Monday, February 28, 2011

 

New Mission under the New Covenant

"So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured." (Hebrews 13:12-13)

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'" (Matthew 28:18-20)

The only way to reach all nations is to go outside the camp. Under the Old Covenant, God's People were centripetal (center seeking); however, under the New Covenant, God's People are centrifugal (center fleeing).

The New Covenant requires a new conquest, not the military conquest of a piece of territory, but the conquest of the whole world through the preaching of the gospel. Now the whole inhabited earth has become the new land battlefield that is to be conquered in God's name.

"Put on the whole armor of God ... For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. ... Fasten on the belt of truth ... put on the breastplate of righteousness ... put on shoes for your feet with the readiness given by the gospel of peace. ... opening the mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel." (Ephesians 6:11-20 some liberties taken)

"Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him." (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

Onward, Christian soldiers, Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus Going on before.
Christ the royal Master, Leads against the foe;
Forward into battle, See His banner go!
Onward, Christian soldier, Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus Going on before.
-Sabine Baring-Gould

 

New Land Focus under the New Covenant (cont.)

"Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother." (Galatians 4:25-26)

"For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them [Mount Sinai, see Exodus 19]. ... But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly [ekklesia] of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant ..." (Hebrews 12:18, 19, 22-24)

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