God is a conquering God. Last month I explored God’s conquest in the OT by looking at Joshua’s leadership among the people of Israel and their campaign to take the land of promise. We see glimpses of God’s conquest strategy in the OT. Ultimately, God will use His people to conquer lives, not lands. He will conquer these lives not by force, but by transformation. As the prophet Ezekiel foretold, there is a day when God will conquer by removing hearts of stone and replacing them with hearts of flesh. In that day, God will put His Spirit within His people to transform their lives (Ezekiel 36:26-27).
Amazingly, God uses people whose hearts have been changed to bring about change in others. Like those trumpeters in Joshua’s day, we need trumpeters today. Now these trumpeters are not blasting their horns, but proclaiming the Word of the Lord. The apostle Paul makes it clear, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher” (Rom 10:14)?
Paul continues saying, “How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things” (Rom 10:15)! God’s strategy for global conquest is through foot soldiers—boots on the ground. The logic is simple. In order for lives to be changed by the good news of Jesus, people must believe on the Lord. But one cannot call on the One in whom they have not believed. Still yet, how could one possibly believe in One whom they have never heard? Further, how could one feasibly hear unless someone preaches/proclaims the news of Jesus? So, trumpeters are needed. In fact, they are vital.
In order to trumpet, trumpeters must be sent (Rom 10:15). They must be sent to march around/in their city, their schools, places of work, neighborhoods, and ends of the earth. Global conquest happens through incarnation, through personal presence. God conquers by sending. Ultimately, He sent His Son (John 3:16). In Joshua He sent an army of foot soldiers to march around Jericho (Joshua 6). Today, He sends an army of foot soldiers to march around the world. God’s conquest is not of a particular land today, but of people. In fact, God’s conquest is global because people are global. In the end, God conquers people from every tribe, tongue, and nation through the blood of the Lamb (Rev 5:9). Yet, in order for these people to believe on this slain and resurrected Lamb, trumpeters are needed to trumpet.
So grab your horn and let’s go conquer for the glory of God and the spread of His fame!
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