What does it mean to be a Christian? Is it about doing good, living by the rules of a religion? Is it about filling in time here on earth while waiting for our ascent into heaven? There must be something more. Surely we have a purpose in this life beyond making money, sleeping, working and dying.

Something we really need to understand about the world is that, yes God loves us – but it’s not about God loving us at all. It’s about God. Everything is about God. He is the Alpha and the Omega, The beginning and the end and without him nothing that exists has come into being. The story the universe and therefore the meaning of life, the universe and everything is all about God, and we are his treasured creations.

We have been given life by God’s breath and whilst we have made a mess of our world, He has given us quite an amazing planet to live on. God is worthy of worship, it’s quite simple. He created the stars – do you have any idea how massive the universe is, how complex every star and planet, how intricate the human body? God is amazing! And every person on this earth should give him the glory for the great things he has done.

God’s desire

God is really keen to make contact with the rest of the world, but he’s not about to force himself on people like a dictator. Check out Ezekiel 36:22-23: “…It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name… I will show the holiness of my great name … Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.” (my emphasis added). And Habakkuk 2:14

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”.

Abraham

His plan to reach the nations through people started with Abraham: Take a look at Genesis 12: 2-3:

I will make you into a great nation
       and I will bless you;
       I will make your name great,
       and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
       and whoever curses you I will curse;
       and all peoples on earth
       will be blessed through you.

This promise of God to bless Abraham and his descendants is given with the intention that Abraham and his descendants would bless all the peoples of the earth. We see also in Ezekiel 36 that God wants to use Israel to make his name known all over the earth, even though they had not done so well so far.

Blessings today

This blessing extends to us today. In Galatians 3:8-9 the author states “The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.” and in Acts 3:25-26: “You are really the ones God told his prophets to speak to. And you were given the promise that God made to your ancestors. He said to Abraham, “All nations on earth will be blessed because of someone from your family.” God sent his chosen Son to you first, because God wanted to bless you and make each one of you turn away from your sins.”

That’s fantastic! The blessing is given to us non-Jewish follows of Christ as well, but why? So that we may be a blessing to others. We cannot simply accept that God has blessed us without accepting the second part of the statement in Genesis 12:2 that commands us to be a blessing to others.

Our mission

So how are we to be a blessing to others and make God’s name great thought the earth. Jesus makes it clear in Matthew 28: 19: “Go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”. Our mission is clear, we need to get about the business of sharing the great news of Jesus Christ with people from all over the world. Not all of us need to go overseas and preach, but all of us need to play a part in this task. For this is both the desire of God and the revealed destiny of the church.

And they sang a new song:
   “You are worthy to take the scroll
      and to open its seals,
   because you were slain,
      and with your blood you purchased men for God
      from every tribe and language and people and nation. (Rev 5:9)