10/03/2024

CHRIST’S MISSION AND MINISTRY TO THE WORLD

Matthew 4:17; 9:13; 1:21; Luke 19:10; 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 2:10;
Acts 15:14,28,29

The purpose of Christ’s mission and ministry was “to seek and to save that which
was lost”. He came to save the people from their sins. This mission was purposeful,
predicted and prophesied even before the fall of man. After the Fall, the proclamation
was made that He would come and redeem humanity. He kept the mission of peaching
and the purpose of ministry in mind in all His activities on earth. He then passed to the
disciples, and by extension, to all believers. And as believers, the onus lies on us to keep on
preaching it until the end comes.
Like Christ, as we evangelise, we must keep the purpose of the ministry and the
mission in mind. If we lose the purpose of the mission, then our evangelism becomes
meaningless. If we miss or misunderstand His purpose, goal and mission, following His
method without upholding His message will mean nothing; practicing His pattern
without pursuing His purpose will not achieve anything. Walking in the footsteps of
Christ without following the commandments and the will of God will not make us achieve
heaven’s goal.
The builders of Babel, Ahab and Jehoshaphat, and the Pharisees and Sadducees all
had goals, which were not heaven’s goal. As we pursue, commit and consecrate ourselves
to evangelism, it must be Christlike and purposeful evangelism. Christian leaders and
churches must have Christ’s mind, not just His method. The foundation of the work of
God is Christ’s mind, nature, purpose, thought, concern, self-sacrifice, willingness and
pursuit to fulfil and achieve heaven’s goal. When we go out to preach, we should tell
sinners about Christ and let them see the danger of sin, the doom in sinning, why they
should make haste to come out of their sin and have the kingdom of God established in
their hearts. Ultimately, Christ wants to get us out of sin, shame, disgrace, degradation
and defilement; He wants to cleanse, forgive, set us free and bring us to glory.

1. THE TRUTHFULNESS IN CHRIST’S EVANGELISATION

Mark 1:14,15; Luke 13:2,3,5,23-29; 24:47; John 8:11,12,30-44; 2 Peter 3:9

Christ was truthful and faithful. He emphasised and demanded repentance in His
evangelistic message. There is no real evangelism if we are not faithful to the Scriptures
or truthful to sinners. No one can gate-crash into heaven. Being a member of a particular
denomination is not repentance and without repentance, there is no salvation. We must
make the people we preach to understand that going to church or mere religion does not
save. One can only be saved if he “repent… and believe the gospel”. As believers, we
must be faithful like Christ. Many Christians identify with His name as well as with
various denominations, yet the corruption in the society is on the increase. This is
because they are not faithfully preaching repentance to people. We must ensure that
“repentance and remission of sins [is] preached in his name among all nations…”
Without repentance, there is no heaven for a sinning churchgoer. Those who are
still in the darkness of occultism and secret sin must repent and after that
transformation, “go, and sin no more”. However, forgiveness is not a licence to keep on
sinning. Only those who “continue” in His ways, Christ says, “are… my disciples
indeed”. One who has not repented of his sins, does not know the truth. He may know
the doctrines of the Bible and yet not be free from sin. But if the truth gets to the heart,
soul and spirit, it shall “make you free”.

2. THE TRAGEDY IN UNCHRISTLIKE EVANGELISM

Matthew 23:15,25-28,33; Acts 8:13,18-21; Titus 1:16; 2 Timothy 3:5,7; Revelation 3:1-3;
Matthew 7:21-23

Almost all people who attach themselves to Christianity do a form of evangelism. But
there is unchristlike evangelism – evangelism not exactly like Christ’s. If your evangelism
is not Christlike, it has no recognition in heaven; it is a waste of time, energy and
resources. The Pharisees were very zealous; they “compass sea and land” to bring in
people to their fold. But they did not talk about repentance, confessing and forsaking of
sins because they did not know or believe it. Their converts learnt their ways and became
“twofold more the child[ren] of hell”. They made the people to change outwardly, “but
within they [were] full of extortion and excess [and] …all uncleanness… hypocrisy
and iniquity”.
We cannot bribe anyone into the kingdom of God. We cannot broaden the narrow
way for any sinner so we can offer them cheap salvation. A mischievous preacher may
water down the local church entrance requirement, but the deceived self-satisfied
members will miss heaven. Local church growth is not necessarily Kingdom growth. Only
those who have repented and believed on the Lord Jesus and have gracious
transformation in their lives, have their names written in the Book. Having a healing or
deliverance ministry is not a substitute for repentance either.

3. THE TRANSFORMATION THROUGH CHRIST-CENTRED EVANGELISM

Luke 19:5-10; John 17:6,14-16; Acts 2:37-42; 19:18,19; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-10

Whatever work the believer does inside the church, his real work is outside the church
building where the sinners are. He is to go outside the church and preach the gospel to the
world because they need Christ. Christlike preaching produces real transformation. The
message, when received and believed leads to conviction, prayer, confession and
forsaking of sin. If our message is Christlike and calls people to repentance, it will lead to
a new life by the grace of God and willingness to continue to live with Christ. The Lord
calls us to evangelise with truth and not with lies. When there is truthful and Christ-
centred evangelism, people will turn from darkness to light, sin to the Saviour, evil to
goodness and unrighteousness to righteousness. Our converts will show real
transformation.
Our evangelism will be biblical, New Testament and Christ-centred evangelism if it
points sinners to the Lord like it was with the Thessalonian converts. “For they
themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye
turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son
from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from
the wrath to come” (1 Thessalonians 1:9,10). After their conversion, we can then lead
our converts to further deeper Christian experiences, which would make their lives pure,
holy, righteous and acceptable to God. We can receive the grace to do what the apostles
and true evangelists of the New Testament were able to do.
GHS 53, 62 & 110