The Great Commission

Roughly 8 days after Jesus’s resurrection He met with the disciples and gave them the floor plan for Christianity. It goes like this Matthew 28:18-20 “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.”

Lets break this down real quick.

Jesus has the authority to send us. Where He tells us to go, who He tells us to talk to, it is not up to us. It is He who has the authority.

GO. You are going to have to take the initiative to get out of your comfort zone sometimes. When God asks you to share His word with someone, you must respond positively by committing yourself to go wherever He would lead, and help in any way possible. Whether He lead you across the classroom, across the gym, across the road, across state lines, or even across the ocean. You must GO.

Make disciples. Now this is taking in an account that people are saved. That is part of the going. God’s word promises that it will not return void. Which means in your going and your sharing you will run into people who reject the gospel right out, people who hear it but are slow bloomers, and then you will have people who give their lives to Christ. Living for the Lord is like a human learning to walk. It is a slow process of learning, but every day we become stronger to the point that we crawl, stand, walk, then eventually begin to run in a metaphorical sense. When you go to the hospital and have a baby, you do not walk outside and lay them on the street at 1 day old and say “good luck. I hope you make it. Figure out this life on your own.” No, you nurture the child. You give them what they need, and teach them to fend for themselves throughout life. That is what you must do in the Christian walk. You yourself must learn the ropes of the Christian life, and you must help others to walk in their walk as well. Its a system. A cycle that never ends.

Baptism: Let me explain what baptism is. It is an outward expression of an inward change. The process and symbolism is this. The process, you are dipped in water. The symbolism is that you standing there in your sin. As you are dunked in the water, that symbolizes the grave, as you are brought out of the water (the grave) that is your eternal life. If you were left in the grave (the water) you would die, but because of your salvation you are able to rise from the grave and into eternal life. The inward change is salvation, the outward expression is baptism. Do you still go to heaven even if you do not get baptized? Yes, you do. But let me challenge you with this. Jesus left it as a command for those who believe, so when we refrain from baptism, we refrain from following Christ. Even He, as perfect and holy as He is, was baptized.

Also, baptism tells the world that you are a Christ follower, which around here is fairly normal. But think of Jesus’s time. If you were baptized as a Christ follower, you could stand to lose everything. Family, you friends, your job and livelihood. Nowadays in other countries it is the same situation. When you convert to Christianity you could lose all that you have, and even your life, but people are still doing it because they value their relationship with God above all things. So if you are sitting here and you are saved, but you have not been baptized, I would encourage you to think about the symbolism of the action, and consider being baptized yourself.

5. Finally He said this, “I will be with you always, unto the end of the age.”

Now why do you think Jesus would tell them that He would always be there for them? Life was about to become difficult. Following Jesus is not easy. People can make fun of you, people can be mean and rude, some people are hurt by others because of their stance toward Christianity. As a matter of fact, most of the apostles lost their lives for the gospel. Then thousands of Christians throughout history, up to this day even, have been killed because of their beliefs. Living a life for Christ is not always easy. Sometimes it is, but other times it can be difficult. This is why Jesus said that He would be with us every step of the way until we meet Him face to face in eternity.

If you are saved, and you have every wondered “I wonder what God wants me to do”, this is a good place to start. Altering your life to be more Christ-like, and pouring over onto others so that they may do the same.

If you are not saved I want you to know that Jesus loves you, and that He wants to have a relationship with you, and there are many people around you that are willing to share this love of Christ with you at any moments notice. You simply have to reach out and let them know you want to make a change, and they will lead you the rest of the way.

Keep pushing each other forward, and we’ll see you next time.