To Bless All Nations

The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

"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."
(Genesis 12:1-3 NIV)

Where do we first find the concept of “missions” in the Bible? I suspect that many would turn to the Great Commission in Matthew 28. They see missions as primarily (if not exclusively) a New Testament concept. The reality is God has had a plan for the nations from the very beginning.

Genesis 1 starts with God’s plan for mankind as a whole, but it is not long before sin enters the picture and attempts to destroy God’s plan. The next few chapters show the history of the human race, but then the focus narrows in on one person, Abram (later named Abraham).

Genesis 12 records God’s call and promise to Abram. It might appear to a casual reader that God played favorites and excluded the other nations when he chose Abram. Nothing could be farther from the truth! Look at the end of the promise in verse 3: God blesses Abram so that through him all of the nations can be blessed.

God’s plan for the nations was not put on hold during the Old Testament. On the contrary, it was actively at work in spite of the disobedience of the descendants of Abraham. The commission in Matthew 28 was not a sudden or new idea. Rather, it was the continuation and the expansion of a promise made 2,000 years before Jesus’ death and resurrection.

The question is not whether God has a plan for the nations throughout history. The question is whether you are willing to participate in his plan.