| Summary, etc. |
Through a hermeneutical relation between the speeches and the events in Acts 1-15, Luke sums up God’s mission according to the fulfilment of the Holy Scriptures as seen in Jesus the Christ. The Holy Spirit, through the first Judeo-Christian communities, transforms this mission from a particularistic perspective to a universalist focus and commitment to testify to Jesus Christ as the Saviour and Lord of and in all nations. The thesis demonstrates that according to the universal perspective of God’s mission, through the Gospel, the promises for and demands placed on Israel are also for all nations through the agency of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. This investigation is a hermeneutical proposal based on the speeches and narratives in Acts 1-15 which then constructs a theology of God’s mission that can orient the testimonial practice of the Christian church. It is in the home, the pathways and in the community that an itinerant, integral and contextual evangelization is proposed that will foment and defend life in all its human and ecological dimensions. God’s mission has to do with all those marvels which he carries out through people whom he sends to proclaim the message of the Gospel to the nations. It is precisely about the conversion and faith of people whom the Holy Spirit calls, that the church needs to witness to and tell about the church in all times and places. It is through hearing the good news about Jesus Christ that believers, upon rejoicing in and glorifying God, are inspired to renew their evangelistic task in the world. It is through the strength and guidance of the Holy Spirit that believers can comply with missionary obedience among the nations. It is in the programmatic texts of Lk 24:47-49 and Acts 1:8 that the resurrected Christ announces his plan/task to carry out his redemptive and life-giving project on earth. It is from Jerusalem and to other cities of the world, that through the force of the Holy Spirit, the universalist horizon is thrust upon God’s mission. Viii Universalism is grounded, defended and shared in several instances in the narratives and discourses that Luke develops in Acts 1-15. The redemptive mission of God in history and in creation is carried out through different agents, forms and means. It is mainly through the resurrected Christ that God is revealed and acts, fulfilling through him each of his promises. His aim is that people of all nations and all living beings on earth know and experience his purpose for life through the force of the Holy Spirit. After having carried out a thematic systematizing, which will construe a theology of mission based on biblical hermeneutics, several conclusions and implications are presented which might be useful to motivate and lead God’s people in their evangelistic task in the midst of the cultural and social diversity in which they live and act. This way the community which follows and serves Jesus is challenged through the power of the Holy Spirit, to take on the universalization of God’s missionary vision in the world. According to the study of Acts 1-15, to participate in God’s mission, means to live as a committed disciple, to share one’s witness to life, ministry and resurrection, and to speak about God’s wondrous acts fulfilled thanks to the power of the Holy Spirit working in every person and everywhere. It also means assuming a willingness to receive and give blessing; being merciful and just; being a disciple and discipling; going forth and testifying about the good news of the kingdom. Far from being ethnocentric and exclusive, the attitude of God’s people must be inclusive and in solidarity with others. As a result, it is through the impulse of the Holy Spirit, through actions and words, that they can witness to the resurrected Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God. As the one who impels and promotes God’s mission, it is the Holy Spirit who empowers the Church to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. The universality of God’s salvation, the lordship of Jesus Christ and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit are the trinitarian basis to be able to talk about a process of change in missiological perspectives, and in that way, transfer from a perspective of God’s evangelistic mission that is particularistic to one that is universalistic through his people present in all nations of the earth. It is in the framework of God’s kingdom and creation’s setting that the power of the Gospel generates transformative experiences in all dimensions of human life, in any context and in all peoples and cities of all nations. According to Scripture, the Gospel’s promises and demands of God’s kingdom and Jesus Christ are for Israel and all nations. Its benefits and requirements are for Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles: men and women of all continents, races, ethnic groups and cultures. It is through the Holy Spirit, that upon changing from a particularistic perspective to the universalism of God’s mission, one can develop a missiological theology of the Christian Church in and from the American Continent to the ends of the earth. |
