Often times believers mistake that God’s heart for people
and nations, other than the Jews, is merely a New Testament concept that
changed between Malachi and the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It was in Matthew 28 that Jesus commissioned
His disciples to “Go into all the world and make disciples.” However, when we look to the Scriptures, the
heart God has for the nations and all peoples and culture is not only VERY
evident, but is revealed in the first book of the Bible: Genesis.
When God declared the proto-evangelium
(First Gospel) in Genesis 3:15, remember that Eve was not Jewish. She was just human! When God attributed righteousness to Abraham,
it was before he was Jewish, before the law, and before he was circumcised. Abraham was a Gentile from an idol
worshipping country now known as Iraq.
Consider the following verses regarding our missionary God:
- In His
covenant with Abraham, He promises to bless all peoples on earth (Genesis 12:3). - In
affirming that covenant with Isaac and Jacob, He promises again to bless all peoples on earth (Genesis 26:4,
28:14). - He
gives Solomon wisdom so that all
nations might hear of the wisdom of God (I Kings 4:34). - His
grace to Israel
is for the salvation of all nations
(Psalm 67:2). - He
blesses Israel’s
king for the sake of all nations
(Psalm 72:11,17). - He
desires praise from all nations
(Psalm 148:7-11). - His Temple is established
for the sake of all nations
(Isaiah 2:2, 56:7: Jeremiah 3:17). - He
tells His disciples to go into all nations
(Matthew 28:19). - And in
the end, He will gather to Himself people of all nations (Isaiah 66:18; Revelation 7:9, 15:4).
As we see the heart of God for the nations and all people,
consider these last two verses:
- “There
is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is
neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians
3:28).
- “(God)
desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1Timothy
2:4).
God changes not. His
heart for all people and nations in the New Testament is the same heart He had
in the Old Testament, and is the same heart He has right now. Our God is a missionary God and desires all
people, cultures and races to be saved.
As we draw closer to God we should be gaining such a heart for the
nations that it affects our daily actions.
PD