Reflection on God's Heart for the Nations
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Apr 3, 2024
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Reflection on God's Heart for the Nations
INT-525: Christian Worldview and Missions
03/31/21
Dean
Reflection on God's Heart for the Nations
In Psalm 67:1-7 the writer prays that God would be gracious to His people and bless them. He wanted God to answer his petition because he understood that God had a missional purpose for His Kingdom. Therefore, the writer desired also that the Lord’s favor so that His way
would be known on the earth and His salvation among the nations. We must understand that when God delivers His people and showers them with blessings, His goal is that He would receive glory and that other people would experience salvation and discipleship. It is important to understand that as John Piper so eloquently stated in “Let the Nations be Glad” that God’ mission for the church is that “the gladness of the people be in His greatness.” Therefore, “missions are not, the ultimate goal of the church, worship is.” Piper also stated that, “all of history is centering in the direction of one dynamic goal, the white-hot worship of God and Jesus
Christ amidst all of humanity on earth.”
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This simply means that God wants all people everywhere to know Him. He does not bless His children merely for our own selfishness and purpose. But He blesses His children so that they may be a blessing to others, leading them to faith in Jesus Christ, to glorify God, and to live their lives in joyful obedience to Him. So, we like the Psalmist should pray that all nations would praise, rejoice, and shout for joy over the greatness of God and the justice He establishes. Just as the Psalmist did when he prayed that God
would be gracious to His people, my prayer has been that God’ Spirit would move on His people
in such a way that the bondages of life’s experiences would be broken off of their lives and that they would experience Him in such a supernatural way that their lives will no longer be the same. I pray this way because most of the people that I know and that I have encountered has 1
John Piper. Let the Nations be Glad! the Supremacy of God in Missions. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids MI: Baker Academic, 2010. pgs. 17-20
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Dean
been through a great amount of hurt and abuse in their lives and it is evident that the adversary wants them to stay in the rut of their past and not realize the goodness, love, and greatness of our creator. It breaks my heart because I know that our God is a restoring, redeeming, and rejuvenating God. He cares about us and He longs that we would know Him and be drawn closer
to Him so that we can continuously praise Him even through the trials, test, temptations, and vicissitudes of life. When I read John 6:44 I understand that no one can come to the Father unless
he is drawn. I understand that we are drawn by the true light which is Jesus Christ. So, when we accept Jesus into our lives, trust, and believe that He died to save us from sin, then we are drawn to the Father through Him and lives circumstances are diminished, and our Heavenly Father is magnified. God desires that all come to know Him and worship Him, but we can’t do that if we allow the situations in life to be magnified. Therefore, because I know from experience that God so loved us that He would come down from glory to become like us, so that He could die for us and save us, my heart breaks and I carry a weeping spirit because I want all to know Him as I have come to know Him. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light, (Matthew 11:30). The way that I allow my life to exemplify what I feel not just for my family, the people in my church, but my community and anyone that I come in contact with is that just because I have been and will be hurt, I do not isolate myself (any longer) from God’ people. Not only do I want to experience, but it is truly my desire and my passion that everyone would experience the full blessings of God. I have come to understand that God’ blessings flow to the nations through me. And I desire that His purpose be fulfilled through me so that He may be glorified through all nations. Because
I know that God’ blessings stem from His grace, then He desires that all nations enjoy His favorable presence as One in Jesus Christ.
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Dean
Bibliography
John Piper. Let the Nations be Glad! the Supremacy of God in Missions. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids MI: Baker Academic, 2010. pgs. 17-20.
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