The fuel to the fire of the Great Commission

Matthew 28:18-20
All authority in heaven and 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.


So the Great Commission, the sending of the apostles is sandwiched between the phrases "All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me..." and "-Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age", how do these two affect how the command is to be taken by the disciples and all who are sent through them?


It is important to realise first, that although the Great Commission was originally directed at the Apostles (Jesus was speaking to the 11 apostles here (v16) ) the fact that his sending them out to make disciples of all nations was a command in itself makes it applicable to all the converts who come after them. This is because of the statement that they should "teach them to obey all that I have commanded you (including this command I give you to disciple all nations). So the Great Commission applies to all believers as directly as it applied to the disciples. So, the fuel to do this work is of vital importance in our walk of obedience to the commands of our Lord.


The Great Commission is preceded by the truth that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Christ. So central is this truth for the fulfillment of the Commission that the Commission begins with "Therefore...". The necessary inference being that Christ intended the obedience of the Commission to be dependent on the authority he has over all things. Since Christ, has all authority, then you are to go out and make disciples of all nations. The authority of Christ is the very reason that they are to go out and make disciples of all nations. How does this serve as a reason for discipling all nations? Jesus' prayer to his Father in John 17:1-2 goes as follows:


"Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him."


Jesus has the authority over all flesh, over all peoples. In the Great Commission, he is not delegating the authority, he remains the only one who has this authority to give eternal life to anyone he pleases. This gives us an indication as to why the discipleship is to all nations, his authority spans the globe, he gives eternal life to all that the Father has given him in all the nations (all flesh).


John 14:15-18 sheds some light on how the authority of Christ serves as reason to spread the Gospel and make disciples.


"If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you, and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."


This fascinating passage tells us that the Helper, the Spirit of truth, is the Spirit of Jesus himself (also called the same in Phi 1:19, Acts 16:7, Rom 8:9-10,Gal 4:6). He tells the disciples that they know the Helper because at that very moment, he was dwelling WITH them, and would later dwell IN them. He also assures them that though he will leave them, he would not leave them as orphans, but that he himself would come to them even as he speaks of the Spirit is another Helper (v16), herein is the unfathomable mystery of the trinity.


This assurance of Christ is that he shall go, and ask the Father to send another Helper who will not just dwell with us (as he dwelt with the disciples when he was in the flesh) but would dwell in us, his Spirit. This indwelling, he tells his disciples, is to their advantage and as such he has to go away (in the flesh) that it may come to pass.


"But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you." John 16:7



For the disciples at the time (and for the believer today), having the indwelling Spirit of Christ is of greater advantage than having the human person of Christ himself dwell among us physically, breathtaking...

The one who has authority to give eternal life to all flesh, dwells in us, brothers and sisters. This is our motivation to fulfill the Great Commission, when we spread the Gospel, the Spirit of Christ, living inside of us, who has the authority to give eternal life to all the Father has given him, does the work of conversion. Our faithfulness in presenting the full Gospel to the world is the means by which he will open eyes and grant eternal life to the unbeliever.

"So faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17)


"In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." (Eph 1:13-14)


His final assurance is testament to the truth that the Commission indeed applies to every single believer, "Behold, I am with you to the end of the age". He dwells in the heart of every believer who will ever live till his return. In view of his authority to give eternal life to all people, and his dwelling in us enabling us to be his messengers,let us be faithful in our calling that he may do his work of glorifying the Father, bearing in mind the final words of Christ's prayer to his Father in John 17


v25-26 "O righteous Father, even though the world does now know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I have made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them."


To him be honour and eternal dominion. Amen.