Our Savior's Great Commission
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).
Our commission as followers of Jesus is to take this message—his message—to others. In order to fulfill this command, we must call people to respond to Christ. But we’ve misunderstood the Great Commission if we only think about it as something we’re commanded to do. The truth is that God’s mission didn’t begin in Matthew 28. God himself was on mission long before it was an activity for Christians or a line item in the church budget.
As theologian R. Paul Stevens says, “Mission is God’s own going forth…. He is Sender, Sent, and Sending.” The Father sent the Son (John 3:16–17; 5:36); the Father and Son send the Holy Spirit (John 14:26; 15:26); and now we are sent into the world (John 20:21; Acts 1:8). God’s mission is from the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit.
Three passages—Daniel 7:13–14, 2 Corinthians 5:1–21, and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16–20)—make this clear.
In Daniel 7, the Son of Man received the mission from the Father. Daniel sees the Savior ride on the clouds of heaven before his Father, the Ancient of Days. Then the Son of Man is given dominion, glory, and a kingdom so that every people, nation, and language should serve him (v.14).
In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes to tell us that our message and ministry of reconciliation is rooted in what God has already accomplished through Christ. “In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting [the world’s] trespasses against them” (5:19). As we experience his work of redemption, we’re changed and transformed into Christ’s ambassadors.
Finally, in the Great Commission, Jesus reminds us that the mission is empowered by the Holy Spirit. We’re commanded to go and make disciples by teaching and baptizing. But as we go, he goes too. He is “with [us] always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
Will you join God on His mission today? Consider these questions based on the missionary activity of the Trinity:
Father, what are you planning for me in your world? Am I eager to join you?
Jesus, what have you accomplished in me? Am I experiencing your reconciliation and renewal?
Spirit, where are you calling me to go? Am I willing to step out in faith?
I have the privilege of contributing to He Reads Truth, a website of whose purpose is “see men in the Word of God every day” They do this by providing scripture reading plans accompanied by reflections that can be accessed for free online or purchased as print books. For those of you looking to engage scripture in a fresh way, these studies/plans will refresh your soul and engage your mind. This devotional is one of the pieces I wrote for the Because He Lives (Easter 2019) reading plan. You can find the full plan HERE.