By Phill Butler

Phill is the director of visionSynergy.

The Arc of Redemption

So, when we look at the glorious full arc of redemption it is symbolized by the critical three trees of the Scriptures:

• The Tree of Life in Eden – we are denied access.
• The Tree of Calvary in the Gospels – Jesus ‘”breaks through the veil and gives access to all.” (Strangely, hauntingly symbolic that Jesus’ sacrifice for us which, in the long run, give us access once again to the Tree of Life takes place on a tree!). Further, we know that Jesus went to the cross certainly in part because of His inclusivity not His exclusivity, another sign of God’s commitment to community and relationships.
• The Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem – symbolizing ultimate restoration.: (Rev 22:2 “On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month…” And that great passage which articulates the inclusivity of God’s grace and the real unity of all men/women in creation, Rev 5:9 “…you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them a Kingdom of priests…” Note: diversity of human nature flows in to a single role in The Kingdom context.).

Reflect on this: the Gospel, in fact the whole Biblical narrative, is essentially about the destruction and redemption of relationships. Sin, so often used as a short-hand term, only reflects the many-faceted means by which Satan continues to divide believers and their relationship with the Father.

Jesus came to radically change all that; to destroy the bonds of pride, selfishness, fear, isolation, etc. – all of which are symbols of living in isolation rather than authentic relationship.

We know that Jesus had an extraordinary prayer life. Paul’s call in I Thessalonians for us to “Pray without ceasing” directly reflecting Paul’s view of Christ. Time and again, at the end of a long, arduous day, while the disciples went to bed, Jesus spent the entire night alone in prayer.

It does seem to be of extraordinary significance, then, of all the options he possessed, in the final hours of the final days of His life before the cross, the ONLY prayer we have of Jesus where we actually have recorded what He said is that great prayer of John 17.

He could have prayed that His followers would be bold in their witness, holy in their lives, generous in their nature, full of faith, or any one of many other important spiritual qualities.

But the fact remains that the only recorded plea to the Father is that His people will demonstrate the power of His life, death, and resurrection in their RELATIONSHIPS. While we can stress many of Jesus extraordinary qualities, He gives “the world” no other test regarding the authenticity of His life and mission!!

Is it any surprise that the lack of tangible, visible unity in the Church globally is a principal roadblock to spiritual power, credibility for the message, and great spiritual breakthroughs with tens of millions turning to Jesus?

You and your friends might like to take a closer look at Psalm 133. I’ve found that short Psalm very challenging. Try reading it in The Message or some other more contemporary translation. The Psalm seems to clearly suggest that God’s Spirit is released and God’s people are refreshed where they live in unity.

What are the implications for me, my life, my ‘community’ of believers? What steps do I or we need to take to become effective, credible witnesses — living lives where the love of Christ can evidently be seen?

If you’d like more practical info on how to help God’s people work together more effectively, check out these web based resources:
• Global Kingdom Partnership Resource Website: www.powerofconnecting.net
• Take a look at or download a practical ‘hands on, how to’ handbook for more effective collaboration with other Kingdom-minded friends. It’s a great tool for discussion or to energize an action plan for the dreams God’s putting on your heart. Here is the link for a lower resolution copy: http://bit.ly/PartnershipFieldGuide-LoRes . And the link for a high resolution copy: http://bit.ly/PartnershipFieldGuide-LoRes .

By Phill Butler
Phill is the director of visionSynergy.

Let’s do a brief review of the Genesis 1-3 Events, the Destruction and Redemption of Relationships and the implication for the Church globally – today.

First, God lives in community outside of time. The most popularly thought of reflection of that, of course, is the Trinity; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But check out references elsewhere in Genesis, Job, Daniel, Ephesians, etc. So, when He creates in time, His creation reflects this timeliness character of living in relationship — in community.

Highlights from Genesis 1-3

Then, let’s look at some of the highlights of the familiar passages in Genesis 1-3:

God uses the plural pronoun from his community and relationally-based nature and says, “Let us make man in our image.” Notice, we have a talking God. As Francis Schaffer more than once observed, “He is there and He is not silent.” That’s good news for those of us who want to communicate with Him — to actually listen for HIs voice.

Then, having made Adam, God perceived that Adam was incomplete alone in the garden and so created Eve: to provide ‘community,’ companionship, and, clearly, critically needed, complementary elements that made man’s experience more fully human – meaning more like God’s character.

Along comes Satan who challenged God’s integrity suggesting God is holding back – not telling Adam and Eve the full story and failing to give them full access.

Tragically, Adam and Eve’s chose (note, it was a choice) to listen to and believe Satan rather than listening to and believing God (a lie vs. the truth – the lie so frequently sounding more appealing than the truth). This leads them to take matters into their own hands. (This is why God places Pride as the chief of sins – it is by far the most dangerous).

The drama escalates once they made their decision. With their action the primary elements of all of creation went unbalanced – community, transparency, trust, and a sense of identity and wholeness were all destroyed;

Key Elements Destroyed

Here are some of the key elements.

• Relationship with God was destroyed: “Adam where are you?” (The distance in Adam’s hiding said it all.)
• Relationship with myself was destroyed: “I heard your voice and I was filled with fear” (God’s spirit had departed; Adam was vacuous and empty – St. John saying, in the presence of God “Perfect love casts out fear.”
• Relationship with others was destroyed: Adam: “She took the fruit, I’m not responsible.” Cain: “Why are you asking me about my brother? I have no idea where my brother is.”
• Relationship with the created order which was to have been nothing but joy, productivity and creative fulfillment was destroyed: “You will toil with the sweat of your brow. Childbirth will be accompanied by pain,”
• Relationship with eternity was destroyed: Two trees existed in the garden; the tree of knowledge of good and evil from which Adam and Eve had eaten. And, the Tree of Life. They are driven out of the garden with an angel/sentry placed at its entrance. It is specifically explained this was done so what they would not be able to gain access to the Tree of Life. Otherwise, with access, there would have been no hope for redemption. The only option being an eternal, outbound trip into darkness and separation from God. The angel was an act of love by God.

By Russ Mitchell
Russ is the field director for One Challenge (OC International) in Romania – oci.ro.

Inspired by the Holy Spirit

We can also say that the Psalmist was inspired by God and guided by the Holy Spirit. This is Scripture after all, and we know “that all Scripture is God breathed…” (2 Timothy 3:16). So what is the significance of this? We too must be filled with the Holy Spirit and power and be led by the Spirit.

The Psalmist is a mobilizer.

The Psalmist is not content to keep his knowledge of God to himself. He communicates it to others. And he calls others to partner with God to declare his glory among the peoples. He mobilized people to declare the glad tidings of God’s greatness locally and also globally.

He motivates not only by telling people what they should do, but also by bringing to surface the great motives why they should do so.

The Psalmist is a model for others.

He knows God and loves God. He makes God’s glory known and calls others to do the same. He is a good example to follow.

Message Bearer Mobilizers Today

Mobilizers have a strategic role in seeing the Great Commission fulfilled in our time. If we clearly understand our mandate to declare God’s glory among all peoples, we can quickly size up our task: at least two-thirds of the people in the world do not know, love or worship God.

Forty-one percent (41%) of the world’s population live in people groups beyond the influence of a viable, life giving community of believers. Twenty eight percent (28%) of the world’s population has never even heard of Jesus!

There is still much to do to present all peoples as worshippers before the Lord. To significantly change this situation, hundreds of thousands of new message bearers are needed to tell these multitudes about the glorious deeds of God.

From Romans 10:14-15 we know people are not going to be saved without a preacher (or message bearer) and these must be sent. Well, preachers will not preach and senders will not send if they are not first mobilized, hence the crucial role of mobilizers today.

Thousands of mission mobilizers are needed to release the prayer, financial, human and material resources needed to make a significant advance toward completing the task of declaring God’s excellent greatness to all peoples.

Without mobilizers, this task, the Great Commission, will simply not be fulfilled.

Already there are scores of pastors, youth leaders, teachers, presbyters, etc. who are in positions to mobilize God’s people to declare his glory among the nations. These are the key people to mobilize.

These leaders have already have positions of influence and could use this influence to move people toward doing God’s will. Do they have, however, the vision?

More importantly, do they have passion for God’s glory?

And let us also ask ourselves; does the ethos of Scripture flow from us? Do we know God? Do we love God? Do we have God’s vision? Are we humble and filled with the Holy Spirit? Do we model for others a missional life style? Are we equipping others? Are we communicating creatively? Are we mobilizing others?

Are you a message bearer mobilizer?

Ask yourself if what is true about the Psalmist is also true about you. How well do you fit the mobilizer profile? Are you using your position and influence to mobilize God’s people to do God’s will?

Use the previously mentioned observations made about the Psalmist as a check list to evaluate your own life and ministry. What adjustments are needed in your life to see that God’s glory is declared to all peoples?

May God work into your life all that is necessary to do His will, that you may be able to mobilize others to declare His glory among the nations.

By Russ Mitchell
Russ is the field director for One Challenge (OC International) in Romania – oci.ro.

Many consider Psalm 96 the missionary Psalm because of the powerful way that the Psalmist presents God’s global mission. I am surprised by how much we can glean from these thirteen verses about the mission mandate, the message bearer’s motivation and our message.

But there is still more. Let us look at this Psalm asking ourselves: what can we learn about the Psalmist himself? And then, how we can follow his example? Here are several observations:

The Psalmist knows Scripture.

The Psalmist is thoroughly familiar with Scripture. The ethos of Scripture oozes from him. It is a part of his being. It is in his DNA. He creatively weaves scriptural ideas into his message.

For example, when he speaks of “families of peoples” in verse 7, he lifts this expression from Genesis 12:3 (and perhaps Psalm 22:27) and inserts it into the text of Psalm 29:1-2. (For other examples of his use of Scripture compare Ps. 96:10 with Ps. 9:7, Ps. 96:13 with Ps. 9:8, Ps. 96:1 with Ps. 9:11, Ps. 96:13 with Ps. 98:9 as well as Psalms 97 and 98 in general.)

A mobilizer must have a profound knowledge of the Scriptures and be able to use them in making God and his purpose to bless all nations known. The Psalmist skillfully lays the biblical basis for mission – or, we might say, the missionary basis for the Bible!

The Psalmist knows God.

Not only does the Psalmist know Scripture, he knows the God to whom the Scriptures bear witness. He knows God’s character – his deeds – his purpose – his plan. He knows what God is up to. His knowledge is just not dry, dusty, disputable, debatable dogma.

Rather knowing God causes his soul to soar. It causes him to speak; it moves him to act.

The Psalmist loves God.

Not only does he know God, he loves God. He himself is a true worshipper. He sings to the Lord. He considers God most worthy of praise. He ascribes to him glory and strength. He worships in the splendor of holiness. He is passionate about God’s glory.

His love for God is also a great motivator – because of his love for God and his vision, he cannot keep this knowledge of God to himself. He desires others to know, love, serve and worship the Lord too. So he mobilizes others.

First he calls people to worship and then to make him known. Perhaps we attempt so little for God because we have too little love for God. A great love for God motivates us to attempt great deeds for God.
The Psalmist has vision.

A missionary psalm can be produced only by a person with missionary vision, and the Psalmist has it. He sees God’s purpose and plan to bless all nations, to be worshipped by all peoples and to reign over all the earth. He sees God’s purpose from Genesis to the consummation.

He sees the future as God ordains it. He sees all peoples worshiping the Lord. Having this end in view, he also understands what God’s people must do now: to go declare God’s glory to all peoples, telling of his wonderful deeds.

The Psalmist is a creative communicator.

This is poetry. This is a song. It’s got style. It’s got symmetry. It has rhythm and rhyme. The medium emphasizes the message. It’s memorable. It is well done. It is a piece of art. The Psalmist creatively communicates the mission vision in a way that impacts others.

The Psalmist is a writer.

He wrote down his thoughts. They have been transmitted from generation to generation for some three thousand years. Because it is a written message, its impact and influence transcend the Psalmist’s own place in space and time.

The Psalmist is humble.

He does not draw attention to himself. This Psalm is anonymous after all! His name is not associated with the Psalm – though many other Psalms have the author’s name appended. The author’s transparency highlights the fact that mission is about God and not about us.

The Psalmist is not out to draw attention to himself but to God and his purpose to be glorified by all peoples.

The Psalmist is an equipper.

The Psalmist not only tells people what to do. He also prepares them to declare the greatness of God by teaching the message that they have to share with the peoples.

By Ryan Shaw

Ryan is the international lead facilitator for Student Volunteer Movement 2 – SVM2 – and currently lives among the unreached.

For Fruit that Remains We Must Remain in Him

In verses 1-8 of John 15, we also find the consequences of not giving ourselves faithfully to this lifestyle. Jesus states in verse 6 that, “he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”

There are a great many meanings behind this devastating decree. It at least refers to

1. professing Christians who are merely religious and who are of no use to God because of lack of intimacy with Christ;
2. professing Christians who are hypocrites and at a heart level do not truly follow Christ;
3. professing Christians that look good on the outside and may gain some level of influence over other Christians, yet over time, wither away because of neglecting to cultivate the ongoing life in the Vine.

I am not seeking to be critical or judgmental by saying that it appears that much of the visible Body of Christ today can be grouped into these categories. With that in mind we need to be watchful and careful over our own lives as every believer is prone to the same falling short.

Verse 9-17 brings us back to the core of Jesus commands to produce great love and great joy. The abiding lifestyle is the doorway to rightly function in these two inner fruit characteristics. This is because giving ourselves to the abiding lifestyle is the essence of choosing to willingly walk in obedience to God.

Jesus taught us in John 17:3, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You (God the Father), the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” The core of our purpose for being alive on this planet is to grow in wholehearted love for God in Christ and to enjoy Him in ever increasing ways.

As we obey Him in these ways, love and joy are supernaturally cultivated within us. As a result we are able to respond to His great calling of loving each other because His power is operating within us enabling us to do so. It is His own example of complete surrender to the will of God even unto death that ignites and inspires us toward such love.

In this way Jesus promises us in verse 16 we will be people who bear much fruit and that it should remain.

Fruit that Lasts

This last piece is significant. Fruit can be produced, fall from a tree and then rot. Whereas Jesus wills us as His hands and feet, alive on the planet in the current generation, to produce fruit that lasts throughout eternity and is not superficial.

This is inner fruit of our characters that does not give up at the first sign of trouble and even though the road to cultivating the likeness of Christ appears hard and fraught with problems, we press on in belief in Jesus promises.

It is outer fruit which endures in the lives we influence and in the nations where we serve. These ones last and stand under the pressure which Jesus highlights in the next portion of the chapter. Churches are growing in their spiritual vitality and in their cooperation with what the Lord is doing in this generation.

It is often difficult to discern in the here and now if fruit we are producing will endure for eternity. This is why it is absolutely critical that we be a people who forsake living as believers content with superficiality in the Lord.

To live superficially  is to ensure that those we influence will be weak at best. Instead we want the undergirding power of the Holy Spirit flowing through us as we seek to influence people regarding His Kingdom. This only comes through embracing the practicalities of John 15.

Our great calling is to rise up, cast off every hindrance in our individual lives preventing us from going hard after the abiding lifestyle, and cooperate with divine love and joy energizing our spirits.

Through the rest of the chapter we are given a warning from the Lord Himself. We are not to be surprised or to get off course from the above simply because opposition and persecution arises. As true believers in Christ we will be persecuted just as He was.

We can be tempted to look for logic in people’s persecution of believers other than they have simply rejected Christ and hatred has seared their hearts. The body of Christ is still expected, however, to go on the offensive with reaching out in love even in the midst of persecution from the enemies of God’s Kingdom.

The Holy Spirit undertakes in these times and enables and empowers us to bear powerful witness of Christ in these moments. Why did Jesus talk of such things so often? It was for the explicit purpose preparing His disciples so we would be ready for it when it came.

John 15 & the Student Mission Movement

Being committed to the development of the student mission movement today means we are prepared to face the opposition and persecution. It will inevitably come as thousands and someday even hundreds of thousands of message bearers (alternative term for missionary) go to the front lines of the mission movement filled with the Holy Spirit, infiltrating the devil’s back yard.

If these laborers are not prepared the first sign of problems will make them flee. Instead with knowledge that Jesus has warned us these things would come and that He would be with us in the midst, we are empowered with confidence in the midst of very challenging circumstances.

In our ministries across the student generation at present we can be teaching these John 15 concepts in order to cause young hearts to hunger to be useful in bearing eternal fruit for His Kingdom. This is how the student mission movement is pushed onward.

Every ministry calling its people to the highest levels of commitment to Christ, through walking out the abiding lifestyle, which enables us with supernatural love and joy energizing our spirits and we go into the harvest ready for persecution, deciding beforehand what our response will be when it comes.

This is the high calling of John 15. May we embrace such truths in an increased fashion in our own lives and teach them to as many others as possible.

By Ryan Shaw

Ryan is the international lead facilitator for Student Volunteer Movement 2 – SVM2- and currently lives among the unreached.

Themes of John 15

John 15 is a powerful chapter and one that all believers should commit to study and re-study often. If taken to heart and proactively responded to, this little chapter will revolutionize our lives as followers of Christ.

Secondly, it will rightly prepare us to be faithfully reap the global harvest among the unreached. The entire chapter contains words spoken directly by Jesus which motivates us all the more to take them seriously.

The summary of the chapter is first, that the abiding lifestyle in Christ leads to fruitfulness. Second, wholehearted obedience to Christ’s commands as laid out in scripture produces a harvest of love and joy within. Third, we are to expect opposition as true believers and that it is in the midst of this that the Holy Spirit empowers us for anointed witness.

Blueprint for Fruitfulness

The student mission movement God is building internationally is meant to bear tremendous fruit for God’s eternal Kingdom. The Lord Almighty is moving across the emerging generation of believers internationally with the core purpose of drawing millions who will rightly respond to Him into the life of great fruit producing.

I often wonder if in the Church today we have lowered the standards of fruit bearing that Jesus intends for His people. Or maybe we simply have gotten away from the key scriptural means for how to rightly produce it. This is where John 15 comes in.

It is a blueprint for providing the only avenue through which the people of God can ever hope to produce eternal fruit.

It is not uncommon to find believers striving for fruitfulness with lots of self-effort. This stems often from an inner desire to be recognized, affirmed or find their name in prominence. This cannot and will not produce the eternal fruit that remains that Jesus speaks about.

It might influence people based on the individual’s personality, force of speech and knowledge. Yet those who will see true fruit that remains for eternity will rely only upon the living and abiding life of Christ cultivated within them day by day.

Inner Fruit vs. Outer Fruit

What are we referring to when we speak of bearing fruit? There is inner fruit and outer fruit. Inner fruit consists of regularly growing in the level which the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5) is operating within us while also being characterized by the list of virtues highlighted in 2 Peter 1:5-11.

It is consistently growing in Jesus’ greatest command in Mark 12:30,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

It is cooperating with the purpose of God to daily conform each believer into the likeness of Christ often through tests, hardships and adversities. It is having our spirits enlarged to receive an increasingly greater measure of understanding and revelation related to God’s ways.

The student mission movement will not attain to all it is meant to without the emerging generation of believers deliberately choosing to count the cost and place themselves at the feet of Jesus to develop this kind of inner fruit.

Outer fruit consists of the life of Christ within us as genuine believers touching others with whom we come into contact. It is the divine influence felt upon a human heart when they receive words or ministry and something is changed within as a result.

It is the impartation of spiritual truth to others which empowers them to live differently. Outer fruit is people aligning themselves with God’s prescribed ways of following Him. It refers to the genuine operation of the gifts of the Spirit within the people of God.

In the student mission movement this type of fruitfulness surrounds ministries who see hundreds drawn into a lifestyle of abandoned devotion for Christ and subsequently hear and respond to His beating heart for all peoples.

For Fruit that Remains We Must Remain in Him

The essence of verses 1-8 is that God wills His followers to produce eternal fruit that remains. The door to continually growing in the measure of fruitfulness being produced is abiding with Christ. As we purpose our hearts to dwell in intimate relationship with Christ, giving time, energy, dedication and discipline to cultivating our inner life in God, we will see marked changes within and without.

Neglecting this most crucial component of a believer’s life is to set ourselves up for failure in every other arena as Jesus emphatically declares, “Without from Me you can do nothing (verse 5)!”

We are called to root ourselves deeply in Jesus, our Vine, and be willing for the pruning hand of the Vinedresser to set us free from anything that hinders our doing so. Those who submit to Jesus’ leadership in their lives position themselves for progressing from fruit to more fruit to great fruit for God’s Kingdom. This is what we are after in the student mission movement.

By Ryan Shaw
Ryan is the international lead facilitator for Student Volunteer Movement 2 (SVM2) and currently lives among the unreached.

Introduction

Looking around the world today it would be easy to have a negative mindset. The economy being shaken, jobs hard to find, cholera outbreaks, massive floods and so much more. Considering the call of the body of Christ can also at times leave us discouraged and disappointed.

Yet, it appears clear that the Lord is raising the bar globally. He is beckoning His church to arise in this hour. There is anticipation and faith of what is to come.

As a result many are responding positively to the Lord while it is also equally true that many are not. The divide among the visible church of Christ related to whether or not we are willing to follow Jesus according to His prescribed Scriptural ways is widening as we speak.

Those hearing His call to all out faithfulness in a broken generation are increasing and yet the great numbers of those choosing to walk according to the status quo while filling our churches is also growing.

This trend should not surprise us. Jesus taught in Matthew 13 about the parable of the wheat and the tares. One of the startling core concepts we are meant to glean from this parable is that within the visible body of Christ there will be both wheat and tares – true believers and false.

He taught us that we are not to “uproot” or necessarily search out who is who. The truth behind Jesus’ words seems to be getting clearer. What is imperative is that we continue to allow the Holy Spirit room to challenge us to climb higher in walking obediently with Jesus. To do so means we consider the cost in making our lives count for Jesus and His eternal Kingdom.

Consider the following words of a young African pastor penned only weeks before he was martyred:

“The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of His and I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I don’t have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift through prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power.
I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He will have no trouble recognizing me. My colors will be clear!”

It is this wholehearted devotion which the Lord is highlighting to those with a listening ear. The purpose of partnering with God to see a generation of believers raised up for global proclamation we are so committed to has this at its heart.

A “New Breed”

This “new breed” of message bearers are those who receive His mandate to give themselves in serving among the remaining unreached people groups of the world. They will do so while being clothed with humility, perseverance and walking not in their own strength but the strength of Jesus within them.

We know that the expression of true Christianity is changing rapidly around the world and this is also true in the mission movement. New types of message bearers are coming forth from all over the world whose hearts beat in this manner.

I am confident that this reflects the standard being raised by the hand of God Himself in order that we reproduce in new believers among the unreached the very highest discipleship possible.

Seeing the emerging generation of believers in our ministries impacted with a vision of God’s “New Breed” of message bearers requires a roadmap from the Scripture. I am convinced that John 15 is a chapter which opens up grand vistas for all those invested in working toward a thriving student mission movement across today’s student generation internationally.

The chapter can be broken up into three distinct portions highlighting three critical concepts which believers are to cultivate with profound care. Doing so sets our heart in the correct posture to respond to God’s calling in the nations while also preserving us throughout the process. (1) The Abiding Lifestyle (2) The Core Command (3) Embracing Opposition.

By Russ Mitchell

Russ is the field director for One Challenge (OC International) in Romania – www.oci.ro.

God’s Judgment

Take, for example, the judgment theme. Three times the psalmist says the Lord will judge the peoples, each time stressing a different attribute of God:

“He will judge the peoples with equity” (v. 10).

“He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness” (v. 13).

By emphasizing God’s character in relation to judgment, the psalmist suggests that the peoples can escape the coming judgment by turning to the Lord now.

God’s future judgment of the nations heightens the importance of the message we have to proclaim to the nations. Christopher Wright well states this point:

“If it were not the case that all nations stand under the impending judgment of God, there would be no need to proclaim the Gospel. If it were not for the fact that God deals in mercy and forgiveness with all who repent, there would be no gospel to proclaim.” (The Mission of God, p. 462)

By stressing that God is coming to judge the world in righteousness, the psalmist presents a strong motive for people to turn to the Lord from the vain worship of idols.

God’s future judgment of the nations is also a strong motive for us to go beyond our own people, our own nation, our own culture, to those people groups who are least reached, because their eternal destiny is at stake.

Theologian Carl F.H. Henry once said, “The Gospel is only good news if it arrives in time.” For many in the world today, the “good news” is not arriving in time.

Specialists estimate that 40% of the population of the earth is least reached and 28% virtually have no chance to hear about Jesus because there is no viable, witnessing church in their culture. Some 66,000 people die each day never having an opportunity to hear the good news.

Should not these least reached peoples also have an opportunity to hear about the greatness of God? Indeed!

But this will require hundreds of thousands of wholly devoted believers working together to fulfill the Great Commission. It requires a new generation of young people intent on proclaiming God’s glory among the nations. Are you a part of their number? What will your response be?

How Should the Peoples Respond to God?

This leads to the final point of the psalmist’s message: how should the peoples respond to God?

First, he calls the peoples to become true worshippers of God, turning from the worship of idols to serve the Lord.

Second he calls the peoples to become message bearers, proclaiming “good tidings of His salvation from day to day,” telling “of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples,” saying, “among the nations, ‘The LORD reigns.’” We too must challenge people to respond to the Lord by becoming true worshippers and to take the good news to those who have not heard.

I am amazed by the breadth and depth of the psalmist’s knowledge of God! He speaks clearly about the identity of God and what he is like. He speaks of the Lord’s mighty deeds as Creator, Savior, Lord and coming judge. He points out how the peoples should respond to God. This is a very well rounded message, one we would do well to use as a model for our own.

An Even Greater Message Today

Still for us today, who know the rest of God’s story, we have an even greater message for the nations. We can complete the message recorded here by adding Jesus is God.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1,2).

Jesus is Creator.

“All things came into being by Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (John 1:3).

Jesus is Savior!

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6).

Jesus is Lord!

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

Jesus is coming again!

“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him” (Hebrews 9:27,28).

What a great message we have for the nations!

“But we, who know the rest of the story, also have an even greater motivation to take the glad tidings of God’s salvation to the peoples as we look forward to and hasten the day when “every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:11).

May God find us faithful to the great mandate that he has given to us.

By Russ Mitchell

Russ is the field director for One Challenge (OC International) in Romania – www.oci.ro.

As we have been looking at Psalm 96, we have made a number of important discoveries about God’s mission and our part in it.

First, we discovered that God’s mission or purpose is to be known, worshipped and obeyed by all peoples. We also discovered that we have an important part in God’s mission.

Even in the Old Testament we see a clear mandate that God’s people are to take the good news of salvation to those peoples who have yet not heard about the greatness of God.

Also we discovered something important about our motivation to take God’s message to the peoples; namely message bearers are motivated by the desire to see God worshipped by the nations and realize that they, having come to know God, are responsible to make his greatness known to all peoples.

Still this Psalm has much more to say to us, specifically about our message. Three times we are told to tell the nations about God. But want shall we say? Let’s look once again at Psalm 96 asking ourselves what we can learn about God so that we can tell this to the nations. Specifically we want to ask: Who is God? What is he like? What has he done? And how should we respond to him?

The Identity of God

So let’s begin by looking at the identity of God. Just as in the psalmist’s day, there are still many different “gods” worshipped by the peoples. So they will want to know which god we are talking about.

The psalmist is very specific about the identity of God. He is the LORD. In Hebrew “LORD” is the special covenant name of God, Yahweh.

In most English translations of the Bible this word is type set in small caps to differentiate the covenant name of God, Yahweh, from another Hebrew word translated Lord, Adonai. Eleven times in this Psalm the writer uses the covenant name of God.

Thus, the psalmist clearly identifies who he is talking about. He is talking about the God who made the heavens and the earth, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God who delivered his people from slavery in Egypt and continues to make himself known, not only to his people Israel, but also to the nations. Thus our message should clearly answer the question, “Who is God?”

God’s Character

Second, the psalmist speaks of God’s excellent greatness or his character. He speaks of God’s glory (v. 3) and his greatness (v. 4); he ascribes to the Lord splendor, majesty, strength and beauty (v. 6). In the second part of the Psalm he speaks of God’s holiness, equity, righteousness and faithfulness. All these describe what God is like.

It is important to make clear God’s excellent greatness so that peoples will come to appreciate the beauty of his character, recognize that he is worthy of praise and respond in worship, as we see in verses 7-9.

God’s Marvelous Deeds

Third, the psalmist focuses on the Lord’s marvelous deeds. We see that “the LORD made the heavens” (v.5), that is to say, he is the creator. We are to “proclaim good tidings of his salvation from day to day” (v. 2). So the Lord is our savior. We are to “say among the nations, the LORD reigns” (v. 10). So he is Lord.

We also see that “the LORD…is coming to judge the earth” (v. 13). Observe the breadth of God’s wonderful deeds! In the past he made the heavens; he is the creator. In the past, he has acted to deliver us; he is our savior. In the present, he reigns. He is Lord. In the future, he will come as the righteous judge of all peoples. These four marvelous deeds have much meaning and relevance for all peoples.

By Russ Mitchell

Russ is the field director for One Challenge (OC International) in Romania – www.oci.ro.

As we have been looking at Psalm 96, we have made two astounding “discoveries” thus far. We observed that all peoples from every nation are called to worship God and those who know God are called to make him known to those peoples who have not yet heard.

These two calls form the basis of the message bearer’s mandate. To me this is astounding – that in the Old Testament there is such a strong mandate for God’s people to declare his greatness among the peoples.

Yet it is our nature, especially when confronted with such a great vision, to ask the question, why? Why should the peoples worship God? Why should we make an effort to take God’s message to them?

The psalmist seems to anticipate these very questions for in verses 4-6, he presents numerous reasons why the peoples should worship God, reasons which also pertain to the message bearer’s motivation.

For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
Psalm 96:4-6 NIV

Note that these verses begin with the word “for,” which alerts us to the reasons for what was commanded in verses 1-3. Here is the first reason: “For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise.” Why should the peoples worship the Lord? Simply put, because he is great and truly merits the praise of all peoples.

Next the psalmist adds, “He is to be feared above all gods.” Some will ponder, why should the Lord be feared above all gods?

Again the psalmist anticipates our question with the second couplet: “For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.” (Note again the repetition of the word “for” – a word which introduces the reason for what was just said.)

This couplet sets up the contrast between the Lord and the gods which the peoples worship. The psalmist points out that they are “idols.” There are many words are used in the Old Testament for idols. This particular word literally means “something worthless.” Its root meaning is “to be weak, deficient.”

To paraphrase, the psalmist is saying “all the gods of the peoples are worthless weaklings.” So here are two striking contrasts between the gods whom the peoples worship and the Lord.

The gods of the peoples are worthless, but the Lord is worthy of praise.

The gods of the peoples are weaklings, but the Lord made the heavens, which shows his limitless power and wisdom.

Thus the psalmist asserts the absolute superiority of the Lord over the “gods.” He alone truly merits the worship of the peoples.

The final couplet rounds out the psalmist’s argument. “Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and glory are in His sanctuary.” Here the character of the Lord is highlighted, providing further reasons for the peoples to worship the Lord. Because of his excellent greatness, he alone truly merits the worship of the peoples.

Although we have been looking at the reasons why the peoples should worship the Lord, the psalmist uses the same reasons to explain why we should take the message about God to the peoples.

Message bearers have discovered the greatness and saving power of the Lord. Enthralled by his excellent greatness, message bearers are motivated by the desire to see God worshipped by the nations and realize that they, having come to know God, are responsible to make his greatness known to all peoples.

It is interesting what reasons are not given to support the mandate to tell the peoples about the true God.

• We don’t see that we should go to the peoples because they are lost – though they are.
• We don’t see that we should do this because we are commanded or called – though we are.
• We don’t see that being a message bearer makes you a better person, more fulfilled, happy or prosperous – though it might.

These not mentioned because the focus here is not on you, but God. Being a message bearer is not about helping people or doing something great for God. It is all about Him. He alone truly merits the worship of the peoples. He alone merits your worship and wholehearted devotion.

So on a scale of one to ten, what is your motivation like? Do you know the Lord? Are you wholly devoted to him? Does your heart burn to see God worshipped by the nations?

If so, you are well on your way to becoming a message bearer.

On the other hand, it is possible that you see within your own heart significant obstacles to overcome in order to tell others about the excellent greatness of God. If so, you first step might be to tell God what these obstacles are. Be honest with him. Ask him to change your heart so that you can be fully devoted to him.