Rev. Dr. A. C. George,
Professor Emeritus & Former President of SABC
JESUS’ MISSION STATEMENTS
The gospels record several statements of
Christ which can be regarded as Jesus’ mission statements. When those statements are
put together, we get a comprehensive plan
of God’s salvation for humanity and the specific purpose of Jesus mission on earth. The
focus of this brief article is an examination
of two “I have come” statements of Christ,
which I hope will help us understand Jesus
heart throb and His passion for His mission.
experience of God. Yet none of them saw
the essential form of God. Jn1:18 states “but
the one and only Son who is himself God
and is in closest relationship with the Father,
has made him known”.
Through incarnation, the eternal son of God
made a clear revelation of the nature and
character of his Father. Let us consider a
few aspects of that revelation the Son made.
a. God is love.
That God is love is the central truth of
the gospel (1Jn 4:8). The Son showed
the same quality of love when he
came willingly into the world for the
redemption of humanity. He loved all
classes of people and earned the name
“ a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Lk.7:34). He loved his disciples
dearly and consistently (Jn.13:1;17:23).
He gave his life for the whole human
race, but the Church, which is His body
can claim a special love (Eph.2:4; 5:2).
Jesus came to reveal that God is a loving Father who loves and cares for His
creation.
b. God is compassionate.
He came to Reveal His Father (Matt.11:27).
God who is basically a spiritual being is invisible and therefore humans cannot grasp
him with their senses (1Tim.1:17). The statement in the gospel of John “that no one has
ever seen God” (Jn.1:8; cf 1Jn. 4:12; Jn.5:37)
is absolutely true. Yet it is true that the patriarchs of Israel, Moses and several prophets of Israel had some sort of theophanic
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The Psalmist depicted God as merciful, gracious and showing pity on his
children as a “father pitieth his children” (Ps.103:8-17). The literal meaning
of compassion is “suffering together”. It
means that God’s heart melts and he is
moved to action when his people suffer. He is
not a mere spectator when tragedy strikes,
but his heart is stirred and he reaches out
to help those who are struck down. Prophet
Jeremiah confessed that God’s compassion
never fails (Lam.3:22). Jesus the son of God
displayed the same frame of mind toward
the needy and afflicted. The springboard of
Jesus’ mission was compassion. When Jesus