Back in May we told you of the necessity of changing our organization name from New Tribes Mission to Ethnos360. Ethnos, having to do with ethnicities –all peoples, all languages, and all nations of [namely] unreached people. …And 360 being global.
But did you know there is a board game called Ethnos? It has nothing to do with Ethnos360 but I found the game to be quite interesting. The land of Ethnos contains twelve tribes of fantasy creatures. Players call upon the support of giants, merfolk, halflings, and minotaurs to help them gain control of the land. After three rounds of play, whoever has collected the most glory wins!
Wow, the innuendos of such a game contrasted to the reality of what we do in reaching those outside the hearing of the gospel certainly is not for our glory, but for God alone. You see, God’s desire in creating man was for His own glory… for man to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth with the same kind.
That leads us to ask “With ‘what kind’ did God expect Adam and Eve to fill the earth?”
Well, since Adam and Eve were created in God’s image we come to understand that they were godly people. –So God’s intent was for Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth with godly people. But we know that Adam and Eve failed in that task so God began unveiling a plan of how He would receive such glory.
Fast-forward to Genesis 12: 3 and we find God making a promise to bless all nations thru Abraham and his descendants. From that genealogy the blessing to all nations was carried forth in the birth of Jesus, His death, His burial and His resurrection from the grave. We call that the gospel.
…And it is thru Him, Jesus, that all nations (ethnic nations of people, tribes, and languages) will be blessed. When Jesus gave the command to ‘make disciples of All nations’ He was asking us to join in the effort of filling the earth with godly people, and in so doing, we will bring the most glory to God.
Reaching those who never heard of Jesus is not a game. …And our efforts to go to hard places are not for our glory, but for God’s glory in reaching lost souls for Christ.
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