Creation dictates mission. Creation dictates mission. Think about that. Here's an illustration. It might sound a little bit silly, but bear with me please.
! In 1962, our nation's commander in chief, because that's our president, ordered the creation of an elite division and division.
It's a force for unconventional warfare formed to conduct special operations called the Navy SEALs. You know what SEAL stands for? Sea, Air, and Land.
So a SEAL team was created for a very special mission. The mission of a SEAL team is dictated by the purpose for which they were created.
SEALs were not created to make music, though it would be a little comical to see these highly trained, unconventional warfare machines singing like a barbershop quartet.
But that's not what they were created for. SEALs were not created to make hoops either. Some of them might be good at basketball. Other ones might be way too short to play that sport.
You could see them playing a game, but that's not why they were the Navy SEALs. The SEALs were definitely not created or formed to bring their sewing machines and make quilts or kilts together.
Other people need to do that. And we're grateful for those who have that skill, but that's not why the Navy SEALs were formed.
Other people can play basketball. Other people can make music. The Navy SEALs were created to accomplish unconventional missions.
Creation dictates mission. Isn't it true that in our flesh and maybe in our experience with churches in our country today, many of us can forget and maybe many never know who created the church.
Our concept of the church is what we assume must go. Man's ideas about church, man's rules, man's preferences, man's opinions.
And if all that's true, that the church is a creation of man, that means that ultimately the mission of the church is man's mission for man's glory.
There's no way you can read the Bible and come to that conclusion.
The creation of the church dictates the mission of the church.
I want to do my best in these passages to show you four proofs of this and call us to one response.
First proof. God's living word creates the church.
It's God's living word that brings the church into being.
He's the creator. Therefore, he dictates the mission of the church.
Please look again at Acts 1 verse 3.
How does the church get created, come to life, get formed?
It begins with Jesus Christ, the living, resurrected Savior.
In verse 3, it says he presented himself alive to his people.
Remember, this is the same Jesus that John says is the word of God, the voice of God.
It can be translated in other languages.
He is the verb, the speech.
He is the living word of God.
That's who Jesus Christ is in his resurrected, glorified body.
And this Jesus Christ presented himself to them, his disciples, after his suffering by many proofs,
appearing to them during 40 days and speaking.
What was he speaking about in his glorified state with his disciples?
Speaking about, what does yours say in verse 3?
The kingdom of God.
That would be the most amazing Bible study.
The kingdom of heaven.
Come to earth by his finished work.
Remember on the road to Emmaus, their hearts burned within them.
As Jesus walked them through how this is so.
The living word who dwelt, who tabernacled with us.
See, this is what the disciples knew before the cross.
This is what they're reassured of even more now after the cross.
Verse 4 says,
Jesus said,
You heard this from me already.
Where did they hear this from him?
We can see this in the other gospels.
One example is John 20 verses 19 through 23.
Listen to what Jesus told the disciples, promising them.
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week.
That's the Lord's day.
The eighth day.
The beginning of the new creation.
The doors will be locked where the disciples were for fear of Jews.
And Jesus came and stood among them and said,
Peace be with you.
When he said this, he showed them his hands and his side.
Then his disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.
Now here's what he promised them.
This is John chapter 20 verse 21.
Peace be with you.
As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.
And when he had said this, look what Jesus did.
It's a sign act.
He does something to communicate something.
Jesus breathed on them.
Picture that.
The resurrected Jesus.
I'm sorry, before the cross.
He's promising what he will do.
He, Jesus Christ, the same God,
breathing on his disciples as a promise of what they will experience after his resurrection.
And he said, receive the Holy Spirit.
If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them.
If you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.
It's God's living word, Jesus Christ, who creates the church.
It's Jesus Christ who breathes on people like you and me.
Save sinners.
And he gives us his Holy Spirit.
God breathes the creation of the church into existence.
The breathing of God to create.
This should remind us of Genesis 1, verse 2.
Remember those verses?
How the earth was without form and void,
and the darkness was on the face of the deep.
Now listen carefully.
The Spirit of God.
And the word for spirit in Hebrew is ruach.
Ruach.
The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Ruach means, and is used in other parts of scripture,
wind, exhaling, sound, breath.
It's the living word of God who brought this whole first creation into existence.
We read that glorious creation Psalm 104.
You see how Jesus is using that same language and imagery,
the same work of his living spirit,
to breathe on the church and bring the church into creation.
How much more glorious is the church than what we, man, want to make it?
What man creates is small and does not last.
Amen?
But listen to what the church has said.
Listen to what this one Christian named Francis Turretin,
who also lived in Geneva about 100 years after Calvin,
he said this,
the church is the primary work of the Holy Trinity,
the object of Christ's mediation,
and the subject to whom his benefits are applied.
Christ so loves the church that he gave himself for the church.
God's living word creates the church.
Therefore, the church is his,
and the mission of the church is his.
That's the first proof.
Here's the second proof.
He creates the church,
and the church is the beginning of his new creation.
So the church is God's new creation inaugurated.
I know it might sound like we're repeating the same point,
that he created the church.
That's very true.
And every congregation that comes together and is formed is by the power of his spirit.
But what the church is,
it's the inaugurated state of the kingdom of heaven,
the new creation already now.
Okay, so I want you to listen for new creation language
in Acts tied to examples of new creation in the Old Testament.
In Acts chapter 2, let's look there again next.
Acts 2 verse 1.
When the day of Pentecost arrived,
they were all together in one place,
and suddenly there came from heaven a sound
like a mighty rushing wind,
and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
We also read as part of our service today
that wonderful passage in Ezekiel
where there's a wind and there's a rattling.
And that was a prophecy of that future consummated eschaton,
like the age to come,
but it's inaugurated now already
where God raises up those who were dead into an army.
It's inaugurated in the church.
Think of how in creation God breathed life into the first body.
Genesis 2 verse 7 says,
The Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,
and man became a living creature.
How does a local church have life in God?
God breathes into a little local body,
just like he breathed life into Adam when he created him.
And throughout redemptive history,
God has made a new creation already physically,
to foreshadow the new creation he will make spiritually.
Think of what the flood was.
The flood was a warning
and an initial judgment on this earth
of that great judgment day for all eternity that is yet to come.
The waters represent the judgment of God
and those who pass through on the ark,
the one door that God provided for entry and to be preserved,
passing through the waters of judgment
and enjoying salvation and new life.
As the waters recede,
we have a new creation on this same earth,
letting us know God will judge all created,
all he's created one day again, eternally,
but he will provide a passage,
a door,
redemption for his people.
Now listen to the language in Genesis 8.1.
God remembered Noah.
This is after the flood.
And every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark.
And after the flood,
God made a wind.
There's that same Hebrew word.
God made a ruach.
God made a spirit to pass over the waters
and the waters of judgment subsided.
New creation.
And now the spiritual new creation is foreshadowed
in redemptive history as well.
In Genesis chapter 12,
God gives this glorious promise to Abraham,
the line from which Jesus, the Messiah, would come.
He says,
I will make you a great nation.
I will bless you and make your name great
and you shall be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you
and I will curse him who curses you
and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you.
And it's the seed of Abraham, Jesus Christ,
who will be a blessing to all the nations.
In Exodus 14.21,
there is Moses stretching out his hand over the seas.
The people of God now,
this line of Abraham,
this people through whom the Messiah will come,
who will be a blessing to all the nations.
And it's a new creation again foreshadowed
through this people.
Listen to the same language now
after they crossed the Red Sea
as the language God used after the flood.
Listen to this in Exodus 14.21.
These former slaves wait upon the Lord now.
Moses stretches out his hand over the Red Sea
and the Lord caused the sea to go back.
It's like the waters subsiding.
And he did this by a strong east wind.
Wind.
There's that Hebrew word again.
Ruach.
All that night,
this great wind moving,
bringing a new creation.
And he made the sea into dry land
and the waters were divided.
How is that a picture of a spiritual new creation?
These Israelites were an enslaved people.
These Israelites were delivered by God's grace.
They were led by the Lord himself.
They also were led to pass through the waters of judgment.
On the other side,
they are joyful.
They're emboldened.
They're now a nation that God created.
The church is God's new creation.
Creation dictates the mission of God's people.
The third proof is this.
God gives his living word to the world through the church.
God gives his living word to the world through his church.
Notice what happens next in Acts chapter 2.
Starting at verse 3,
we read that divided tongues as of fire
appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
This image of a fire resting on God's people
for these Jews who were going to worship in Jerusalem,
it would have been a reminder of the temple,
the lamp,
the presence of God in the temple,
the place where he dwells.
The Holy Spirit is teaching the church
that you now,
you people who God has purchased,
are his temple.
They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.
See, you church,
you are the ones now
on whom God's spirit rests and dwells.
God ministered to his people
by the presence of his spirit.
We continue reading
that they began to speak in other tongues
as the spirit gave them utterance.
And now there were dwelling in Jerusalem,
Jews,
devout men from every nation under heaven.
And at this sound,
the multitude came together
and they were bewildered
because each one was hearing
them speak in his own language.
What God promised would happen to Abraham
that through you,
all the nations of the earth will be blessed.
It was begun.
Verse 14,
Peter,
remember this is the same man,
the same disciple who had fled,
who was fearful,
who had denied Jesus three times.
Now by the power of the Holy Spirit
in him stood up with the 11
and he lifted up his voice
and addressed the crowd.
Look at verse 16.
This is what was uttered
through the prophet Joel.
It shall come to pass
in the last days,
says God,
I will pour out my spirit
on all flesh.
Not just Jews,
but people from every nation,
tribe,
and tongue
will receive the Holy Spirit
because God himself
will pour out his Holy Spirit
on these people.
It was God's eternal plan
to manifest his glory
in his church
to the world.
God gives his living word
to the world
through his church.
See, the church
is plan A.
The church is what God has designed.
And the church is also the vehicle
through which his mission
will be accomplished.
And our full participation
in the life of his church
is the goal.
It's to be enlisted,
to be raised up as that army.
Of the kingdom of heaven
here on earth.
We see God
through his ministry
within a local church.
And we know God
more and more and more
through the ministry
of a local church.
We get to be part of that.
In fact,
that is our mission.
It's to give God
to the world
through his word.
So here's the response.
Oh, I'm sorry.
I said there's four proofs
and then a response.
We got to do the fourth proof.
The church's mission
is to declare
God's redemption
in Jesus Christ.
The fulfillment
of God's word.
Remember,
I made that joke
about a Navy SEAL
sitting around
to do something
other than the mission
for which they were created.
Well, what is the mission
of the church?
The mission of the church
is to declare
God's redemption
in Jesus Christ
as the fulfillment
of God's word.
It's that simple.
I want to show you
how Peter did this,
but let me make sure
we understand
and appreciate
why this is so important.
If we as a church
lose sight of this,
I'll be more specific.
If I start to lose sight
of our simple mission,
you as the church
need to hold me accountable.
We need to hold
one another accountable
because it would be
just as ridiculous
as Navy SEALs
sitting around
sewing quilts.
That's not why
we were created.
That's not our mission.
So this is what
the New Testament church did.
I want you to please
turn to 1 Peter 2.
Remember,
Peter is the one
who stood up.
Peter is standing up
as a representative
of the disciples of Jesus
as one of the apostles.
He also becomes
an elder of a local church.
And as such,
listen to how
the Holy Spirit
through whom
he's breathing out
New Testament passages,
ministers,
and fulfills the mission
of the church.
1 Peter 2.
I want you to see
the words that Peter uses.
And so you're not having
to flip all over your Bible.
I want you to listen carefully
when I read
the Old Testament passage
he's alluding to.
Then you see
the New Testament fulfillment.
So starting at verse 5.
1 Peter 2, verse 5.
Here's how the church
carries out
that simple mission
of declaring
God's redemption
in Jesus Christ
the fulfillment
of God's word,
the full counsel.
You're looking at verse 5.
Now listen to Isaiah 61.6.
God promises,
you shall be named
the priests of the Lord
and they shall call you
the servants of our God.
Isaiah's prophesying
that this is what
the kingdom of God
will be like.
Notice what Peter wrote.
Chapter 2, verse 5.
It confirms the fulfillment.
You church
also as living stones
are being built up
as a spiritual house,
a temple
to offer up
spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ.
Verses 6 and 8 say
Jesus is the cornerstone
of this house,
his temple,
this church.
Do you see how Isaiah 61
is fulfilled?
The church now
will be called
priests of the Lord,
servants of our God.
The next example,
Malachi 1.11,
God promised,
for from the rising
of the sun
to its setting,
my name shall be great
among the nations
and in every place
increase shall be offered
to my name
and a pure offering.
And in 1 Peter 2,
verse 5,
he confirms the fulfillment.
God created you church
to offer these
spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God
through Jesus Christ.
Third example,
Exodus 19.6,
God promised,
you shall be to me
a kingdom of priests
and a holy nation.
In 1 Peter 2,
verse 9,
God confirms the fulfillment
in the church.
You are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood,
a holy nation church.
That's who you are.
Fourth example,
Psalm 135,
verse 4 promises
that the Lord
has chosen Jacob
for himself,
Israel for his special
or precious treasure.
Now notice the language
of 1 Peter 2.9,
confirming fulfillment
in the church.
You are his own special,
precious people church
that you may proclaim
the praises of him
who called you
out of darkness
into his marvelous light.
Fifth example,
Hosea 2.28,
God promised,
I will have mercy on her
who had not obtained mercy.
Then I will say to those
who were not my people,
you are my people
and they shall say,
you are my God.
In 1 Peter 2.10,
confirms fulfillment
in the church.
Once you were not a people,
but now you are
the people of God.
Once you were a people
who had not obtained mercy,
but now you have obtained
God's mercy.
Do you see the fulfillment?
Do you see what the church does?
The church shows
that in Christ,
all that God has planned
and intended and promised
for our redemption,
it's fulfilled
through the church.
You and me,
Jews and Gentiles,
Brazilians and Scots,
Mexicans and Koreans,
all of us,
we have obtained mercy
through Jesus Christ.
Let's turn back to Acts 2.
I want to show you
a couple more things
in Acts 2,
including our response.
While you're turning there,
remember these other
fulfillments in Jesus Christ.
In Genesis 12, 1-3,
Abraham's seed
will go from this country
and from this kindred
to your father's house
to a land that I will show you
and I will make of you
a great nation
and I will bless you
and make your name great
that you will be a blessing
and I will bless those
who bless you
and him who dishonors you
I will curse
and in you,
all the families of the earth
shall be blessed.
It's fulfilled in Jesus Christ,
the family of God
that he accomplished.
In Hosea 11, 1,
God promised,
out of Egypt,
I called my son.
Matthew 2 says,
that's why Jesus
was taken to Egypt
to fulfill that.
Israel spent 40 days
testing in the wilderness
and our Lord Jesus Christ,
his active obedience,
40 days,
I'm sorry,
Israel was 40 years
testing in Jesus,
40 days in the wilderness
to replace their sin,
his active obedience
in the place of their sin,
their failure.
Our Lord Jesus Christ
fulfilled what all of his people
came short on.
That's why Galatians 6,
15 and 16 says,
in Christ Jesus,
you are a new creation
and as many as walk
according to this rule,
peace and mercy be upon them
and upon all the Israel of God,
which is the church.
The church is not God's plan B.
The church is not a parentheses
in redemptive history.
The church is the bride
of the Lord all along.
All who put their faith
in God's promises
fulfilled by the Messiah
is the only way to be saved.
And the church is God's fulfillment.
The church is plan A
and you and me get to be part of it.
God created it
and therefore it's his mission
for us as people.
So here's our call to action.
Here's our one response.
What does this mean for you and me?
Let's look at Acts chapter 2,
verse 38.
Then Peter said,
repent and let every one of you
be baptized in the name
of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins
and you shall receive
the gift of the Holy Spirit
for the promises to you
and to your children
and to all who are afar off.
As many as the Lord,
our God will call.
With many other words,
he testified and exhorted them saying,
be saved from this perverse generation.
Ephesians 1.22 reminds us
that God has put all things
under Christ's feet
and gave him as head
over all things to the church.
Genesis 1.28,
that old command
given to the first federal head,
be fruitful and increase in number,
fill the earth and rule over it,
can only be fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
And that's the command
he gives his church.
Matthew 28,
go where?
Into all the world.
And as Christians,
we respond this way.
Jesus is the king.
We're his army.
He created us for a special mission.
We are all in,
in his kingdom.
In verse 41,
they responded that same way.
Those who gladly received his word.
What did they do?
They were baptized.
About that day,
3,000 were added to their number.
John Calvin commented,
there is no other way
to enter into eternal life
unless the church gives birth
to a person.
What he means is
the church has been entrusted
with the treasures of the gospel.
By preaching Christ,
by preaching the gospel,
the spirit uses the ministry
of the church to give birth,
to give spiritual life
to those who were dead.
Calvin goes on to say,
unless the church nourishes us
and keeps us under her care
and guidance,
and we remain pupils in the church
for all our lives.
In verse 42,
they continued steadfastly
in the apostles' doctrine
and fellowship,
in the breaking of bread,
and in the prayers.
We read in 2 Corinthians 8, 5,
that the church members
gave themselves to the Lord
and to one another.
To be a Christian is to give yourself
to the Lord
and to one another
somewhere at a local church.
Our confession of faith,
chapter 26, verse 3,
summarizes this teaching this way.
Christ always has had
and ever shall have
a kingdom
where?
In this world,
even to the very end,
a kingdom of those
who believe in him
and profess his name
on earth,
just as it is in heaven.
You want to have
a higher view of Christ.
Praise God.
I want that also.
So let his word
give you a higher view
of his bride.
You want to experience
more of the life
of the kingdom of heaven,
don't you?
I know I do.
So make his kingdom
on earth,
his church,
a higher place
in your life
in Christ.
Now,
you want to know
the powerful presence
of Christ.
So put yourself
as much as you can
with those
among whom
he makes his presence
known,
his church.
God,
who created the church
by his word,
dictates the form
of the church,
the rules
and the mission
of the church.
We are his church
living out his mission
for his glory alone.
Amen.
Let's pray
and thank him.
Lord,
we thank you
that you brought us
from nothing.
We were like
dry bones
scattered on a valley.
Yet you created us
and you breathed life
into us individually,
but also
as a local expression
of the kingdom
of heaven.
We thank you,
Lord,
that you have given us
such a clear,
simple mission.
We confess,
Lord,
we're so weak
on our own.
Our flesh
hates this.
The world
opposes it.
The demons
go to battle
against the advance
of your kingdom
through the local church.
Lord,
we can do nothing
apart from you.
We're like the weak
army of Israel.
We're cowards
on our own.
But we trust
that Jesus Christ
continues.
He's alive
and he continues
to march in front
of his army
to shield us
and to lead
his army.
A willing church
marching
one step
after the other
patiently.
full of grace
after him.
We pray
that you will
be glorified,
Lord,
in our lives
and in this
congregation
in a special way.
We pray
that you will
continue to lead us,
Lord.
Please don't
remove your presence,
the lampstand,
the light
from this congregation.
But we do ask,
Lord,
that like that mighty wind,
your Holy Spirit
will continue
to move,
to breathe life
where there's death,
to heal
where there's wounds,
that you'll do
all of this
for Christ's sake
and for your glory
alone,
we pray.
Amen.
Let's spend a moment
responding to the Lord
and then soon
I'll lead us
toward his table.
Amen.