The Commission

Kingdom Living #1

For about three and a half years Jesus trained a group of 12 men to be His disciples. He taught them about kingdom principles. He taught about leadership. He taught them about servant hood. He taught them what it means to be God’s people living by faith.

After His death and before His ascension to the right hand of His Father, Jesus commissioned 11 of these 12 men to duplicate what they had been trained to do. Jesus commissioned these apostles to a global task of making disciples. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19a). The apostles were to engage people of all nations in becoming, not students of themselves, but students of Jesus Christ. And not only students but a much deeper reality of relationship; they were invited into a Master/Servant relationship. The response to the invitation to become a disciple indicates this deep relationship.

Jesus indicated the response by saying, “Baptizing them into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19b). The phrase “into the name of” may be an idiom meaning “into the possession of.” In other words Jesus told His disciples that the response to the invitation of becoming His disciple was to be baptized into the possession of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This reality is confirmed by what Paul reminded the Corinthians: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

This deep and loving relationship is further confirmed by the function of these eleven apostles in training their brethren in discipleship. Jesus further commissioned them: “Teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matthew 28:20a). Jesus is the Lord His disciples obey.

Another qualified disciple was counted in their number in Acts 1 and later the Apostle Paul was called by Jesus Christ to be His apostle. The Apostles of Jesus Christ were commissioned to make, train and mature the disciples into faithful servants of Christ.

The process of inviting and being invited, of teaching and being taught, of training and being trained, etc. is the process of living under the reign of God and His Son. It is kingdom living. Join with me in a journey of discovery. Let’s discover together how the Apostles of Jesus fulfilled their mission; what they taught about living in God’s kingdom. But more importantly, how are we to live and conduct our lives in the kingdom of God today.