Is Mission's a New Testament Concept?

While much of modern day missions have been shaped by key passages in the New Testament, we find evidence of missionary activity all throughout the Old and the New Testament. Throughout the Old Testament, we're introduced to a mission minded God that reveals his presence and power to all the surrounding nations through the testimony of His people. The concept of missions is not first introduced in the days of the early church but the Old Testament serves as the base that the early church used in their blueprint for missions.

The Old Testament is saturated with verses that support the mission mind of God. In Genesis chapter 12, God makes a clear promise with Abraham that all blessings will come through him. This promise was clearly seen and given again through Moses when he was called by God to free God's people from bondage. God through and through calls people so that all nations will know the true and living God. This is our mission minded God doing his work. In Psalm 67, we find that God clearly desires the worship of people from all nations. From Isaiah chapter 11 to all throughout the Minor Prophets, we find examples of God's care for and judgment over all of His creation.

The New Testament does not start the mission of God but rather simply continues what God had done all along in the Old Testament, as it reveals this mission focus of our God in a straight forward and descriptive manner. This has been the initial heart and the primary passion of God all along, all throughout the generations from the days of Genesis, to the early church days, to even today. Missions is not a newly developed concept only found in the New Testament but developed so it could be applied to Christians for today.