Sent on Mission

KEY VERSE: “He said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.” —Isaiah 49:6

SELECTED SCRIPTURE: Isaiah 49:1-6

THE LORD’S PEOPLE have all been called to serve God, and yet it is the call of Jesus which is of greater importance because it is through him that salvation is to be offered to all who have ever lived. Isaiah prophesied this fact, telling us that we may be used to bring his salvation to the ends of the earth! This became Jesus’ mission, and was the key to the Gospel message he was to preach to the nation of Israel.

Isaiah prophesied that, like himself, this greater servant was to serve his mission through the words he would speak. People would hear this message from near and far. (vs. 1) And yet, also like himself, the servant’s message would not always be well received by those who would hear. “He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword.” (vs. 2) This sharp sword is the Word of God, and is testified to by Paul: “The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword.”—Heb. 4:12

Like Isaiah, Jesus’ message was rejected by those to whom he preached, he prophesied this rejection by Israel. (vs. 4) John would later write, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1:11) And yet, despite being aware of Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus would not be distracted from his mission, realizing through the very same prophecy that God was with him, and his mission would bring glory to the Heavenly Father. God “said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.”—vs. 3

Through this prophecy God told his servant that the failure to gather Israel unto him would be for a greater blessing, because it would open up God’s message of salvation to the Gentiles. It would be easy to restore Israel—a ‘light thing’—because they had already experienced the blessings of God. To provide a light to the darkness that covered the rest of mankind would be a greater work. Jesus “was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9), “to be testified in due time.”—I Tim. 2:6

Knowing all these things beforehand, Jesus accepted this mission as the Logos when he declared, “Lo, I come: in the volume of the Book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” (Ps. 40:7,8) And knowing all the objectives Jesus accomplished during his earthly mission, his followers all down through the Gospel Age have taken up their goals of walking in, his footsteps. Like Jesus we know of the obstacles that will be constantly before us. Jesus foretold the opposition we would encounter. He said, “A ‘prophet will always be held in honor, except in his hometown, and in his own family.”—Matt. 13:57, New English Bible

Like Jesus, we understand our mission to glorify God. It includes being used as his instruments to ‘bring blessings to all who accept the message of salvation, now or in the coming kingdom. “Unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that e ask or think, according the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in he church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.”—Eph. 3:20,21

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