God’s Plan of Evangelism

One of the most powerful revelations concerning God’s plan for evangelism is not even found in the New Testament, but rather in the following statement taken from Psalm 67:1-2:

“God be merciful to us and bless us, cause Your face to shine on us, that Your ways may be known upon the earth, Your saving health among the nations.”

In these verses is a picture of the chief method God has chosen for manifesting/witnessing Himself to those who do not yet know Him. While we often tend to think of witnessing as standing on a street corner passing out tracts, God's idea of witnessing is actually much more. Notice that the 2nd verse above starts with the word “That…” In other words, when God's people are experiencing His blessing and favour in their lives, then His “way” and His “salvation” will be made known in the earth.

God expresses this same concept in Jeremiah 33:9, declaring that as a result of His blessing being poured out in their lives, His people would be,

“To Me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all peoples, who shall hear all the good that I do for them and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and prosperity that I provide for them.”

Though God expressed in many different places His desire to bless His people with His goodness, here He makes it clear what His motive for doing so is. It is not only His love for His people that motivates Him to bless them, but also His love for the rest of the world around them. This connection can be seen in the fact that God said His blessing upon his people would result in those around them “fearing and trembling” on account of them.

But why would God desire His people to be blessed to such an extent that those around them fear them? To answer the question, we need only read Esther 8:17:

“In each and every province and in each and every city, wherever the king's commandment and his decree arrived, there was gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many among the peoples of the land became Jews, for the dread of the Jews had fallen on them.”

Now that is evangelism! And this has always been God's plan for bringing the whole world to know Him. When God’s people possess, by faith and patience, (Hebrews 6:12) all the wonderful things He has promised them, the world around them will see them enjoying His wonderful promises in their lives. And once the world sees this, God knows that they will then come God’s people and ask them what they must do to enjoy those same things themselves! (For a few examples of this principle at work, see Genesis 21:22-23. 26:28, Zechariah 8:23 and Acts 16:25-30)