Why Study Mission? pt 4, The Challenge of Mission

The Challenge of Mission

The reality is when Adam ate the fruit (Gen 3:6), he disobeyed God's will, and ushered in this evil age of sin.  The one who tempted Eve was the serpent (Gen 3:1-5), Eve obeyed his suggestion, and Adam followed suit and thus man changed allegiance from God to obeying "that old serpent" who the Bible also refers to as "the great dragon" ... a.k.a. "the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world" (Rev. 12:9 KJV) Thus our nature has changed and we are incapable of conforming to God's nature in our present state.

The reason why it is so hard for people to make a decision for God, is because mankind is under the rule, dominion and deception of Satan.  Jesus Himself declared,
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it." (Jn. 8:44 KJV)
That is who our enemy is.  Similarly, three times in the gospel according to John, Jesus refers to Satan as the prince of this world (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).  A prince is basically a sovereign who is subject to another.  According to Eldon Ladd, the author of The Gospel of the Kingdom,

"The primary manifestation of satanic influence and of the evil of This Age is religious; it is blindness with reference to the Gospel of Jesus Christ." 

Ladd, George Eldon. Gospel of the Kingdom: Scriptural Studies in the Kingdom of God (p. 31). Eerdmans Publishing Co - A. Kindle Edition. 
Jesus pronounced, in John 12,
"Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." (Jn. 12:31 KJV)
"He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." (Jn. 12:40 KJV)
God has not only made it possible for man to choose Him, but He also wants to heal man, but it is made difficult by the fact that mankind is under Satan's rule, or deception.  In speaking to this same issue Jesus said,

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (Jn. 8:34-36 KJV)
And again,
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (Jn. 10:10 KJV) 
It is God's work to redeem man from the curse (Gal 3:10, 13), release man from bondage to Satan (Isa 58:6), and restore man to full relationship with God (Eze 11:19, 20; Jer 31:31-34; Rev 21:3).   Some of the terms we use to describe this work are salvation, redemption or restoration.  We know that God has taken this responsibility because this is the message of scripture (We'll get back to this).  This is part of God's mission, but it is not all of it.

Please leave me a post and let me know what you think.

God bless you.

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