What was Jesus's mission?

2,678 Views | 25 Replies | Last: 4 yr ago by craigernaught
americathegreat1492
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So...this is not a flippant question. I was reading some literature for a particular religious ministry that will go unnamed and I was struck by the statement in the literature about what it believed Jesus was here to do. First, it made me respond with rejection "No, that is not the mission of Jesus." But after stewing for a bit, it made me wonder what Jesus's mission was and if I really understood it. We could fill volumes about what Jesus's mission was, so rather than do so, I was wondering if you could summarize what each of you think his mission was. Even though we may use different words to describe this mission, we're probably mostly referring to the same thing. Below is a paraphrased version of the literature's statement about Jesus's mission:


To bring forth God's rule and kingdom, and make the world more just, safe, and compassionate.




Below is my short version of Jesus's mission:

To unite (re-unite?) man (and all God's creation) with God.


Edit to add: The first in bold statement smacks of progressivism to me.
Serotonin
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AG
I like your definition. I'd also add that he came to free us (or save us) from slavery to sin and death.
ramblin_ag02
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AG
I like your way of putting it, but it's hard to narrow down a single mission. Christ came to teach wisdom, work wonders, comfort the sick, feed the hungry, and fellowship with us lowly men. He also came to suffer, die, be resurrected, and display this conquest of death to us to give us hope for the same. He was tremendously successful.

The first quote you bolded also sounds like social justice nonsense to me. First off, the world was still a pretty crappy place when Jesus ascended, and a lot of people have undergone a lot of suffering and injustice since then. If His mission was to fix that, then He failed miserably. If His mission was to ever so slightly improve that situation, then you could say He succeeded. But that wouldn't make Him any more special than countless people before or since who have done the same.

I often think people misunderstand the last temptation of Christ. He gets offered dominion over the Earth and all nations. Humans see that and think of the power, but Christ already had dominion over the elements, angels, and reality itself. That offer didn't tempt him with power. It tempted him with justice. Instead of being lowly, suffering, dying, and resurrecting, Christ could have claimed dominion over all nations and put an end to earthly injustice and unnecessary suffering. He could have created an earthly utopia. Even so, death would still exist, and God would not be reconciled with His creation. We'd all be living out a very pleasant death sentence without hope of anything else.

Christ specifically rejected earthly justice as His mission, and it sort of disheartening for someone who wrote a textbook to miss the point so badly
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dds08
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AG
Do what no human did before Him:

1. obey the Heavenly Father wholeheartedly, without fail
2. hit the mark, as opposed to missing the mark
3. love the Father and Holy Ghost & neighbors
4. of course save humanity from their sins, but that's included in #1
Ags4DaWin
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1) To save mankind from spiritual and physical death due to sin and mortality so that we can be reunited with God.
2) To fulfill the law of Moses and establish and teach God's higher law
3) To establish his church on the earth as a means for mankind to partake in the salvation he offers.
4) To serve as an example we are to emulate and strive to be like.
Frok
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AG
All good answers. This is the passage that popped in my head.

From Luke 4 when Jesus reads Isaiah in the synagogue:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
diehard03
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Quote:

To bring forth God's rule and kingdom, and make the world more just, safe, and compassionate.

I think it's basically the first part, and the second part is a description of what that kingdom is.
UTExan
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To redeem all creation from sin. To seek and save that which was lost.
UTExan
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Did the literature make any mention of Jesus returning in power and glory to judge the nations and establish His physical kingdom in the earth?
americathegreat1492
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Thank you everyone for your comments. They've been helpful. I think I understand more about why I found the mission discussion so disturbing. It wasn't precisely that the description of Jesus mission was incorrect, but the part that came after that. I think some clarification is in order, as I fear I have somewhat misrepresented the statements.

The description of Jesus's mission is essentially: "To install the kingdom of God," which as you've rightly pointed out, is true enough.


The bothersome part that comes after, is that they believe they


are continuing in this mission by helping to make the world more safe, compassionate, etc. (synonymous with making the world a better place?)

I think it might be helpful to note that the follow on to participating in Jesus's mission specifically uses the word "more" as a descriptor.


So, more questions.

Is our mission to help install the kingdom of God? The Mormons talk about "Building the Kingdom of God." Is that our mission? Can we actually participate in such a mission?


Or, is bringing forth God's rule really only up to God, and frankly, there's nothing we can do to harm or help this along.

Isn't the Kingdom of God at hand, now? If it's already here, how could we work to make it more here? Seems like a paradox.


Is not the cosmos completely and utterly broken because of Adam's sin? How could we ever help fix that?
americathegreat1492
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UTExan said:

Did the literature make any mention of Jesus returning in power and glory to judge the nations and establish His physical kingdom in the earth?
It does not discuss his return and physical presence after the resurrection of the dead.
chuckd
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AG
WCF 8.1 It pleased God, in his eternal purpose, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only-begotten Son, to be the Mediator between God and man, the Prophet, Priest, and King; the Head and Saviour of his Church, the Heir of all things, and Judge of the world; unto whom he did, from all eternity, give a people to be his seed, and to be by him in time redeemed, called, justified, sanctified, and glorified.
HaEmet
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Spiritual and physical healing (Isaiah 61)
Reconcile the two houses - House of Israel & House of Judah (Jeremiah 31:31-34) (Ezekiel 37:15-28)
Establish a new (renewed) covenant with the now reconciled houses (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
This covenant includes placing the Torah in/on the heart and wanting to learn the depths of Torah - (Jeremiah 31:31-34 & Isaiah 2:3)
Bring along Gentiles (Isaiah 11:10)


DirtDiver
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For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness.

Therefore Pilate said to Him, "So You are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
bmks270
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AG
He came to sow seeds.
bmks270
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AG
Then he left the crowd and went into the house. His disciples came to him and said, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds in the field."

He answered, "The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.
PA24
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AG
Love and forgive each other
Love God
Repent

Do not judge others

BusterAg
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AG
Imagine a world without Jesus, where the Roman Empire never spread Christianity, and the morals of the world reflected the hedonism of that time.

No one to teach the golden rule as paramount.

No one to teach that every human life has innate value because he or she is loved by God.

In my opinion, history might have turned out very, very different.

Not that I am downplaying the role that Jesus played as a redeemer, and substitution is very clearly taught, and connot be ignored. However, I think that the impact of Jesus making the world a better place is underplayed.

There is a real possibility that our species could have wiped itself out but for the humanity that Jesus taught us.
Sb1540
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americathegreat1492 said:




So, more questions.

Is our mission to help install the kingdom of God? The Mormons talk about "Building the Kingdom of God." Is that our mission? Can we actually participate in such a mission?


Or, is bringing forth God's rule really only up to God, and frankly, there's nothing we can do to harm or help this along.

Isn't the Kingdom of God at hand, now? If it's already here, how could we work to make it more here? Seems like a paradox.


Is not the cosmos completely and utterly broken because of Adam's sin? How could we ever help fix that?


It's not the worst definition I've seen but one of their mistakes is using the word "more". Jesus is not coming back to make things better, he is love itself. He is reality. So once we see Him there is no longer a symbol for us to use or follow. We can no longer gauge love since we will be starting at the thing itself. The days of our opinion will be over.

I like NT Wright's definition of Jesus as a rescue operation and new creation. Jesus wasn't resurrected to come back and just be a moral teacher or make things better, he is the bridge between heaven and earth and he is coming back for a final judgement. Christianity was the story that humans saw the resurrection and were given an opportunity to follow in the way of Christ to be transformed into something else by Grace. So yes we can aid in bringing Heaven on Earth or maybe a glimpse is a better way to look at it. Jesus said the Kingdom was near but I don't know if that changed after the resurrection or not. I don't think it's here but we can get glimpses of it by following Christ and his teachings which does actually transform the world. For example when you treat someone, especially your neighbor and enemy, as Jesus commands then you actually alter the landscape of human interaction for the better. It's agape love that transforms the world. So it is our duty as Christians to be the best example, but we've done a poor job at it. Nonetheless we have free will to some degree and combined with grace we can change the world. We won't do it all since that would be an attempt at Utopia. You can constantly strive for God but you will fall short in the end. His return is planned but we do play a role, whichever role he decides.
94chem
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II Cor. 5:21
PabloSerna
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AG
I'm with Luke 4:18

In the year 2000, this message and the question you have raised were thoroughly discussed as part of our spiritual formation. I have said before that I am a professed member of a religious order in the Roman Catholic Church (Order of Preachers). I am not clergy and I do not live in community (so no habit) - but I do preach.

So a little deeper dive into Luke 4:18:

It has been referred to as the "Jubilee Proclamation." Which is a reference back to the old testament Leviticus 25:8 when the ownership and management of the lands were returned after 49 years. Hence Jesus came to proclaim "the year of the Lord's favor." It is incredibly important to understand that this is the scripture chosen by Jesus at the start of his ministry.

It is worth a deeper reading of this passage and the biblical roots of the meaning of the jubilee message, especially as it applies to not just our lives, but to the world. The whole movement in the RCC in the year 2000 attracted the interest many, including Paul Hewson (aka Bono of the rock band U2). Bono understood world debt and the canceling of this debt and how freeing it would be for those countries. He has been a great speaker on behalf of debt relief for many countries that cannot pay their way out.

I sense that many here may cringe at the social justice angle the words of Jesus imply. The words and the depth of their meaning (forgiving another's debt, returning the land, freeing the slaves) are challenging indeed.

+Pablo




Zobel
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AG
Luke 4:18 isn't about fiscal debt. Read Isaiah 58 and 61.
diamond4
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TO BRING TO PASS THE IMMORTALITY AND ETERNAL LIFE OF MAN!
PA24
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AG
Who is Jesus


94chem
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diamond4 said:

TO BRING TO PASS THE IMMORTALITY AND ETERNAL LIFE OF MAN!


It's almost like you said the right thing, but the fake KJV "bring to pass" language has me a little suspicious.
diamond4
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What makes you think it is from the Bible?
craigernaught
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AG

Welcome back diamond!
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