What is our mission? What is the meaning of life? What are we here for?
The mission of the ancient Israelites was to bless others as they were blessed by God. Abraham was called by God to leave his country and go to new land that God would show him with a promise and a mission (Genesis 12:10 ). God would bless Abraham and make his descendants and great nation and he would in turn bless all the people of the earth.
The prophets of Isaiah expanded on that mission. Here is Isaiah 42:6-7 from the Bible translation The Voice
You are given as a covenant between Me and the people:
a light for the nations, a shining beacon to the world.
You will open blind eyes so they will see again.
You will lead prisoners, blinking, out from caverns of captivity,
from cells pitch black with despair.
In first sermon that Jesus preached (Luke 4:14-29) Jesus read from the prophets of Isaiah. As the messiah these scriptures were his mission statement. He would deliver the people of Israel from captivity to the law. He would release into the world healing that showed that God’s love for the world. He would bring the Gentile outsiders into God’s family through his life and teaching. His mission was to save the world was threatened by those that opposed him, the priests, the Roman authorities and the people of Jerusalem themselves, however, the worst that they could do, which was to humiliate, torture and kill him could not stop him from rising from the grave. Through Jesus’ resurrection, God’s plan for the salvation of all humanity was secured. We can have hope that death would not triumph over us.
Our mission is to tell others this good news (the gospel) and live our life like Jesus. We can live without fear and be free from captivity to patterns and systems of destruction (sin). Like the Abraham, the ancient nation of Israel and Jesus, we have a part to play in God’s plan for salvation of the world. We need to listen to God and learn together as a community how to make this world more like God intended it to be.