Page 140 - TH130 Kingdom of God A4 Final

The Kingdom of God

The Missio Dei

As previously mentioned, the mission of God is sometimes called
the missio Dei, which is simply the Latin rendering of the same phrase.
According to John V. York, the
missio Dei is “God’s plan to bless
the nations through the gospel of
God’s mission is to call Jesus Christ” (2000, 20). Stated

unto himself a people another way, God’s mission is
to call unto himself a people for
out of every tribe, His name out of “every tribe and

language, and nation. language and people and nation”
(Revelation 5:9) on earth. This plan
will be accomplished through the
redemptive work of Jesus Christ on
the cross and by the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom to all nations
in Pentecostal power (Matthew 24:14; Acts 1:8).

The Theme of the Bible

Many have debated the theme of the Bible. Some say that the Bible has
no theme at all. Others say that the theme of the Bible is “redemption”
or “the kingdom of God.” According to York, the theme of the Bible is
“the advance of the Kingdom of God through the preaching of the gospel”
(2000, 20). He states:

God has planned for [the] testimony about Jesus Christ be given to
the entire inhabited earth (Genesis 12:3; 28:18–20).… I believe that
the advance of the Kingdom through the preaching of the gospel
(rather than the “kingdom” in some abstract sense) is best seen as
the theme [of the Bible]. The Bible tells the story of an advancing
Kingdom, the mission of the triune God: providing redemption,
finding the lost, and then using them to mediate kingdom blessings
to those yet lost. (21)

The Bible’s first clear statement of God’s mission is found in His
promise to Abraham: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you”
(Genesis 12:3). Fulfilling this promise thus becomes the theme of the
entire Bible. God later told Abraham, “Through your offspring [seed] all
nations on earth will be blessed” (Genesis 22:18). That “Seed,” as we have
already learned, is Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world (Galatians 3:16).

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