I have just finished another run through of Mark, teaching it to teenagers at my church. Sometimes I force myself to summarize, and that is what I did with this questions, “How would you define discipleship that Jesus taught His disciples in the book of Mark.” So, here we go…
Discipleship
Learning by seeing with the eyes of Jesus
Obeying with the allegiance of Jesus
Loving with the love of Jesus
Serving with the humility of Jesus
Living in the power of Jesus’ resurrection
Love God
Love Team
Learn for a Lifetime
Launch Movements
Here is a card I use to help me remember purpose verses and flow. Also includes the three counterfeit purposes Satan introduced with Adam and Eve, tried on Jesus in wilderness, and is the three things Solomon pursued in Ecclesiastes
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At the heart of a movement is the question… What is the purpose of this movement? It is always good to go back to the beginning and ask what was God’s original purpose for mankind, and track that purpose through Biblical history. If we can identify God’s purpose and how He has gone about accomplishing that purpose, it will provide us with:
1. A supreme purpose that controls us.
2. A supreme process that guides us.
GOD’S PURPOSE – EARTH FILLED WITH HIS GLORY
What is God’s purpose for mankind and how does he accomplish it?
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28
God gives his first ever command to mankind. He tells Adam and Eve to:
• Be fruitful and multiply
• Fill the earth
• Subdue the earth
• Rule over all creation
In Genesis 1:22, God also tells the water creatures and birds to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth, so what was so special about Adam and Eve? They were made in the image of God. God is not just asking humans to reproduce physically, but to reproduce the image of God and fill the earth with the image of God and rule over all creation as the image of God.
Purpose for Mankind – to fill the earth with the image of God and to rule creation as the image of God.
GOD’S PROCESS – IMAGE OF GOD MULTIPLYING AND FILLING EARTH
The process for filling the earth and ruling as the image of God is reproducing. Multiply the image of God and fill the earth so the whole earth is filled with the image and glory of God.
Can you imagine a world filled with people who reflect the image of God in everything they do? Sounds like heaven. It is hard for us to imagine this because it is not in our experience. What went wrong?
MAN’S FAILURE – IMAGE OF GOD MARRED
Sin entered the human race, marred the image of God, and keeps us from being able to fulfill the purpose for which God created us.
Adam and Eve listened to Satan and disobeyed God. Sin entered them and the image of God was marred with sin. Haunting questioned entered the human race. Could mankind be restored to a sinless, perfect state? Could they ever hope to fulfill the very purpose for which they were created? Could they ever walk with God again? Would God’s purpose be thwarted?
GOD’S PROVISION – COVER SIN AND RESTORE IMAGE
God makes immediate provisions and sets in motion future and complete restoration.
God covers Adam and Eve’s sin by killing an animal and covering their nakedness. He also speaks of one of Eve’s offspring who will crush Satan.
Does God’s purpose for mankind change?
Does his process for accomplishing His purposes change?
The answer is no. As we see God’s works through history, his purpose and process remains the same. Leaders of movements need to have His purpose and process as the heart of their leadership.
From this point in history to the cross, God goes about restoring His creation. He will do this by providing a sacrifice that will take away sins, and giving a righteousness that restore humans to fully reflect His image.
THE PROCESS REMAINS THE SAME
Even though the image of God in man is marred by sin, the process of multiplying and filling remains the same. Let’s take a stroll through Biblical history to see how God goes about accomplishing his purpose.
Noah and Flood
Because of sin, mankind became exceedingly sinful. They did not fill the earth with the image of God, but with evil.
Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them… Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart The LORD said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. Gen 6:1, 5-8
God found one man righteous. He destroyed mankind, except for Noah and his family. When Noah stepped of the ark, we see his purpose and process remains the same as with Adam and Eve.
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. “The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. Gen 9:1,2
Even though the image was marred and the purpose was hindered, the process remains the same, “Be fruitful and multiply.”
Tower of Babel
As the people multiplied, instead of filling the earth with the image of God, they gathered in one place to make a name for themselves. They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. Gen 11:3-9
God’s process remains the same, multiply and fill (spread) throughout the whole earth. By confusing the language, He forced them to do what they would not obey. His purpose and process remains the same.
New Nation
Now that there were many language and many nations, God chose one man to begin a new nation that God would chose to accomplish His purposes. God would multiply the descendants of Abraham and bless all nations through them.
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” Gen 12:1-3
Notice the process of accomplishing God’s purpose remains the same. God will multiply the people of Israel so they might represent Him to a fallen world in order to bring all nations back to God. He would give Israel His revelation and laws so they might know Him and act as God’s people. Then the world would see God through them.
ULTIMATE RESTORATION OF IMAGE
Birth of the God-Man
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1,14
For the first time since Adam and Eve, there is a man who is the image of God. In fact, He is God. He is also man. So he can fulfill God’s purpose for man because He is man.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him. Col 1:15,19
He is also the firstborn of a new creation. A new creation that is fully redeemed and restored. Remember, in order for God to restore us, He must cover our sin and give us righteousness.
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor 5:21
When we put our faith in Christ, He comes to live in us.
…the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Col 1:26-27
When Christ came in us, we have the full image of God living in us. Now we can accomplish God’s purpose for our lives! We have the image of God in us and we can live life reflecting that image in all that we do.
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Gal 2:20
What about the process now that the image is restored? Campus Crusade’s mission verse is Matthew 28:18-20
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
This is a repeat of the first Great Commission in Genesis 1:26-28. Genesis spoke of physical reproduction, Matthew speaks of spiritual reproduction. We are to make disciple. Christ is the firstborn of a new creation. We are to reproduce the life of Christ in others. We are to spiritually multiply.
As we spiritually multiply, we fill the earth with the image of and glory of God.
PRINCIPLES FOR LEADING MOVEMENTS
As we look at leading movements, here are some principles we can apply from God’s story of how He accomplishes His purpose of filling the earth with His image and glory through the process of reproducing in order to fill the earth.
1. Movements start with personal transformation. At the heart of any spiritual movement is the person of Christ who lives in us. We lead movements because He loves us, He died for us, and we are His ambassadors.
2. Movements spread through reproduction. Families spread through physical reproduction; spiritual families grow and spread through spiritual reproduction.
3. Jesus’ teachings are at the core of our content. In order to make disciples, we must “Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt 28:20).
