The Creation and Mission of The Church

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.

Acts 1:3

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.

John 20:19–23

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.

John 20:21

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.

Genesis 1:2

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.

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 · chapter mention

Acts 2 verse 1.

Acts 2:1

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,

Genesis 2:7

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,

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

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.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

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.

1 Peter 2:5

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,

1 Peter 2:5

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,

1 Peter 2:9

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,

Psalms 135:4

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,

Acts 2:38

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.

Amen.