Some of the signs that precede the second coming of Christ will appear not because of Christian effort, but in spite of it. One could mention the great apostasy, the great tribulation, and the unveiling of the Antichrist.

But there are other events which, according to Scripture, must take place before Christ returns, and these events imply at least some Christian activity. One is the conversion of “all Israel” (Romans 11:26). Another event that will precede the second coming is the presentation of the gospel to all nations. In Matthew 24:14 we read: “And this Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.” The Greek word for “nations” used here is the same word from which we get our word “ethnic.”

It appears that the nations Jesus had in mind were not political entities but ethnic groupings, such as the people we have in mind when we speak of the Navajo nation or the Zulu nation. Many years before God had said to Abraham, “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” The Hebrew word for family used here can also be translated “tribe,” but not “nation” as a political entity.

The thought that “nation” as used by Christ refers to ethnic groupings is confirmed when we read in Rev. 7:9: “After this I looked, and behold a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes.” If the terms “nation” and “tribe” refer to ethnic identity or a common.

It is God’s plan that at least some individuals from every group of people upon the earth will respond favorably to the Gospel before Christ returns.

This thought determines both the extent and the limits of the work to be accomplished by the Church before our Lord returns. One does not find in the Bible predictions of a general turning to the Lord by the entire human population before the Return. But the Scriptures suggest that the Gospel of the Kingdom will have reached every segment of human society, carried by missionaries and evangelists.

How Have We Fared?

It will soon be 2000 years since our Lord ascended into heaven. How have we fared in bringing the gospel to all nations? Geographically and numerically, there has been significant Christian growth. It is true that during the Middle Ages there was stagnation and even decline in the lands conquered by Muslim armies. But the dawn of the Modern period with the exploration that accompanied it, brought new impetus to the spread of the Gospel. This spread has accelerated during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. There are now churches in virtually every country of the world, and Christians from non-western nations have begun to outnumber Western Christians. Many “tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations” have been touched by the Gospel.

Yet it is estimated that about 17,000 groups have not yet responded to the Gospel, and they account for half the population of the world. Mission organizations are cooperating with one another in identifying these groups so that missionaries can be sent to them. The Missions Advanced Research Center (MARC) of World Vision has published several volumes describing such groups.

Although 17,000 seems like a large number, it is not large when one considers that over 100,000 missionaries are active in the world today. It has also been suggested that if every 150 churches (congregations) in the world sends a team of missionaries to each of these 17,000 groups, they will all have a missionary team among them. The United States Center for World Mission, based in Pasadena, California has set the year 2000 as a target for Christians to aim at. The U.S. Center hopes that by then there will be missionaries working among all these remaining groups.

A New Wrinkle

There is, however, a new wrinkle. The “unreached” groups are not stationary. Portions of these groups are breaking off and moving to cities, sometimes even crossing international borders to do it. For example, when people from Ghana (in West Africa) move to Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast, they become a new group, for they are now an English-speaking minority in a largely French-speaking city. They will need to hear the Gospel not in French, but either in English or in one or more of the ethnic languages of Ghana.

Never before has the world seen the universal growth of cities that we are witnessing today. We are told that by 2000 A.D. 50% of the population of developing countries will be living in cities. The National Geographic has said: “Third World cities, now home to more than one billion people, will hold nearly four billion residents by 2025” (Aug., 1984, p. 174).

God foresaw the growth of cities worldwide when He inspired the Scripture writers 2000 years ago. Not only do we find in Scripture a contrast between Babylon and Jerusalem; we find New Testament believers described as “the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem” (Heb. 12:22). John encourages them with a vision of “the holy city, even Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2).

In a day when the cities of the Roman Empire were crumbling before the barbarian onslaught, Saint Augustine caught the Bible’s message regarding urban life, when he entitled his best known work The City of God. This city, he contended is built in the hearts and lives of mankind by God Himself, and will stand, regardless of what happens to cities of stone and mortar.

Problems of unemployment, crime, pollution, and lack of essential services may plague third world cities today that grow faster than the infrastructure can cope. But God is still building His city in the midst of the cities of man. This provides hope for the future.

Institute of Global Urban Studies

The Institute of Global Urban Studies was founded in Pasadena last October inorder to assist in bringing the Gospel to the cities of the world. For the present the Institute is focusing on cities of the developmg world of Asia, Africa and Latin America. These cities are studied in order to identify people groups within them that have no viable church and therefore need a missionary witness. The information regarding these groups will be made available to all Christian Missions that seriously want to make use of it.

Other supplementary services of the Institute of Global Urban Studies include gathering a list of books and articles written about cities both from the social science and the missionary perspective, forming a library of such materials, conducting seminars as requested in schools, churches, and mission retreats; publishing a quarterly research bulletin called City Watch, and serving as a resource agency and consultant for urban missions.

The Institute of Global Urban Studies is governed by a Board of Directors who are committed to the Reformed faith. At the same time it is located on the campus of the United States Center for World mission and is part of its strategy department. It benefits from interchange with other mission agencies. The work is supported by voluntary contributions and by the offerings of local churches. Please pray with us that the Gospel will penetrate every part of every city and that many will be brought to a saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ before He returns.

Timothy Monsma is a veteran missionary to Nigeria and professor and is now Executive Director of the Institute of Global Urban Studies at Pasadena, California.