Missions: God's Plan From the BeginningSample

God Deserves the Worship of the Nations

Starting from Abraham, we have seen that God has always been set on the nations. He promised it to Abraham, commanded it to the Jews, and continued to promise it throughout the Old Testament. But this begs the question, why does God care about the nations so much? Well, he spells that out for us in Isaiah 49:6…

“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

God is not just the God of Israel. He is not a regional god. He is the one who made the heavens and the earth and everything in them. That means that God deserves to be worshipped by everyone, everywhere, and everything. The Bible tells us that he is “greater than all gods” (Ps 135). He is the “God of gods” (Dan 2:47), and “his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth” (Micah 5:4). The primary reason God will be worshipped among the nations is because he is too great to be worshipped by only one nation. It is too small a thing. And so, God chose to save people from all nations for his glory. Israel was never the end but the means to saving the whole earth.