Taking Jesus Seriously: All Nations
February 25th, 2013 by Matt Elton
A Witness Unto All Nations
Matthew 24:14 – And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
There are about 200 nations in the world today, and there are Christians in every one of these nations. But Jesus was not talking about today’s political entities, nor was he talking about the kingdoms of his day, most of which no longer exist.
The Greek word for nations in this verse is ethnesin, derived from ethne, which is the root of the English word “ethnic.” This word means more than simply “nations” in the political sense. It refers to ethnic and cultural groups – groups of people who share a distinct ethnicity, language, and/or culture. Anthropologists simply call these groups “people groups.”
Anthropologists estimate there are 11,000 distinct people groups in the world today. If we define a people group as “reached with the gospel” if just 2% or more of its individuals have heard the gospel message, missionaries estimate that 6,000 different people groups are currently unreached.
We don’t know exactly how closely the ethne groups that Jesus spoke of match the people groups defined by modern anthropology. But in light of Matthew 24:14, the fact that the end of the age has not yet come seems to suggest that not every ethne has been reached with the gospel message yet.
No one knows when Jesus will return, but according to Matthew 24:14, he will not return until ethne – every people group – has been reached with the gospel message. This is not surprising when we consider the character of God, who takes “no pleasure in the death of him that dieth” (Ezekiel 18:32) but “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4 NASB). For the sake of those who have not yet heard the gospel, God is holding back the coming wrath for a little while so they will have a chance to hear the gospel and repent before it is too late (2 Peter 3:9).
It has always been God’s plan to reach every people group in the world with the gospel message, and bring people of every ethnicity, nationality, language, and culture into his Kingdom. This is such an essential part of God’s plan of salvation that the end of the age will not come until every people group has been reached (Matthew 24:14).
The Great Commission
Jesus commands us to reach every people group in The Great Commission:
Matthew 28:19 – Go ye therefore, and teach all nations (ethne), baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost
Why does God want us to reach “all nations” with the gospel message? Because God’s plan for salvation extends to all people of the earth. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ paid the price for all sins of all people for all time. At the moment he died, the Temple veil was suddenly torn (Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38, Luke 23:45). This veil divided the inner courts – which were for Jews only – from the outer courts the Gentiles were relegated to. The tearing of the Temple veil symbolically destroyed all division between Jew and Gentile, and by extension, it tore down all racial, class, and gender divisions.
Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
This is very unusual for a religious faith. Most religions are proudly rooted in a specific culture – for example, Hinduism is deeply rooted in India and Shintoism in Japan. As a result, these mono-cultural religions rarely gain any ground outside of their native culture. But Christianity is a truly global faith not tied down to any one specific culture or country. There are Christians in the big cities of China who worship quite differently than Christians in a rural African village. Nevertheless, both are Christians by faith in Jesus Christ, both are on equal footing before the Lord, and both will be our brothers and sisters for eternity in the Kingdom of God. Through obedience to the lordship of Jesus Christ, disciples in all parts of the world are carrying out Christ’s redemptive work in the world today.
It has always been God’s plan to redeem not just some cultures but ALL cultures into His Kingdom for his glory. Our Heavenly Father is the God of diversity – proof of this is clearly manifested in the vast diversity of his Creation!
Why aren’t we reaching all people groups with the gospel?
It’s not because of a lack of resources. If all of the churches of the world devoted just a portion of their resources to global outreach, there would be more than enough resources available to reach every people group in the world with the gospel message.
But according to some estimates, the average church spends just 2% of its resources on foreign missions. The problem is not a lack of resources, but a lack of willpower. American churches spend millions of dollars promoting Christianity in a country that already has dozens of churches in every town and city. Meanwhile, there are 6,000 unreached people groups in the world, and over a billion people who have never even heard the name of Jesus.
- In Africa, millions of people influenced by animism live in spiritual bondage, trying to appease spirits through witchcraft.
- In India, millions of people influenced by Hinduism worship many gods and goddesses without knowing the Name of the one true God.
- In the Middle East, North Africa, and Indonesia, millions of people influenced by Islam are taught that the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was a mere illusion that never actually happened.
- In countries influenced by communism such as China, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea, and the former Soviet Union, millions of people are indoctrinated with an atheistic worldview that leaves no room for the existence of God.
- In Europe and North America, millions of people influenced by secular humanism trust in their own self-sufficiency, in science, technology, and human reasoning, and think that the modern world has no need for God.
Satan’s Policy of Containment
Each culture in the world faces its own unique challenges for evangelism. We are engaged in a spiritual war, but Christ has already guaranteed us the victory. Regardless of the circumstances, when Christians led by the Holy Spirit step out in faith to do the work Christ has called them to do, there is nothing that can stop them. Even the worst persecution ultimately results in the message spreading further and faster. Satan knows that he is not powerful enough to stop the gospel message from spreading. So Satan is desperate. Satan can’t stop the gospel from moving, but he can at least distract us from moving it into new territory.
Perhaps Satan is satisfied with a policy of containment. As long as the gospel message stays within areas already saturated with Christianity, the unreached nations will remain unreached, and the end of the age will not come. Satan knows that once every people group has been reached with the gospel, this present evil age will come to an end. And for Satan, the end of the age means the end of his existence. He is fighting this tooth and nail.
I’m certainly not suggesting that it is wrong to witness to people from our own culture, in our own local communities. Jesus commands us to preach the gospel to all nations, and that includes our own nation! Evangelism must begin wherever we are currently planted. It must begin there, but it must not end there.
Churches should act counter-culturally and cross-culturally to intentionally reach unreached people groups with the gospel message. There are a myriad of ways to go about doing this. But the first step is to recognize that it needs to be done.
What can we do to reach those who have never heard of Christ?
Wonderful,thank you for sharing the word that inspirers all who read to acts,Love gw
Matt,
you mention above
do you realize that with this logic there could never be the return of Christ, seeing that with every second somewhere on earth another person in some ethnic group will be born who has not heard the gospel and will need to hear the gospel message ? It will continue and continue and continue to be so … or are you saying that at some time God will first stop people from having children so that perhaps there can come a point in time where “all men” will have had an opportunity to hear the gospel?
In addition, we know from a few passages in the apostle Paul’s epistles that he considered toward the end of his life that the gospel had by then been preached in all the world (cp. Col 1:6 — “Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:”) and to every creature under heaven (cp Col 1:23 — “If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;”) … or do you think Paul was in error when he wrote those statements?
Matt
a short further note on another passage from your post
even with all their promotion spending, there are quite many people who seem to be quite aliented from God in “hometown” as well … I remember some statistics being mentioned here by Sean about the Albany area …
It also seems that American churches do spend quite some sums in “foreign mission programs”, and have done so over many decades, but to what avail?
Could it be that Mt 28:19 is not about what modern day Christian churches try to interpret into it? Could it be that there are a few things more fundamentally inaccurate with interpretations using modern day perspectives and modern day words usages and definitions when interpreting passages such as Mt 24:14 or Mt 28:19 (or any other passage in the Bible)?
Wolfgang
Why does Paul feel there is more people to preach the gospel?
1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious 47 riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 1:28 We proclaim him by instructing 48 and teaching 49 all people 50 with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature 51 in Christ. 1:29 Toward this goal 52 I also labor, struggling according to his power that powerfully 53 works in me.
4:2 Be devoted to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. 4:3 At the same time pray 1 for us too, that 2 God may open a door for the message 3 so that we may proclaim 4 the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 5 4:4 Pray that I may make it known as I should.
… “the whole world has gone after him” Did all the world go after
Christ? “then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan.”
Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem, baptized in Jordan? “Ye are of God,
little children”, and the whole world lieth in the wicked one”. Does
the whole world there mean everybody?
Jas
i suppose because there are people also after the time when the gospel had been preached to all the world to whom the gospel needs to be preached
The following illustration is sort of weak, but perhaps it can help illustrate a particular point:
In football the teams start out into the season in the fall and I can make a statement that after the playoff games there will be the Superbowl game to determine the championship. In other words, once the playoff games have been played, the Superbowl game will be played. However, does that mean that there won’t be anymore football games? No. There will still be football games after the Superbowl, BUT the Superbowl will be after the playoff games are played. So then, my claim that after the playoff games will be the Superbowl will have been fulfilled when the Superbowl has arrived and is played. But that does not mean that there won’t be more football games afterwards (in the case of football, in the next season, etc …)
I think the error concerning the gospel into all the world which people often make is in how they picture this by assuming that there will be a point when the gospel has been preached to all the world and then will be sort of the final whistle blow and there will be no more people to whom to preach the gospel, perhaps no more people living on earth, since all “bad guys” will have been done away with and from that time on there will only be “good guys” (who no longer need the gospel preached) left on earth ….
Jas (5)
you point out a very important point in regards to arrive at a correct interpretation of the Scriptures when it comes to understanding the word “all”.
“All” quite obviously — as is seen from the examples you provide — does not always mean “all without exception”.
Thus, when Jesus spoke about the gospel being preached to all nations, as well as when Paul mentions that this had been accomplished, one must keep in mind (a) the time at which the statements were made, (b) that they were not speaking about “every person on the globe”, (c) that they were not speaking about there being no preaching of the gospel after the gospel had been preached to all the world
Wolfgang
The difference between Jesus’ words and Paul’s is Jesus said the end would come and Paul states it hasnt been preached to the whole world in later verses.
Otherwords It Is Finished in the words of Jesus and Not even close in the words of Paul.
Evidently this is one of those statements of Paul Peter warned us about.
Wolfgang
Yes i do see the flaw in Matts assumption because he relates it to the start of Millennium Kingdom without regard to the fact that those who enter it will be priest to the nations. If put in proper place at end the flaw in Matts assumption disappear and the words of Jesus “the end would come”makes perfect sense
Matthew,
you have written:
“This veil divided the inner courts – which were for Jews only – from the outer courts the Gentiles were relegated to. The tearing of the Temple veil symbolically destroyed all division between Jew and Gentile, and by extension, it tore down all racial, class, and gender divisions.”
This is absolutely false!
Are you learning these things from your new pastor?
Do you really know what this means:
John 14: (kjv)
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
And this:
Hebrews 6:20
20 where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Timothy
Matt
the above post by Timothy caught me attention to go back to what you had written:
this statement is inaccurate … it was not the temple which was torn, it was the veil inside the sanctuary, dividing the main part of the sanctuary from the holy of holies section into which during the OT age only the high priest had access once a year.
This is an inaccurate application made on an inaccurate premise (see above). In addition, it reflects again what I mentioned in an earlier comment, that you seem to make modern day applications which are unfounded and somewhat unrelated to the biblical text which should be interpreted in light of not only its textual context but also its historical context.
Matthew,
Add this and take a keen eye look:
http://possessthevision.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/tabernacle-diagram2.jpg
Timothy
The tearing of the Temple veil was a physical manifestation of a spiritual truth – that through his atoning sacrifice on the cross Jesus Christ our great High Priest made it possible for anyone to enter into the presence of God symbolized by the Holy of Holies. Prior to this time, only the Jewish high priest could enter, and even he could only enter one time per year. The tearing of the Temple veil absolutely tore down the division between Jew and Gentile because it symbolizes that ANYONE – regardless of race, class, or gender – can now enter into the presence of God through faith in Jesus Christ and what he accomplished for us on the cross. The tearing of the Temple veil symbolizes that anyone in the world can have a direct relationship with God through Jesus Christ because Jesus bridged the gap between God and man when he paid for our sins upon the cross.
This is why the author of Hebrews was able to write, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). While previously only the high priest could enter the presence of God – and only once per year – now anyone in the world with faith in Jesus Christ has that same authority to enter the Holy of Holies, even down to the lowliest of executed criminals, to whom Jesus said, “you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). This absolutely tears down all racial, class, and gender barriers because it means that ALL believers are on equal footing before the throne of grace because of what Jesus accomplished for us.
Is this a “modern day application”? I find that laughable considering I am only saying what the Apostle Paul himself said almost two thousand years ago, when he wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28) and “there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him” (Romans 10:12). The sacrifice of Jesus Christ is for all people and for all time, so that in the end, the four beasts and twenty-four elders will fall before the Lamb and proclaim, “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Revelation 5:9-10).
I stand boldly on what the Word of God says and not upon the interpretation of any man or the opinion of any so-called “pastor.”
Matt,
do you think you were in error in your article with your writing about the temple was rent? do you think what was pointed out to you about the veil in the temple not being between the inner and outer courts of the temple was correct? If so … why do you not admit it?
Instead you write a comment about something again (that all, whether Jew or Gentile) which was not the point of the veil in the temple. The veil had nothing to do with a difference between Jew and Gentile …
I appreciate your note about taking personal responsibility for your interpretation … unfortunately among many Christians, people are used to hide behind “the interpretation / opinion of their pastor or their teacher”.
I made a error about the location of the veil, and for that I apologize. I can appreciate you pointing out this technical error, but my interpretation of the meaning of the veil tearing is still accurate.
The main meaning of the tearing of the Temple veil is that the finished work of Christ enables anyone to enter the presence of God (the Holy of Holies), which was previously restricted because of sin separating us from God.
The extension of this meaning is that “anyone” includes Gentiles as well as Jews, as well as all people of the world regardless of their background. This would have been an extremely radical idea for a first century Jew.
This is not just my interpretation, but many Bible commentators. For Matthew 27:51, Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible says: “This rending of the veil was emblematical, and pointed out that the separation between Jews and Gentiles was now abolished, and that the privilege of the high priest was now communicated to all mankind: All might henceforth have access to the throne of grace, through the one great atonement and mediator, the Lord Jesus. See this beautifully illustrated in Hebrews 10:19-22.”
And John Wesley wrote, “God thereby signifying the speedy removal of the veil of the Jewish ceremonies the casting down the partition wall, so that the Jews and Gentiles were now admitted to equal privileges, and the opening a way through the veil of his flesh for all believers into the most holy place.”
Hi Matt,
your interpretation of the meaning of the renting of the veil is really only partly accurate ….
Yes, direct access to God without another priest’s intercession is now available to any believer … However, the veil did not signify the previously existing separation between Jew and Gentile, this was signified by the wall of separation between the outer and inner courts in the temple area.
What you quote from Clarke’s commentary is not quite biblically accurate ! It was as Wesley also mentions the casting down of the partition wall which allowed Gentiles the same privileges and access to the sanctuary as the Jews, that both then had direct access into the holy of holies was signified by the renting of the veil between sanctuary and most holy place.