Day 148: Where Are We Headed? (The Goals of The Church)
Today, we discuss the Goals and Outcomes of Father-God’s desires for us? We have been called to proclaim The Kingdom of Christ to this present World. The Kingdom is coming and it cannot be stopped. We are here to warn people about the choices they make now and how they will have consequences in the age to come.
Where Are We Headed? [Goals]
WORDwork:
John 3:16–17
“For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.
1 Timothy 2:1–4
First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanks be offered on behalf of all people, 2 even for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 Such prayer for all is good and welcomed before God our Savior, 4 since He wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow concerning His promise [to return], as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because He does not wish (desire) for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
What do the passages above tell us about Father God’s desires for humanity?
Revelation 11:15
Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:
“The kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,
and He will reign for ever and ever.”
What does this passage tell us about the future?
It is important to root all that we are discussing about goals and outcomes in the desires and will of the Lord God for us. In the passages above, it is clear that the LORD desires for all people to come to a knowledge of the truth, to repent (turn from their old ways) and so be saved. Jesus was sent for this very purpose, not to condemn us, but to save us!!!
Now we know that even though this is what Father God desires, in the end, some will be lost. This gets into some very heavy and deep discussions about desires and will that is outside the scope of what we are developing here. Suffice it to say that in order to accomplish His larger, excellent goals some things that God desires are not fulfilled in order for other more significant things to be done. To illustrate: as a father, I desire that my teenage daughters stay at home and never drive away in the car by themselves. Yet, I allow this to happen because it is essential to their growth. Even though that is not a perfect comparison, I think you understand the point.
Nevertheless, Father God desires for all humanity—His creation that bears His image and likeness—to be saved. As we place this in the context of our Vision and Mission as the Church, we can see that we are now the “instrument,” the means that Father God is using to proclaim the saving work of Christ to the world through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.
The Body of Christ is shaped by a vision of all the kingdoms of this world becoming the Kingdom of Christ (see Revelation 11:15). We are motivated now by a mission to take the Gospel to the whole world, especially those who have never heard. This “Apostolic Impulse” (as we will soon discuss) is the catalyst for all other activities and works. We have seen the glory of Christ. We have tasted of His goodness. We want to follow Him as He leads us out, to all those who do not know Him and proclaim His glory so that they can taste His goodness and come to accept Him as The Truth. That is part of the “big picture” answer to this question about goals.
This is why Paul makes this statement:
Colossians 1:27–28
God wanted to make known among the Gentiles [Nations] the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him [Christ], warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. {HCSB}
We have discussed this passage before and won’t repeat what we have already said here. Notice that Paul says he proclaims Christ warning and teaching everyone. Because the Kingdom of Christ is coming and only those who have trusted in Christ will be welcomed there, people need to be warned about this reality. There is no Savior other than Jesus. Paul (and the other Apostles) were compelled by their love for Christ to proclaim Him and bear witness about Him to all people, especially those who had never heard about Him:
2 Corinthians 5:11–21
Therefore, because we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people, … 14 For the love of Christ controls us, since we have concluded this, that Christ died for all; therefore all have died. … 20 Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making his plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!” 21 God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.
On the personal, individual level within the Body of Christ, Father God has set us apart to be conformed to the likeness of His Son. He desires for us to be like Jesus in out thoughts, desires, emotions and actions! Remember this:
Romans 8:28-29
And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose, 29 because those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that His Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
We have already discussed many aspects of this reality and will say a few more things in the lessons to come.
What are the Outcomes? [Results]
In the big picture of things, one day the Kingdom of Christ will arrive. And as we have seen, not everyone will desire to be part of that Kingdom and so will not be welcomed there. Jesus warned about this reality (see Matthew 5:29-30, 25:31-46), Paul warned about this reality (see 2 Thessalonians 1:5-12), and the Book of Revelation clearly presents this fact (see Revelation 20:11-15).
It is part of our Mission to warn people about the eternal consequences of their beliefs and actions in the here and now. We are simply called to faithful to the work that Father God has entrusted to us (see 1 Corinthians 4:1-5). Ultimately, we simply trust Him to work in everyone and everything to bring it all together in His good and glorious conclusions in Christ. We will say more about this in the final lessons.
Was there anything new for you in the reading today or did you think about something in a different way? If so, what and why is it significant?
*You can find a complete list of all the MilktoMeat readings here.
