Leslie Newbigin puts it, with reference Acts 1:8: “The word you
shall be my witnesses,” is not to be obeyed but a promise to be trusted
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. His
followers, which today are every blood washed Christian. Interestingly, Jesus does not tell his
disciples what to do but rather what to be. They were to be his witnesses sharing the message of
his death burial and resurrection and to become ambassadors for Him in the earth.
There were other verses in the Bible that commanded His disciples to go and make disciples
of all nations, Mark 16:14—18, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21 and Acts 1:8. All of these texts
exhort Jesus’ followers to do the same thing. To go and make disciples of all nations, peoples and
tongues.
The nature of God and Missions
We can observe from both the Old Testament and the New Testament that God’s mission is
very much related to His nature. Missio Dei a Latin term which is another term for mission
meaning “mission of God”. The central idea we derive from this is that God is one who initiates
and sustains missions and missions is connected t the very nature of God. Scripture shows that w
God’s very nature can be seen from his initial calling of Abraham to Moses and the exodus of the
children of Israel from slavery in Egypt, to the birth of the Messiah Jesus Christ, the beginning
New Testament church all the way up to the modern evangelical churches of today.
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 (Winter and Hawthorne 2009)p81
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Mission Theology
Since the 1950’s mission terminology has developed in such a way that is has become
confusing to those who were new in the field of missionary study.1 A mission with the s is used
specifically for the task of making disciples of all nations and is primarily used through the work
of churches, mission agencies and other Christian agencies around the globe. Mission without
the s points to everything the church does for the kingdom of God
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. Missions are
sub of mission and are the total assignment of the church. It also important to point out that
mission is not limited to evangelism and church planting; they also take on social injustices like
political freedoms and reaching out to people of other faiths. Mission Dei encompasses
everything God is doing in relationship to the kingdom and everything the church is sent to do on
earth.
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Moreau describes how each level of the diagram builds off the other in
building the Kingdom of God.
Key Themes or Motifs of Mission Theology
Moreau describes motifs a recurring idea that reinforces central themes
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regards to missions he describes the first motif as the kingdom of God. He explains that the
mission and the kingdom are inextricably intertwined. The kingdom of God as a motif runs
through every layer of the foundational mission focus and is increased by evangelistic and
1 [ASc04]p,71
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 Ibid,p,72
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 Ibid, P, 73
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 Ibid, P, 79
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church planting activities.
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Another recurring theme is the person the Christian
faith is centered on, Jesus Christ. He is not only central to the Christian faith but also to the
mission that is so much a part of that faith. The Church, Shalom, The Holy Spirit each can be
listed as a recurring motif that reinforces the central theme. Matthew 6: 33 tells us “But seek
first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given as well”. Because the
kingdom was so central to Jesus’ life and ministry, He calls every one of his followers to join
Him in the relationship. Nothing can be more dynamic than to follow our Lord on mission the
way so many of his followers have before us.
Mission Theology as it relates to missionary, church leaders and lay people not in full time
ministry
Mission theology relates to the missionary by first being sure that they are sent to gather the
Lords harvest. You must have others pray for you to be sent by him. To be in agreement with the
Lord’s program which is much more important that any organization’ authority to work in the
missionary field. On the job training is invaluable when it comes to being able to discern the
movement of the God and the flexibility to move with the Spirit.
Church leaders have the responsibility to see the necessity of missionary work. They are the
base of support for those who are called to go. Church Leaders are to equip the missionary with
the training and expertise needed to carry out God’s mission. They are the ones who validate the
believer’s call to the missionary field.
Lay people not in full time ministry are the ones who help the missionary accomplish what
God has called them to do. They help prepare the mission field to yield a bountiful harvest for
the Lord through their giving of money and supplies. They also provide the most basic and most
valuable assistance through their prayers to God.
CITATION ASc04 \l 1033 Ibid P,81
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fannin, Don. ""The New Testament and Missions";Themes of Theology that Impacts Missions. Paper2." Center for
Global Ministries at DigitalCommons@libertyUniversity. 2009.
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cbm_theo/2 (accessed April 3, 2014).
Fannin, Dr. Don. "Center for Global Ministries at DigitalCommons@Liberty University." " The Old Testament and
Missions" Themes of Theology that Impacts Missions. Paper 1. 2009.
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cmg_theo/1 (accessed April 3, 2014).
Hawthorne, Steven C. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. Paedena California: William Carey Library,
2009.
J.H.Wright, Christopher. Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1992.
Jr., W.C. Kaiser. "The Great Commission in the Old Testament,." International Journal of Frontier Missions,
January- March 1996: 13.
Kaiser, W.C.J. Mission in the Old Testament: Isreal as a Light to the Nations. Grand Rapids: Baker Book Publishing,
2000.
Moreau, A. Scott, Gary R. Corwin, and Gary B. McGee. Introducing World Missions; A Biblical, Historical, and
Practical Survey. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004.
Moyer, Victor H. Mathews James C. The Old Testament. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1997.
Wheeler, Dave Earley and David. Evangelism Is; How to share Jesus with Passion and Confidence. Nashville: B&H
Academic Publishing Group, 2010.
Winter, Ralph D., and Steven C. Hawthorne. Perspectives on the World Christian Movement. Pasadena: Willian
Carey Library, 2009.
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[1]. Moreau, A. Scott, Gary R. Corwin, and Gary B. McGee. Introducing World Missions; A Biblical, Historical,
and Practical Survey. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004.p,31
[2.] J.H.Wright, Christopher. Knowing Jesus Through the Old Testament. Downers Grove:
InterVarsity Press, 1992. Pg 2
Ibid, 10
Ibd, 34
[3]. Fannin, Dr. Don. "Center for Global Ministries at DigitalCommons@Liberty University." " The Old Testament
and Missions" Themes of Theology that Impacts Missions. Paper 1. 2009.
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cmg_theo/1 (accessed April 3, 2014).
[4.] Jr., W.C. Kaiser. "The Great Commission in the Old Testament,." International Journal of Frontier Missions,
January- March 1996: 13.
[5] Fannin, Dr. Don. "Center for Global Ministries at DigitalCommons@Liberty University." " The Old Testament
and Missions" Themes of Theology that Impacts Missions. Paper 1. 2009.
http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/cmg_theo/1 (accessed April 3, 2014).
[6] Jr., W.C. Kaiser. "The Great Commission in the Old Testament,." International Journal of Frontier Missions,
January- March 1996: 13.
[7] (Winter and Hawthorne 2009) p81
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[8] [ASc04] p, 71
[9] Ibid, p, 72
[10] Ibid, P, 73
[11] Ibid, P, 79
[12] Ibid P, 81
