Missio Dei: WK1 - WED
THE FIRST GREAT COMMISSION
Genesis 12:1-3 (NLT) “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others... All the families on earth will be blessed through you.’”
Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser argues that Genesis 12 is not just the beginning of Israel’s story. It is the first Great Commission, issued four thousand years before Jesus stood on a hillside in Galilee. The mission did not begin at the end of Matthew. It began here, in Mesopotamia, with a man named Abram who had no idea where he was going.
I was in Seattle for a pastoral matter, sitting outside the courthouse waiting on a hearing involving one of our church members. His family was there with him, and during the introductions it came out that I was about to become the senior pastor of the church that one of them attended. He looked me up and down slowly, raised an eyebrow, and said: you? I said: yes. Just as surprised as you are, honestly. God had called. I had said no at first. I spoke with mentors. I entered the process. And found myself, almost without quite knowing how, somewhere I never imagined I would belong.
That is something of how Abram’s call reads. No explanation for why him specifically. No credentials listed. Just a command, a promise, and a horizon he could not yet see. And the heart of the promise is this: the blessing was never for Abram alone. Election is never for privilege. It is always for service. God chose one family to reach every other family. The particular thread was always meant to hold the whole cloth together.
Paul calls Genesis 12:3 the gospel announced in advance. Not a preview. The gospel itself, preached ahead of time. What Jesus commissioned at the end of Matthew was the fulfillment of something ancient, the same mission, the same God, the same desire to bless every family on earth. Abram departed before he saw the destination. That is still the shape of the call.
Genesis 12:1-3 (NLT) “The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others... All the families on earth will be blessed through you.’”
Old Testament scholar Walter Kaiser argues that Genesis 12 is not just the beginning of Israel’s story. It is the first Great Commission, issued four thousand years before Jesus stood on a hillside in Galilee. The mission did not begin at the end of Matthew. It began here, in Mesopotamia, with a man named Abram who had no idea where he was going.
I was in Seattle for a pastoral matter, sitting outside the courthouse waiting on a hearing involving one of our church members. His family was there with him, and during the introductions it came out that I was about to become the senior pastor of the church that one of them attended. He looked me up and down slowly, raised an eyebrow, and said: you? I said: yes. Just as surprised as you are, honestly. God had called. I had said no at first. I spoke with mentors. I entered the process. And found myself, almost without quite knowing how, somewhere I never imagined I would belong.
That is something of how Abram’s call reads. No explanation for why him specifically. No credentials listed. Just a command, a promise, and a horizon he could not yet see. And the heart of the promise is this: the blessing was never for Abram alone. Election is never for privilege. It is always for service. God chose one family to reach every other family. The particular thread was always meant to hold the whole cloth together.
Paul calls Genesis 12:3 the gospel announced in advance. Not a preview. The gospel itself, preached ahead of time. What Jesus commissioned at the end of Matthew was the fulfillment of something ancient, the same mission, the same God, the same desire to bless every family on earth. Abram departed before he saw the destination. That is still the shape of the call.
- What “unknown territory” might God be asking you to trust him with right now?
- In what ways have you treated blessing as personal comfort instead of something meant to overflow to others?
- What helps you keep moving when you cannot yet see the destination clearly?
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