JULY 2023

THE GREAT COMMISSION

Father God led me to look again at the Great Commission. How well are we following it? We can find it in Mathew 28 v 18-20: Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

The Great Commission can be described as the marching orders Jesus gave as He was leaving the earth. A modern way to describe “a commission”…. is a task or a mission, or an authoritative order or charge or directive given. This Great Commission was originally given to Jesus’s apostles by the resurrected Jesus Christ.

It wasn’t a suggestion, but was Jesus’s charge to His disciples, and this has come down the ages to those who are believers, like you and I.

This Great Commission was given on a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus called His 11 disciples to bid goodbye to them.

Is it not wonderful that Jesus didn’t just leave us like orphans, maybe roaming around, with nothing to do, but gave us specific instructions as to what we were to be busy doing as He was going to be with the Father. 

In other words, because we (humans) were made in God's image, we were to continue in what had been assigned for us to do which was to “Be fruitful, and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over every living thing” (Genesis 1 v 28). In other words, we who were made in God's image, should fill the earth with those who would have His identity, this means think His thoughts, do His works and reflect who He has made them to be. 

Firstly, I need to say that the Great Commandment is the key to the Great Commission.

The Great Commandment was one of the “everything”, that we were commissioned to teach. It reads "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul with all your mind and with all your strength". This is the first commandment. And the second like it is this, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these" (Mark 12 v 30 to 31).

You see, we can only serve well if we love well. Remember that we were made in God's image and have to receive His love that He pours into our hearts, and then respond to it in order for love to flow to our neighbours and the world.

The Great Commission can be carried out, by those whose hearts are open to His love which enables them do His bidding or this commission can be ignored.

Before I go on, this is a good place to add another scripture in Mark 16 v 15 to 18: "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover".

So, generally, what does this Great Commission entail? To put it briefly, we are to preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations.

To explain this a bit more, Jesus commands us to;

1) Preach the gospel (good news) to all nations and people…. I always say, if you can’t go, there are many ministries and missionaries going, so you can support any of them generously. We all need to be doing this. 

2) Work miracles in Jesus’s Name to testify to the gospel. We can’t give a powerless gospel to the world. We will not be representing our Lord well. It is not good news, if it does not testify of the power in the Name of Jesus. Jesus told His disciples about the power that would be poured out on them by the Holy Spirit if they waited. This power has been made available to us. We need the power of the Spirit to work the miracles and healings in the mighty Name of Jesus. There are too many diseases to contend with and Jesus suffered and died, so our bodies would be healed. In obedience to the Great Commission we have to walk in healing. 

3) Baptise new believers. Making disciples involves teaching them all you learnt from Jesus about Himself. We can’t give what we haven’t received so there is something about obedience in this. We are to teach others to obey, and if our lives don’t show that, it’s difficult to expect us to be very effective at this. We then baptise them. 

4) Disciple those who receive Christ which means, train them to make others in nations also look like Jesus. So you and I are to look like Jesus, and go onto transform others to train them to look like Jesus too. In this way, we get nations filled with those who look like Jesus. 

So, how well are we carrying all this out? How would you assess how you are doing?

In addition to all this, The Great Commission has the authority of Jesus behind it. It was important for man to understand that due to the fall, where man lost authority to satan when we aligned with his purposes and obeyed him, Jesus came and redeemed us with His blood and so recovered the authority that we lost. The Great Commission therefore begins by providing the assurance that the authority that we had lost to the enemy, had been recovered by Jesus, so we could get back to the original assignment that we had gotten from the beginning.

As Christians we need to realise that there is someone running around called satan with no authority, unless we give him authority and allow him in. The way we give him authority is when we believe the lies He tells us, and ignore the truth Jesus wants us to know. When we believe the lies, we empower satan, and thus act on lies. In this way we succumb to satan's wishes, ignoring God’s authority to carry out the Great Commission.

Finally, The great Commission involves the important word “Go“ to make disciples by Proclaiming the gospel (in power), calling the lost to trust the crucified and risen Saviour for salvation. Then baptise them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

“Go”, seems to be a rather challenging word for a lot of people. We seem to struggle a lot when it comes to leaving our comfort zone. We seem to be so busy with so much we desire to do, that we have no space for God's priorities. It usually may not be a change in geographical location that is being asked of us, but it involves, a letting go, a rising up, a new set of priorities and mindset and courage. It sometimes involves a determination and intentionality to be aligned with Jesus’s heart, whatever the cost maybe. It requires a love of God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, that will cause us to “GO“ to do The Great Commission.

As I close, let us remember that Jesus has given us the assurance in the Great Commission, of being with us always. If nothing else will move us, we ought to have this desire to forever be in His Presence. 

My beloved Brothers and Sisters, l pray that the Lord will fill us with a real desire to love Him well and help us all become obedient to The Great Commission.

God bless you. 

Mina