Today we’re going to dive into the Great Commission. But before we look at the actual text, let’s
look at history again. Remember, the
Bible is not just a historical account; it is a heart account of what God is
doing to overcome evil, redeem people, and receive glory.
Many accounts describe this.
Abraham’s blessing in Genesis 12:1-3, which we looked at the first
week. God told Abraham, “I’m blessing
you so you can bless others.” God raised
up Joseph to be a witness to the Egyptians In Genesis 41:37-41, 56). He recruited Moses to convince the
Midianites, starting with his father-in-law, of God’s authority (Exodus
18:9-12). He appointed Daniel to
influence the Babylonian empire (Daniel 6:26-28). He drafted the psalmists to describe how the
Great Shepherd pursues us (Psalm 23:6) and to sing of His global mission (Psalm
67). And He sent His Servant to achieve
the world’s salvation (Isaiah 49:6).
God has mandated us to carry out His purpose. To live under a mandate is to be entrusted
with a task of lasting significance. In
Matthew 28:18-20, we are commissioned to join God:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you
always, to the end of the age.”
There are several
pieces to this. First, we have a Savior
who has all authority to give us this mandate.
He expects obedience. If want to
see some examples of this authority, study Revelation 5:1-14, Daniel 7:9-14,
and Psalm 110.
Second, is the
statement of making disciples of all people groups. We know that the original word did not mean
nations in the sense of geo-political borders, but rather this sense of
ethnicity. We define an “unreached
people group” as a people group where there is no indigenous community of
believing Christians with adequate numbers and resources to evangelize their
own people.
Third, we are to
baptize and teach them all that He has commanded. This has to do with proclaiming allegiance
and growing obedience to Christ. The
idea is to bring up a new believer in the ideas of prayer, reading the Bible,
and following other key spiritual disciplines.
Then by their growth, they can in turn being making disciples of their
own. In other words, it’s not to prepare
fully trained and taught followers, but rather to plant a church that can begin
to reproduce churches themselves.
Ordinary people, empowered by the Holy Spirit, must lead them.
And lastly is
referenced to carry this task out until it is finished. Jesus said He’d be with us always. And that an end is referenced signifies that
idea that the task will, in fact, be completed.
Each of the
gospels underline this mandate.
Mark 16:15-16 - And he said to them, “Go into all the world and
proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized
will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Luke 24:46-49 - “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and
on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness
of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my
Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on
high.”
John 20:21-23 - Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the
Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he
breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the
sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it
is withheld.”
Acts 1:8 - But you will receive power when the Holy
Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all
Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Israel did not
understand the original commissioning as given to Abraham. Christ illustrated their failure with a
parable. He described a man who planted
a vineyard and left some people to work the land. When the time came for the harvest, he sent a
servant to the workers, but they beat the servant. So he sent another and they killed him. Finally, he sent his son, thinking surely
they would respect his own flesh and blood.
But they killed him and threw his body out.
Will we, the
church, fall into the same trap? Our
mandate is clear from our Savior who has all authority to give it. The job is not done because Christ has not
yet returned. How will each of our lives
count for eternity? What is it going to
take in each of our lives to understand this not as an obligation, but as a
privilege? God is more sovereign than we
think He is. We are more responsible
that we think we are.
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