Following the Flood, Noah and his family heard this echo of Eden. For God said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen 9:1). Again, those representing imago Dei, who would comprise the nations to come, were to saturate the planet honoring the Creator. In a distant future, the prophet would note God created the earth and “formed it to be inhabited” (Isa 45:18). After the Apostle arrived at Mars Hill, the Athenians would soon hear God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth. . . that they should seek God” (Acts 17:26-27).
A discussion of the Great Commission work of the Church is intimately connected to the migration of the nations. We go into all the world because all the nations have migrated throughout the world. And with the sociological push-pull factors influencing contemporary migration patterns, the Divine Maestro continues to orchestrate the movement of the nations–that the earth may be filled with the knowledge and glory of God as His image-bearers live out the Kingdom ethic until the Day arrives.
This article on migration in mission originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
