Mere Missions

T he G ospel : E vangelize • 117

Jesus and those who are not, participate to alleviate the brokenness, hurt, pain and injustices of the world we live in. God has given to all humanity the responsibility and requirement to do justly, love mercy and walk humble with God (Mic. 6.8). The Hebrew definition for “man” in Micah 6.8 is – mankind (male and female), anyone, any man, men, mortal, people, population, humanity. This is a human race mandate and all men and women, whether children of God or not are to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with their God. In humanity’s best moments, they have still fallen short in each of these areas – justice, mercy, walking with God. Jesus, as the perfect Man, the Son of Man, the complete representation of humanity as they were created to be before the Fall, demonstrated these three requirements of God, to perfection. His life was the perfect reflection of humanity, of what it looks like to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God. Acts of compassion and justice are not the power of God that can bring salvation. Neither are miracles a guarantee that people will respond in faith to God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus did the miraculous as a demonstration of the power of the Kingdom of God invading the territory of the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2.2). During His ministry, Jesus performed more than forty miracles (an event that is outside the bounds of natural law) including healing the sick, changing the natural elements of nature and even raising people from the dead. Jesus performed miracles to minister, glorify the Father, to reveal Himself as being sent by God (approved Acts 2.22), and to give us a foretaste of the Kingdom to come but they necessarily didn’t lead to repentance and salvation. Raising Lazarus from the dead didn’t change the heart of many towards Jesus as the Messiah (John 11.45-53). Only one out of ten lepers who were miraculously cleansed and healed returned in faith to express gratitude to Jesus. “Your faith has saved you,” was Jesus’s reply (Luke 17.14-19). His “salvation” or wholeness was