To the Ends of the Earth

by Mathew Block

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). So begins the very first verse of Scripture. This mighty God who needs nothing Himself nevertheless chooses to create a world with which He may share His love—to create a world that He may bless. And we read that His creation was “very good” indeed (1:31).

It did not stay that way, of course; the whole world was corrupted by the fall into sin by our first parents. Adam’s fall is earth’s fall; in fact, his very name—Adam—is related to the Hebrew word for “earth.” He is, after all, made from the dust of the earth (2:7). And when He is expelled from paradise, God tells him that the earth itself is cursed because of him (3:17).

God’s good world is left broken by the fall. But He does not therefore abandon it. No, He still loves the world. And so, He puts in motion a plan to rescue His fallen creation. He sets apart for Himself a holy people, through whom His salvation will come. But even as He sets them apart, He makes it clear that that they are not set apart for themselves; instead, they will be the vehicle through which He brings salvation to the entire world. “In your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,” God promises Abraham (Genesis 22:18). He promises the same to Isaac (26:4) and to Jacob (28:14).

He sets apart for Himself a holy people, through whom His salvation will come. But even as He sets them apart, He makes it clear that that they are not set apart for themselves; instead, they will be the vehicle through which He brings salvation to the entire world.

In this way, the world is slowly prepared for the coming Messiah—the one of whom Isaiah writes, “I will make You as a light for the nations, that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (49:6). And many long years later, He comes. God takes on flesh—He becomes a man, like Adam, and steps down into the world He Himself made (John 1:10). Jesus comes to save earth—to rectify what has gone wrong. “For God so loved the world,” as St. John says, “that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

And having come to earth, He descends deeper still, content not only to walk upon the ground from which man was made but deigning further to be buried within it. Like a grain of wheat, He is planted in the dust; He “falls into the earth and dies” (John 12:24). But the ground cursed through Adam’s sin could not contain Him; He springs forth in new life, shooting up to bear abundant fruit—the beginning of a new paradise in which we may walk with God again.

His death unworks death. His descent into the broken earth heals it. And as the first Adam’s trespass brought the entire world to ruin, so now this new Adam’s sacrifice restores it to its former vitality. “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive,” St. Paul writes (1 Corinthians 15:22). New life spreads out from Calvary over all the earth; from out of the empty tomb, new life is growing.

We who have been received by Christ into His new creation are called to bear witness to it—to share the love of God for the world with the world. As Jesus sent forth His disciples at the ascension, He sends out His Church even now, saying: “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:18).

In this issue, we reflect on the Gospel’s progress towards the ends of the earth. Rev. Dr. William Mundt recounts for us the expansion of the Church in the time of the apostles, drawing out the lessons it has for us in evangelism today. Rev. J.P. Cima highlights the ongoing outreach of our partner church in Cambodia. And our third feature provides us with a glimpse at the changing Lutheran world in our time, as churches decline in the West but expand dramatically in places like Africa.

As Jesus sent forth His disciples at the ascension, He sends out His Church even now, saying: “You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:18).

The mission of the Church goes on. And as it does, we take comfort in the words of David: “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). All people are already God’s people; we are asked merely to remind them of this fact, and to tell them what God has done for them in Christ Jesus.

One day He will return to this world, and then the mission of the Church will be at an end. At that time, He will gather in the harvest which has been sown throughout the world. For “He will send out the angels,” St. Mark writes, “and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven” (Mark 13:27). And then this old broken earth shall finally pass away (13:31); the new heavens and the new earth will be at hand. And it will be very good indeed.

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” – Isaiah 65:17

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Mathew Block is editor of The Canadian Lutheran and the Communications Manager of the International Lutheran Council (ILC).

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