Beyond Boundaries: Missiological Implications of the Creation Narrative
When the sun rose on the first morning, it not only made the lilies and the mountains visible, but also shone a spotlight on the God who spoke it all into existence. The creation narrative of Genesis 1 is both beautifully composed and powerfully infused with implications for missions today. The opening lines of the Bible lay down the boundaries that help us make sense of our world and also send us out into the world for the sake of God’s glory and renown.
At the heart of missions is the work of crossing into a different culture or community for the sake of making disciples. All evangelism to some degree requires us to cross a boundary and speak across the boarder of faith to those who do not yet believe. Traversing boundaries can be a wearisome and draining work.
Here are three encouragements from the creation narrative for boundary-breaking work.
No Place We Should Not Go
As far as the breath of God reached, so reached the dimensions of the universe. The mystery of the creation narrative is that before there was anything there was God. There was no other universe, no other dimensions of existence, no other planet from which God came. Everything that was came from God. Therefore there is no where that is beyond the limits of God’s dominion. The scope of God’s reign is not confined by spiritual or physical boundaries. It is especially not constrained behind lines drawn on a map and defined in treaties between waring nations.
The implications of a God who reigns over everything is that there are no places we are not called to care about and desire the Gospel to flourish within. Alice Ott observes that a major turning point in the history of the expansion of Christianity was when St. Patrick went beyond the boundaries of the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel. Up until that point it was assumed by many Christians that the “ends of the world” were the boundaries of the Roman Empire. May God expand our capacity to see the true breath of his mission and domain.
No Power We Can Not Confront
In battle the frontline sees the most vicious fighting. Participating in boundary crossing apostolic mission there is often overt oppositions or more sinister intrenched indifference. The power we confront is a power that has entangled souls in depths of grief and anxiety that not even medicine seems to ease. At the same time the power we confront has twisted minds and souls to the point that evil now looks like pleasure and beauty. These forces can be demoralizing and discouraging, but the creation narrative widens our perspective in moments where it seems as though the gates of Hell are prevailing.
When light burst open and land rose from the waters there was only one, God himself. In other creation accounts the world came into existence through the battling of two great powers. What separates the God of the Bible is that he alone saw the first sunrise. He alone instructed the waters where the gather. He has no rival. A the dawn of time there was no boundary between the land of the creator and the land of another. All was his. Wherever light hit was the dominion of the creator. No rival power contributed to the making of the world.
This display of unrivaled power stiffens the back of the weary Gospel worker because it reminds us that there is no power of wickedness greater than the power of the gracious creator Himself. To some it may look like we are a child trying to push a mountain. We may feel foolish trying to go up against such power. But God called us to have faith that can move mountains. We are called to have faith in the one who raised the mountains and drew the boundary of the sea. There is no opposition so dug in that the one who created the dirt can not move. Jesus promised that hell’s boundaries and gates will not prevail when the church comes against them, so let us press on.
No Person Beyond The Grace Of God
The world was turned upside down for the disciples when Jesus was crucified, but when he was raised from the dead their world was even more radically transformed. In a sense though the world was being restored and the truths of the creation narrative were reverberating louder than ever.
As the disciples tried to make sense of their new reality Jesus told them that all authority on heaven and earth had been given to him. He has no rival power. Therefore he gave them the instructions to go and make disciples of all nations. There should be no boundary they should fear crossing because all has was his. The message they were to take with them was the message of grace.
The great commission is like a flower. The gospel message of grace is like the vibrant blooming pedals, but God’s grace has roots that extend all the way back to the creation narrative. What we take for granted is that God did not need to create the world. He did not need the stars or the oceans to exist in order to be God. In fact he did not need to create us. He does not need our praise or worship to be God. The act of creating and inviting us into his creation was at its outset an act of love. We did not deserve to experience a lung full of air, the smell of baking bread or sweat taste of wine. Our very existence was an act of grace.
The creation narrative introduces us to the love of God. It is not earned. It is not won. It can not be purchased. It is only by grace that we exist. Only by grace will anyone be saved. The display of God’s love in the creation narrative displays for us the extraordinary extent of God’s grace. There is no one beyond the boundaries of God’s grace. No one we serve, pray for, or evangelize are beyond God’s grace. Even more astounding should be the reminder that we are not beyond God’s grace. By God’s grace let us go forward into all creation to proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ.
