Foundations for Christian Mission, Mentor's Guide, MG04

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F O U N D A T I O N S F O R C H R I S T I A N M I S S I O N

• In the various aspects of Jesus’ birth, teaching, miracles, exorcisms, deeds, death, and resurrection, the Kingdom of God is now here, already present in the life of the Church. The Kingdom has already come, and yet is not yet consummated; although the Kingdom has come in the fulfillment of the Messianic promise in the person of Jesus, it will only be consummated at his Second Coming, when the full and final manifestation will occur. • Today in this world and age, the Church of Jesus Christ is both the sign and foretaste of the Kingdom present, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, the pledge of the full inheritance. The Church is now authorized to proclaim and demonstrate the victory of Christ over Satan and the curse as his agent and deputy. • The main implications of the Mission as the War of the Spheres motif is that God is presently reasserting his rule today over his universe in Jesus Christ, and through his agent, the Church. God is the warrior who through his anointed One has defeated the power of the devil and the effects of the curse. Mission is the display and proclamation of the rule of God here and now, and making disciples among the nations advances the reign of God by testifying to its coming in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.

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I. Mission as the War of the Spheres : God as the Warrior Reestablishing His Kingdom Rule over the Universe

Video Segment 2 Outline

Mission Announces God’s War with Idolatry

The fundamental question of theology, ‘What do we mean by “God,”’ can be answered from a variety of angles by exploring God’s various relations to the world and to ourselves. Ironically, the study of idolatry also gives us some insight into the nature of the true God. What constitutes a god? Martin Luther’s answer, as he reflected on the first commandment in his larger catechism, was ‘whatever your heart clings to and relies upon, that is your God; trust and faith of the heart alone make both God and idol’. We wish to confirm his view, but also to emphasize love and service: a god is that which one loves, trusts and serves above all else. This definition suggests both the possibility and the urgency of making clear the relevance of idolatry to the modern world. In one sense idolatry is the