FOURTH QUARTER 2023
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #3
OCTOBER 21, 2023
“GOD’S CALL TO MISSION”

 

God’s mission of salvation began when Adam hid himself after sinning against his Creator. God called out to Adam “Where are you?” Not that He was unaware of Adam’s location. God wanted Adam and Eve to know they were missed, because He and they met face to face in “the cool of the day.” Every day.

God gave Adam and Eve their first mission before they sinned: “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over … every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28, NKJV). Adam’s mission included God’s putting “him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it” (Genesis 2:15).

After Adam sinned, a new mission loomed on the horizon for fallen humanity’s future. It is the mission of redemption. God was not caught off guard when Adam sinned. Immediately He put into operation the plan of redemption. The first gospel promise was given to mankind in Genesis 3:15. God’s words were directed to Satan, that serpent of old (Revelation 12:9). Enmity between the devil and mankind was promised. For man’s advantage, this was the promise of supernatural power to resist the devil; to the devil it was his death knell that will continually reverberate until the mission of redemption is completed.

The seed of the woman was a specific promise of the Son of God, Who was to come from heaven, become the Son of man, to be bruised by the devil, but through the bruising process of suffering and death, the fallen human family was given a second probation. Satan’s bruising of Christ on Calvary also guaranteed, that very day, the devil’s total and unmitigated defeat and subsequent eternal death.

God’s mission for Noah and his sons was the same as given to Adam: “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). However, later descendants did not want to spread out and “fill the earth.” So, they built a tower of unbelief with their desire “to make a name for themselves” (Genesis 11:4, NIV). Their downfall was their refusal to believe God’s everlasting covenant promise—that He will never again flood the earth with water in judgment (Genesis 9:11).

To end the rebellion at the tower of Babel, God said, “Let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Genesis 11:7). It is from this verse that Israel named Babylon as “confusion.” Babel literally means “gate of God” according to the British Dictionary definitions for Babel (https://www.dictionary.com/browse/babel).

Applying the thoughts of confusion and the “gate of god” to “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Revelation 17:5), we realize that this last Babylon is religious confusion in these last days of earth’s history. No wonder God calls His people out of this confused and false “gate of God.” This call is part of God’s mission for you and me.

Abraham accepted God’s call to come out of Ur, the predecessor of ancient Babylon. In God’s instruction to Abraham, He promised that in and through Abraham “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). This promised blessing is repeated several times in Genesis 18:18; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14; and in Acts 3:24. This blessing was applied by Paul to the gospel of justification by faith in Galatians 3:8.

Abraham is the one to whom the Gospel of world-wide salvation was proclaimed. He believed, and received the blessing of righteousness. This blessing is none other than the promise of and to Christ as revealed in Galatians 3:16— “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as of many, but as of one, ‘And to your Seed,’ Who is Christ.”

In this we learn that Abraham and Christ are inseparably linked together in the promises. The fact is that Abraham could never receive the promise except in Christ.

“The Seed to whom the promise was made is Christ, – the same that was promised at the time of the fall.” E. J. Waggoner, Prophetic Lights, (1889), p, 146.

You and I become joint-heirs with Abraham through Christ. “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:29).

E. J. Waggoner commented “Let it not be forgotten that although there are many thousands included in the seed, there is only one seed, for they are all one in Christ, Who is the Seed.” The Everlasting Covenant (1900 Edition), p. 49.

Again, “The seed is Christ and those who are in Him. This and nothing besides.” p. 50.

And yet again, “All God's promises are in Christ, and that the rejection of Christ cuts one off from the promises.” —E. J. Waggoner, Present Truth United Kingdom, July 31, 1902.

Abraham was persuaded also by Sarah’s comment for him to take her servant, Hagar, as a second wife, thinking to do their part in producing God’s promised Son. Finally, after about 50 years (from the time Abraham left Ur), Abraham truly believed God. This took place as he was about to sacrifice his son Isaac, but was stopped by the angel of the Lord. Abraham at long last completely believed God, not merely in the absence of his feelings, but against them (Genesis 22:9-13).

After Abraham’s total commitment, God never brought up Abraham’s past moral failures. Abraham is always presented as an illustration of righteousness by faith, father of the faithful, and heir of the world (Romans 4:1-3, 13).

What can we take from this? When we repent and believe in Christ alone as our Savior, God justifies us and treats us as though we were always righteous. As with Abraham, He never digs up our past! He treats us as though we had always believed, always obeyed and never sinned. It is true that we are great sinners; but Jesus is a greater Savior! And because we are sinners, “we have a right to claim a Saviour.” —Ellen G. White, Testimony to Ministers, 264.

“We are not to serve God as if we were not human, but we are to serve Him in the nature we have, that has been redeemed by the Son of God; through the righteousness of Christ we shall stand before God pardoned, and as though we had never sinned.” —Ellen G. White, Manuscript 1, 1892. (Selected Messages, Volume 3, p. 140).

And again. “If you give yourself to [Jesus], and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned.” —Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 62.

Isn’t this the good news in God’s mission that we will and must take to our neighbors, to town and city, and to the world?

Every Thursday of our Sabbath School lessons, for the entire quarter, we are presented with two challenges. This week these are:

“Challenge 1: Identify and make a list of people groups with special needs in your community, whom the church has not made efforts to reach.”

“Challenge Up: Begin praying for an opportunity in the near future to become engaged in mission to people with special needs.”

In closing, consider this thought:

Remember, “There are in our world many who are nearer the kingdom of God than we suppose. In this dark world of sin the Lord has many precious jewels, to whom He will guide His messengers. Everywhere there are those who will take their stand for Christ. Many will prize the wisdom of God above any earthly advantage, and will become faithful light-bearers. Constrained by the love of Christ, they will constrain others to come to Him.”  —Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, April 6, 1911.

 

~Pastor Jerry Finneman