God is a Missionary!
And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” - Genesis 3:8-9
Genesis 3 is fundamental in disclosing aspects of God’s character, for who we truly are is often most explicitly revealed in our response to being abused, mistreated and maligned. God, in this text is being severely mistreated and maligned. His character is being impugned. His gracious intent is being misrepresented as a selfish and sinister deprival of a good thing. He is being portrayed as a liar and is being taken for one who is untrustworthy. Yet, in the midst of this vile mistreatment, that warrants the ultimate penalty, God called out to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" (Gen 3:9). Adam and Eve, as sinners, respond naturally to the presence of the Lord God and hide from him in fear, but instead of giving them what they deserve, the holy God, graciously, seeks out the lost and proves himself the first and archetypal missionary.
Note the directionality of this gracious reconciliatory gesture. The innocent pursues the insolent. The one who incurs the wrong absorbs the injury and seeks out the infidel. The victim of such outrageous abuse wants to be reconciled to the villain. In our rebellion, we run and hide from him preferring to go our own way (Is 53:6). We do not naturally seek him; instead, he comes after us.
Scripture is littered with this attribute of God (The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, The Prodigal Son - Lk 15:1-32) and as the Church approaches the commemoration of the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ, we see the ultimate expression of God's redemptive and reconciliatory activity with mankind through the incarnation. Christ is the Word of God calling out to mankind, "Where are you?" and has come to reconcile to God, even the vilest offender who truly believes, through his blood (1Tim 1:15). Christmas, the celebration of the incarnation of the Son of God, commemorates the missionary activity of God, reaching down to a world in the darkness of rebellion against him in order that whosoever believes on Christ should not suffer the just consequences of their sin, but inherit everlasting life. Jesus is the fulfilment of God's gracious pursuit of mankind in the garden of Eden. Only in Christ are we comforted with the words, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord." (Lk 2:10-11). Christ is the end of a sinner's legitimate fear before a holy God. He brings an end to the enmity between God and man. Therefore, let us join with the heavenly host praising God, saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Lk 2:14).
Moreover, if God is a Missionary and if we are being conformed into the image of his Son (Rom 8:29), who does nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing (Jn 5:19), then we would be missional too. We too, would be invested in seeking the lost (Lk 15:1-7) and seeing his resources, including ourselves (Rom12:1), directed to liberating the captive so we can rejoice with our Father in heaven that what once was lost, now is found. The work God calls us to participate in (Matt 28:18-20), is the work God has been doing since the beginning.