Jesus’ Vision – Evangelize the Nations In This Generation

Like the disciples in the 1st century who had this vision placed on them by Christ in their generation, we too hold to the vision to evangelize the nations in our generation. In the 1st century, during the early 60’s AD, the apostle Paul writes in the book of Colossians that “All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth” (Col 1:6) and also “This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” (Col 1:23) These statements clarify that the first-century disciples had reached the known world in their generation just a little over 30 years after the beginning of the Kingdom of God on earth (Acts 2, ~29 AD).  The destruction of the temple in Jerusalem is another key marker for the completion of evangelizing the nations in their generation and is mentioned by Jesus Christ in the Olivet discourse recorded in the Synoptic gospels. (Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21)  “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

 (Matt 24:14)  “The end” Jesus is speaking of here is in response to his disciples asking Jesus “when will this happen” in light of his prediction “…not one stone here will be left on another, everyone will be thrown down.” (Matt 24:2) Jesus further alludes to the evangelization of the nations in their generation by saying to his disciples in this discourse, “all nations will hate you because of me.” (Matt 24:9). The temple was destroyed in 70AD by Titus and thus correlated with the two prophecies by Jesus in Matthew 24 (“all nations will hate you because of me” and “this gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all nations and then the end will come”) about its destruction along with the two testimonies of our brother Paul in Colossians 1 (“all over the world this gospel is bearing fruit” and “this gospel…has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven”) clarified they had carried out the visionary commands Jesus gave them in Acts 1:8 and Matthew 28:18-20 in their generation.  This 1st-century example inspires us to hold fast to the vision of evangelizing the nations in our generation – the 21st century!

The “Elementary Teachings” or “First Principles”

Heb 5:11-6:3
“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so.”

In this passage, the scriptures explain maturity as the ability to be able to teach as well as which teachings are considered “elementary teachings.”  In other translations, the words “elementary teachings” are translated as “first principles” (e.g. Heb 6:1 ASV)  Our ministry utilizes a bible study series called “The First Principles” which covers these “elementary teachings” in detail. It is our goal that every disciple master these convictions and be able to competently teach them as they strive to help others become disciples of Jesus.

1. Seeking God – At the core of everything, there will always be the need to love God with all that we are. The first and foremost conviction anyone must have is to seek God with all their heart.
2. The Word of God – We believe that the Word of God is to be the standard of our lives. That we are to be silent where the bible speaks and speak where the bible is silent. In other words, if the word of God says it, we need to be silent and obey it!
3. Discipleship – Following Jesus (“being his disciple”) means being like him, a fisher of men. (cf Mark 1:16-18 and Luke 19:10) It means denying ourselves daily and having the heart to suffer, to pick up the cross, daily for Jesus.
4. The Kingdom of God – This is God’s church, his people. Those that have repented (living as disciples) and been baptized are a part of God’s Kingdom (John 3:1-7 born again of water and spirit).
5. Light and Darkness – The scriptures teach that everyone starts off in the darkness, not having mercy, and not being a people of God. (cf 1 Peter 2:9-10) The Word of God says in Isaiah 59:1-2 that sin separates us from God. It is like a wall, a partition, between us and God. When someone repents of all their sins, making that pledge of a good conscience before God (cf 1 Peter 3:19b-21) and is baptized for the forgiveness of their sins in the name of Jesus Christ, they are forgiven of their sins and that wall (the partition of sin) is destroyed, and they are saved, in the light.
6. The Cross – It is critical that everyone who wants to follow Jesus Christ understand their personal responsibility for his death.
7. The Church – Everyone who is a repentant, baptized, disciple of Jesus Christ is a part of the church universal. It does not matter what congregation or denomination they are a part of. Every person who is a disciple according to the scriptures is saved and part of the church universal.
8. Count The Cost – Jesus taught that anyone who wanted to follow him needed to sit down and first estimate the cost beforehand.