What is our mission? The answer to that in part depends on what area of life we’re talking about. Are we talking about the family, society, or the church? No doubt, each individual family will have different goals and purposes, just as different companies and government entities provide different services. But, ultimately each area of life exists for the glory of God, which means every family, every society, and every church should be focused on glorifying God by observing all that Christ has commanded. And this is especially true in the church because the church is where we learn the fundamentals of how to do this in every area of life.
I recently heard the church compared to a heartbeat. This makes sense because just as the heart pumps blood throughout the body, enabling each part of the body to do it’s job, so likewise the church, through worship—gathering together with God’s people to worship the triune God of the Bible by reading God’s Word, praying God’s Word, singing God’s Word, hearing God’s Word taught and preached, tasting and seeing God’s Word in baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and being sanctified and commissioned by God’s Word in and through all of that so that we can trust and obey—is enabled to joyfully submit to the Lordship of Christ in every area of life. In and through the ministry of the Word we come to know Jesus, love Jesus, live for Jesus, and help others do the same. But, that doesn’t just mean that we learn to pray, read our Bibles, come to church, and fight sin. It means all of that and so much more. It means that we take all things captive for Christ… It means that we leverage our whole lives for the glory of Christ. Which means that what happens in and through the church goes out to the family and society. The Christian life is not a mere spiritual thing. It encompasses the whole of life: spiritual, emotional, physical… all of it.
We gather together with the saints each week, not just in the sanctuary of the church building, but with Christ, the saints in heaven, and the heavenly hosts, having the very throne room of heaven opened to us, so that we can taste and see the goodness of God’s Kingdom and His perfect will in heaven, and pray for and work for those things to come and be done here on earth. And that all flows into and empowers our mission as the church. And what is our mission? To disciple the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that Christ has commanded (Matthew 18:18-20). And what that tells us is that our mission is not a mere rescue mission, where we are simply trying to pull people out of the world and into the church (though there’s some truth to that). But, our mission is a takeover mission, where we are seeking to see every nation and every generation bow the knee to King Jesus. We want every area of life, every church, every family, and every society—including every area of society—to know Jesus, love Jesus, and live for Jesus in every area of life.
We partake in and enjoy the very culture of heaven when we come together for worship with God’s people, and that enables us to take that culture home with us and be fruitful with it and multiply it. We take the culture of Christ and seek to establish it in our homes. We raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, committing ourselves to Christian education and the like. We commit our households to service to the Lord, and seek to make the lifestyle of our family one that obeys Christ in all things and glorifies Him in all things. We take the Christian culture that we have experienced and are a part of in the church and seek to nurture and develop it in our homes, and then we seek to export it out to the world in and through everything we are and everything we do. And slowly but surely we disciple the nations, we accomplish our mission.
There’s an amazing statement in Ephesians 3:9-10 that lays out part of God’s mission in creating all things. There Paul says that God created all things so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God would be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. And in context the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places are the powers of darkness that have and are continually seeking to lead the nations astray. But, now, in Christ, God’s people are making His wisdom, His Law, His gospel, His justice, His mercy, His grace, His beauty, and His glory known as we seek to live faithfully and partake in, embrace, and advance the culture of Christ in and to every area of life and every nation and generation.
In Ephesians 3:1-9 Paul speaks of the mystery of Christ that has now been clearly revealed. This mystery tells us that all in Christ, both Jew and Gentile, are heirs in Christ, members of the same body in Christ, and partakers of all the Covenant promises in Christ. In Christ Jew and Gentile are reconciled to one another and to God. The two have become one new man in Christ, and now in Christ they are bringing to light the plan of the mystery of Christ that had been hidden in ages past. Not that the plan wasn’t always there, but that it was communicated through types and shadows, and wasn’t as clear as it is now in and through Jesus and the whole of Scripture. And the plan that is now made clear is that God, in Christ, is not simply rescuing one nation or a remnant from the world, but that He is taking over the world. After all, the word Gentiles just means nations. Paul is speaking of the nations of the world coming into the Covenant of Grace with Israel.
Every nation and generation belong to Christ, and one day the knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:9). One day every enemy will come under Christ’s feet (Psalm 110:1), and every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11). And that is what is happening in and through the church, and in and through history now. That’s what our faithfulness and our mission are a part of. That’s what our church, our household, and our roles in society are a part of.
The Christian culture of our church, the Christian culture of our households, and the culture we display and advance as we seek to observe all that Christ has commanded in every area of life and help others do the same are making known God’s manifold wisdom to the nations, and even to the powers of darkness that grips the nations. And as God’s wisdom is being made known those powers are being defeated. They are being reminded that this is our Father’s world. And though the wrong seems often so strong, God is the ruler yet. Jesus, who died, will be satisfied, and every knee will bow. And little by little every area of life, and every nation and generation is being taken captive for Christ. And that’s where we all should want to be, because that’s where we all belong.
We exist for God’s glory, and we glorify God by trusting and obeying Christ and His Word, and helping others do the same. So, please pray, read your Bible, come to church, and fight sin. But remember, the Christian life is not a mere spiritual thing. It encompasses the whole of life: spiritual, emotional, physical… all of it. So, we glorify God not just in personal piety, but by realizing that our role in the church, in our homes, and in society are all ultimately in service to Him. So, we are to do all things with excellence because we do all things for Him. As individuals, as children, as parents, as grandparents, as church members, and as members of society we are to glorify God by trusting Him and obeying Him and doing all things for Him. That means we cook for Christ, we clean for Christ, we mow our lawns for Christ, we work for Christ, we teach for Christ, we learn for Christ, we discipline for Christ, we even diet and exercise for Christ… We do everything for the magnification of the glory of God in Christ Jesus. And in so doing we are taking all things captive for Christ. May we give ourselves to this and thus embrace our mission of discipling the nations.
In Christ’s service and yours,
Nick Esch