David MartinStudent #1607030

GSU 1111Assignment #4

Prof. Craig Jones

First, let us start with

World maps according to Americans

•The World According to America

If the physical earth were drawn in proportion to population:North

America: 5%

LatinAmerica:

8%

Africa:13%

Europe:13%

Asia: 61%

Oceana: 0.5%

World population by density

Very Different Pictures

POLITICAL

BOUNDARIES

ETHNOLINGUISTIC

PEOPLES

Nations vis-à-vis ethnic peoples (panta ta ethne)

All the nations shall be blessed…

04/21/23

Genesis: A Book of Beginnings

•1 now the LORD had said to Abram:

      “get out of your country,       from your family       and from your father’s house,       to a land that I will show you.  2 I will make you a great nation;      I will bless you       and make your name great;       And you shall be a blessing.

• 3 I will bless those who bless you,      and I will curse him who curses you;       And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3

04/21/23

The Promise to Abraham Renewed

•Gen. 15:5) Then He brought him outside and said, “Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.”

•Gen. 18:18) since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

•Gen. 22:18) In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

•See also Gen. 13:15; 15:8; 17:7-8, 15-16; 21:12

04/21/23

An Everlasting Covenant

• Gen.17:7) And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. (See Gal 3:17)

•What does this mean?•It lasts a long time, forever to be precise

04/21/23

Covenant Continued

•2 Sam 7:12-13, 16-17) “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever…And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.”

•King David was given a covenant that was everlasting like Abraham’s

04/21/23

Matthew: A Book of New Beginnings

•Matthew 1:1) The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:•Matthew recognizes Jesus as the ongoing fulfillment of God’s covenants with Abraham and David•Jesus is the Seed of Abraham and David (Gen. 21:12, 2 Sam. 7:12)

04/21/23

Why is Jesus so important?

•John 3:16) For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

•2 Co. 5:19) that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them…

•1 John 2:2) And He Himself (Christ) is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.

Why is Jesus so important?

•According to these verses the whole world’s sin is atoned for through the Seed or promise of Abraham (Jesus, Gal. 3:16)

•Anyone in the world can believe it and be reconciled to God (Jn. 3:16, Rev. 22:17)

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Why is Jesus so important?

•It was Jesus who understood all of this that gave us the Great Commission

•“Go…and make disciples of all nations”

•The language is identical to God’s covenant with Abraham

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The Great Commission

• And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:18-20)

•But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

•It is important to notice the instructions to all the nations or in other words the entire world. Again the language is reminiscent of God’s covenant to Abraham, “all nations shall be blessed.”

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OT Examples of Great Commission

•The curious case of Jonah

•The curious case of Ruth

•The curious case of Rahab

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Even in the OT God wanted the nations to follow Him

•Jer. 3:17) At that time Jerusalem shall be called The Throne of the LORD, and all the nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of the LORD, to Jerusalem.•Zech. 8:20) Thus says the LORD of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, Inhabitants of many cities;•Is. 2:2) 2 Now it shall come to pass in the latter days       That the mountain of the LORD’s house       Shall be established on the top of the mountains,       And shall be exalted above the hills;       And all nations shall flow to it.

04/21/23

As It Stands Today

•Much of the focus of world missions is in what is called the “10/40 Window” named after the latitude and longitude coordinates on the world map

•This includes Northern Africa all the way over to China

•Of the world least evangelized countries, 97% of their population live in the 10/40 Window

•All facts provided by home.snu.edu

04/21/23

As It Stands Today

•865 million unreached Muslims or Islamic followers in 3330 cultural sub-groupings•550 million unreached Hindus in 1660 cultural sub-groups•150 million unreached Chinese in 830 groups•275 million unreached Buddhists in 900 groups•2550 unreached tribal groups (which are mainly animistic) with a total population of 140 million•Forming a smaller -- though important -- unreached group are the 17 million Jews scattered across 134 countries

All facts provided by home.snu.edu

04/21/23

As It Stands Today

•At least some part of Scripture has been translated into 2,212 of the world's 6,500 languages•366 languages have the entire Bible•928 other languages have the New Testament•Individual books (such as the Gospel of John) are available in 918 additional languages•80 percent of the world's people have access to at least some portion of the Bible in a language they can understand.

•All facts provided by home.snu.edu

04/21/23

Our Mission: What Can We Do?

•1) Search our own hearts, is there a place for me in God’s big world as a missionary?

•2) Pray for the accomplishment of world missions and for the missionaries who are active in other parts of the world

•3) Ask God to show us how we may contribute to world missions

•4) Learn as much as you can about the spiritual state of the world