SBS | 4th Quarter of 2023 | CPAD Adults | Theme: To the Ends of the Earth – Preaching the Gospel to all Peoples until the Return of Christ | Sunday Bible School | Lesson 2 – Transcultural Missions: To their Origin in the Nature of God Slides created by Celso Napoleon

1. October 8, 2023
Lesson 2
Transcultural Missions:
To their Origin in the Nature of God

2. GOLDEN TEXT
“As for me, this is my covenant with
you, and you will be the father of a
multitude of nations.” (Gen 17:4)

3. PRACTICAL TRUTH
God's love is the true motivation
of the believer to carry out
missionary work.

4. DAILY READING
Monday - Hb 11.8 - Called to go to a completely unknown place
Tuesday - Gal 3.8,16 - The Lord Jesus Christ is the legitimate descendant of
Abraham
Wednesday - Gal 3.16; 4.4 - God's saving providence in human history through a
family
Thursday - Eph 1.7; Gal 3-13; 4-5 - God's redemptive plan as an activity carried
out through Jesus Christ
Sixth - Gn 12.3 - The missionary nature of God in his relationship with humanity
Saturday - Mt 5.13-14 - Church of Christ - called to be salt of the earth and light
of the world

5. BIBLE READING IN CLASS
Genesis 12.1-3; 17.1-8
Genesis 12
1 - Now the Lord said to Abram: Go out from your country, and
from your kindred, and from your father's house, to the land that I
will show you.
2 – And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I
will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 - And I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse those who
curse you; and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.

6. Genesis 17
1 - Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord
appeared to Abram and said to him: I am God Almighty; walk
before me and be perfect.
2 - And I will put my covenant between me and you, and I will
multiply you exceedingly.
3-Then Abram fell on his face, and God spoke to him, saying:
4 - As for me, this is my covenant with you, and you will be the
father of a multitude of nations.
5 - And your name will no longer be called Abram, but your
name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a
multitude of nations.

7. 6 - And I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make
nations out of you, and kings will come out of you.
7 - And I will establish my covenant between me and you and
your seed after you in their generations, for an everlasting
covenant, to be God to you and to your seed after you.
8 - And I will give to you and to your seed after you the land of
your sojourning, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting
possession, and I will be their God.

8. INTRODUCTION
The word “transcultural” brings the idea of a missionary who
goes beyond the barriers of a people's culture, or civilization, to
present the love of God. This implies interaction with all ethnic
groups on Earth, with different aspects of people's lives. In this
week's lesson, we will see that God chose a family, so that,
through it, he could reach all the families on Earth. This process
took place through Abraham, his family, the nation of Israel, the
second person of Jesus and, finally, the Church. Thus, we will
contemplate the missionary nature of God, as well as the
character of his love as the basis of all Christian missionary
practice. Keyword: Transcultural

9. I - THE MISSIONARY NATURE OF GOD
1. The missionary nature of God in Abram’s call (Gen 12.1-3). The
expression “Leave your land” reveals an order and a call from God for
Abram to go to a place that, at first, he did not know (Heb 11.8). Along
with this order came a promise: “in you all the families of the earth will
be blessed” (Gen 12:3). This promise concerns a spiritual blessing for the
world through the descendants of Abraham. In this sense, the apostle
Paul writes that this blessing refers to the Gospel revealed in our Lord
Jesus Christ, the legitimate descendant of Abraham (Gal 3.8,16). Thus,
from one family, God provided salvation for the entire world (Gal 3.16;
4.4). Therefore, we can affirm that the origin of Transcultural Missions is
intrinsically related to the missionary nature of God.

10. Abraham's Journey
from Ur to Canaan
(MOLNAR, 1850)

11. 2. The mission as God’s activity in the world. To understand
the mission as God's activity in the world, we need to return to
the special revelation that God himself made in his Word.
Chapter 17 of Genesis shows us the sovereign and exalted God
who relates to a limited human being (Gen 17.1). He is so zealous
for his promise that he changed Abram's name to Abraham in
order to reaffirm his covenant, which would transcend the
geographical fulfillment of the promise (Gen 12.1 cf. 17.5,8).
Here, the Mission is clear as God’s activity in the world. He
himself, and no other, is the greatest protagonist of missionary
activities. God acts in the world by his grace in order to reconcile
it with himself (2 Cor 5.19). Therefore, our greatest missionary
model is God himself.

12. 3. Our missionary model. The basic missionary model we have
for the Church today is not based on illustrious figures in the
history of the Church, nor on contemporary projects by people
with notable achievements. Certainly, today's models and those of
the past deserve our attention in order to expand our missionary
vision, especially in the application of cross-cultural missions.
However, our main model of Missions is revealed in God himself,
whose missionary nature is demonstrated to us in the Old
Testament (Gn 3-9; Is 55.4).

13. Paul, the greatest missionary of all –
The starting point of Christian missions
is by nature the New Testament church.
The frightened and insecure disciples,
who had fled during their master's hours
of agony on the cross, were empowered
with the Holy Spirit on the Day of
Pentecost, thus giving birth to the
Christian missionary movement. In the
words of Kenneth Scott Latourette, “he
was at the same time the prototype, the
model and the inspiration of thousands
of successors” (SOUZA, 2011).

14. SYNOPSIS I
God is the missionary model of the Church
that can be observed from the election of a
family to reach all families on earth.

15. II - GOD'S LOVE: THE FUNDAMENTAL
PRINCIPLE OF THE HISTORY OF REDEMPTION
1. The love of God. The Bible shows that God is love (1 John
4:8,16). In the Old Testament we see his love in his relationship with
all men (Dt 33.3). We also contemplate this love in God's choice for
Israel (Dt 7.7; Hos 11.1; Ml 1.2) and in his relationship with these
people in a process of renewing covenants in which his mercy and
kindness are revealed (Dt 7.9; Is 54.5-10) . In the New Testament,
this love of God for all creatures is affirmed and expanded (John
3:16). The Most High is revealed as loving, because He Himself is
love (1 John 4.8,16) and this, in turn, is His very essence. Therefore,
love is the basis of the entire plan of redemption revealed in the
Word of God.

16. 2. Redemption in the Old Testament. Redemption means
freeing the slave from his bondage based on the payment of a
price by a redeemer. This is the basic concept for the biblical view
of salvation. In the Old Testament, redemption is associated with
the family, social and national life of Israel in the following
aspects: a) rescue for the liberation of a slave (Lev 25.48-55); b)
recovery of a field (Lev 25.23-34; c) rescue of a firstborn male (Ex
13.12-16); d) rescues someone who would be condemned to death
(Ex 21.28-36). Furthermore, the Bible also shows God acting in a
redemptive way in favor of man: a) when Jacob invokes: “the
Angel who delivered me from all evil” (Gen 48.15,16); b) when
God declares his intention to free Israel from slavery in Egypt,
saying: “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm” (Ex 6.6).

17. 3. Redemption in the New Testament. In the New Testament,
redemption is strictly a divine activity that is accomplished through
Jesus Christ (Eph 1:7; Gal 3:13; 4:5). In this case, the sinner's
remission is assured based on the ransom price paid to God the
Father by Jesus Christ in his death on the cross (Titus 2:14; Heb
9:12; 1 Pe 1:18,19) whose redemptive work is declared in the New
Testament (Hb 9.25-28). However, the experience of redemption
will only be complete and consummated at the second coming of
Christ, on the occasion of the believer's final glorification (Luke
21:28; Rom 8:23; Eph 1:14). Therefore, the sinner's plan of
redemption is the glorious announcement of missionary work that
is based on God's love.

18. SYNOPSIS II
God's love is the fundamental principle of
the history of redemption and, therefore, is
the foundation of Transcultural Missions.

19. III - BIBLICAL VISION OF THE CROSS-
CULTURAL CHARACTER OF THE MISSION
1. A Missionary God. The Old Testament reveals a missionary God.
In the book of Genesis, God deals not only with a specific nation,
but with all humanity: a) The fall of man (Gen 3.15); b) The flood
(Gn 6.13); c) The election of a people to bless everyone else, after the
Tower of Babel (Gen 12.3). In these texts, man's failure is
characterized, as well as God's judgment and his promise. Thus, the
missionary God established a strategy to bless all peoples through
Abraham: “And I will bless those who bless you [...] and in you
all the families of the earth will be blessed” (Gen 12.3).

20. 2. The choice of Israel and its mission. Through Abraham and
his faith, God chose Israel to be a special people throughout
history; so that he could participate in a special way in his plan to
redeem all humanity. By establishing a vertical and correct
relationship with God, Israel would be an example for other
nations. It was the Almighty's desire that Israel distinguish itself
from other peoples as its precious jewel. He wanted Israel's
holiness, as a living example of its power and grace, to attract the
rest of the nations. However, Israel failed in this purpose. The
promise established in Genesis 17.8 was invalidated by the apostasy
and infidelity of the nation (Is 24.5; Jer 31.32). Therefore, Israel
was taken into exile in Assyria (2 Kings 17), while Judah was later
taken into captivity in Babylon (2 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 36).

21. 3. The choice of the Church. The Lord God has always
desired that the Gentiles be brought to the light. Salvation
through Christ is the divine fulfillment of the promise given to
Abraham to bless all the families of the earth. Although Israel
failed in its intercultural ministry, God transferred this
missionary ministry to the children of the New Testament - the
Church of God. This Church inherited a divine responsibility,
being called to participate with God in the evangelization of the
world. Therefore, we were called to be the salt of the earth and
the light of the world (Mt 5.13-14).

22. SYNOPSIS III
The Church's transcultural mission
is based on God's missionary
character.

23. CONCLUSION
We have seen the missionary nature of God from the
beginning of the Bible. From a family, God planned salvation
for all humanity. This reveals that God's redemptive plan is
based on his exalted and glorious love for the whole world
(John 3:16). It is this love that encourages the Church of Christ
to take missionary work seriously until the Lord Jesus returns.
God did not give up on the sinner. Therefore, He counts on
us, as it is His will “that all men should be saved” (1 Tim 2:4).

24. REVIEWING THE CONTENT
1. What does the apostle Paul write about Abraham's blessing?
The apostle Paul writes that this blessing refers to the Gospel
revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ, the legitimate descendant of
Abraham (Gal 3.8,16).
2. According to the lesson, why is God our greatest missionary
model?
He himself, and no other, is the greatest protagonist of
missionary activities. God acts in the world by his grace in order
to reconcile it with himself (2 Cor 5.19). Therefore, our greatest
missionary model is God himself.

25. 3. What does redemption mean?
Redemption means freeing the slave from his bondage
based on the payment of a price by a redeemer.
4. When will the believer's experience of redemption be
complete and consummated?
The experience of redemption will only be complete and
consummated at the second coming of Christ, on the
occasion of the believer's final glorification (Luke 21:28;
Rom 8:23; Eph 1:14).
5. To whom did God transfer the missionary ministry?
God transferred this missionary ministry to the children of
the New Testament - the Church of God.

26. References
MOLNAR, J. Abraham’s Journey from Ur to Canaan. [S. l.], 1850. painting,
Oil on canvas.Hungarian National Gallery. Available in:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moln%C3%A1r_%C3%81bra
h%C3%A1m_kik%C3%B6lt%C3%B6z%C3%A9se_1850.jpg. Accessed
on: 27 September. 2023.
SOUZA, T. H. Paul, the greatest missionary of all. In:
OEVANGELHOHOJE. 9 Dec. 2011. Available at:
https://oevangelhohoje.wordpress.com/2011/12/09/paulo-o-maior-
missionario-de-todos/. Accessed on: 1 Oct. 2023.

27. SBS | 4th Quarter of 2023 | CPAD Adults | Theme: To the
Ends of the Earth – Preaching the Gospel to all Peoples until
the Return of Christ | Sunday Bible School | Lesson 2 –
Transcultural Missions: To their Origin in the Nature of God
Slides created by Celso Napoleon

28. LESSONS:
1. The Great Commission: An Ethnocentric Approach
2. Transcultural Missions: To their Origin in the Nature of God
3. Cross-cultural Missions in the Old Testament
4. Cross-cultural Missions in the New Testament
5. A Pentecostal Perspective on Missions
6. Praying, Contributing and Doing Missions
7. The Church’s Responsibility towards Missionaries
8. Tentmaking Missionaries
9. The Church and Missionary Support
10. The 10/40 Window Challenge
11. Missions and the Persecuted Church
12. The Missions Model of the Church of Antioch
13. The Purpose of Missions
14. Missions and the Return of the Lord Jesus