What's So Great About the Great Commission?
What’s So Great About the Great Commission?
The well-know comic actor WC Fields was once found by a friend reading the Bible. Asked what he was doing, Fields replied, “Looking for loopholes.”
As we look across the landscape of American Christendom today, we find that only a small number of Christians are engaged in personal evangelism. An even smaller number are engaged in making disciples. Why is this so? Have people found a loophole in Scripture? Have they discovered a legal way to free themselves from the obligation to make disciples found in the Word of God? Certainly this is not the case, for the Bible is inerrant and infallible. Therefore any failure to adhere to the commands of Scripture, including the imperative to make disciples, is sin.
As we look this morning at the Great Commission, and in light of the broad apathy towards personal evangelism, we must ask “What’s so great about the Great Commission?” Is it really a mandate from Christ, or simply a request that we may or may not perform, at our discretion? Does it command us to make disciples, or does it merely suggest that we do so if it pleases us? If the Great Commission doesn’t compel us, if it doesn’t obligate us to be engaged in disciple-making, then it may be a good suggestion, but certainly not a great commission.
So what’s so great about the Great Commission? We’ll look at three things that make the Great Commission truly great: Great authority, great purpose, and great promise.
Great Authority
The disciples understood authority. They had lived under the rule of the Roman government most of their lives. They understood what it meant to be subject to a higher power. The Roman government had the authority to rule the people because it had the power to enforce that authority. Authority without a backing power is no authority at all. But authority built on great power demands that those under it live in submission to it, or suffer the consequences. The disciples knew this well, for they had seen the Roman crucifixions, and they knew what it meant to go against Rome’s authority.
But they had seen another with great authority. They saw Him cast out demons, heal the blind, the lame, and the sick. They watched as He spoke to the wind and the waves, turning a raging storm into a sea of glass. They heard Him forgive sins, which only God could do, and saw Him feed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish. They watched Him submit Himself to a lesser authority, as He laid down His life for them, being nailed to a cross. And they saw this same Jesus now standing before them, once dead and now alive forevermore. As Jesus spoke to them, He told them that all authority, in heaven and earth, had been given to Him. And as He gave the imperative to make disciples, those words, carrying the substantive force of His authority, weighed heavily upon those heard them. As we hear these words 2000 years later, do we feel the weight of the authoritative word of Jesus Christ?
Source of Authority
We live in a society that disdains authority. We don’t believe that anyone has the right to tell us what we can or cannot do. Our society is becoming increasingly postmodern, rejecting any kind of absolute truth, insisting that everyone should do what’s right for themselves. Therefore, it is beneficial for us to examine the source of Christ’s authority, for if we catch a glimpse of the power behind it, we will feel the true weight of His commands.
Let’s start with a look at the Trinity. Our God is a triune God, meaning our God is three in persons, one in essence; a mystery, but not a contradiction. These three persons are co-equal, yet as they relate to one another, there is a submission of the Spirit to the Father and the Son, and a submission of the Son to the Father. We see this submission, for example, in passages where Jesus speaks of being sent by the Father. So while Jesus is God in essence, He submits to the will of the Father in His person.
In Daniel 7:13-14, Daniel sees a vision of the Son of Man, who is Jesus Christ.
Daniel says:
13 I saw in the night visions,
and behold, with the clouds of heaven
there came one like a son of man,
and he came to the Ancient of Days
and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion
and glory and a kingdom,
that all peoples, nations, and languages
should serve him;
his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away,
and his kingdom one
that shall not be destroyed.
Jesus, the Son of Man, was given an everlasting dominion over all peoples, nations, and languages. The kingdom that He received was an everlasting kingdom. His dominion was such that all peoples, nations, and languages were to serve Him, that is, be under His authority. All this authority, all this dominion was given the Son of Man upon being presented before the Ancient of Days. The Ancient of Days was the one who gave dominion over all things to the Son of Man. He had the power to give such dominion because He is God Almighty.
In the New Testament, Matthew 11:27 tells us that the Son is handed all things by the Father:
All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
And again in John 3:35:
The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.
And once more in 1 Corinthians 15:27-28:
For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.
So we see that the Father, who submits to no one, places all things in subjection under Jesus, who Himself will be in subjection under the Father in the end. So the power behind Jesus’ all-encompassing authority is God Almighty. No one resists Him; no one stays His hand. He is the source of all things, and there is no one above Him. And this authority, backed by this power, is given to Jesus Christ; he is ruler of heaven and earth, and all creation is subject to Him.
Scope of Authority
Now if the source of Jesus’ authority is the power of God, it is can be easily understood that the scope of His authority is all creation. This is exactly what Jesus says, and this is exactly what the following verses confirm:
Philippians 2:9-11
9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Colossians 1:16-19
16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
Every knee is to bow at His name; all things were created through him and for him; he is before all things; in all things he is preeminent. All of creation is subject to Him, that which is alive, and that which is dead:
Romans 14:9
9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
When we begin to grasp the source and the scope of Christ’s authority, we begin to feel the weight of His commands. And with His authority, He gives the imperative, ‘make disciples.’
The trend in our society is to defy authority. However, we as Christians are called to be transformed rather than to conform. While our society shudders at the thought of submission, we as Christians are to submit to those in authority over us, including Christ. And we would do well to obey the command of Christ to ‘make disciples,’ lest we be accused of raising a defiant fist to the authority of Christ, and bring upon ourselves the chastening rod of the all-powerful, Almighty God.
Great Purpose – “make disciples of all nations”
To make disciples of all nations is the stated purpose of the Great Commission. Jesus had worked with the eleven for roughly three years; now it was time for them to take what they had learned and go into all parts of the earth, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ, calling people to repentance, reconciling them to God, and teaching them to walk in the ways of the Lord. But the question I want us to ask is, What was the primary motivation for making disciples? Were these men to make disciples of all nations simply to save them from hell? Or was there a better purpose, a higher motivation which moved Christ to commission them as disciple-makers?
Source of Purpose
From the beginning, God has purposed to make a people for Himself, a people in perfect relationship to Him, to whom He would make His glories known. Adam and Eve were to have dominion over the earth, submitted to the will of God and obedient to Him. Man was to relate to God in this manner; he refused, and mankind fell.
Far from abandoning His creation, God has since been making a people for Himself from fallen mankind, who He is reconciling to Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. The result will be a people devoted to the glory of God, to whom God will make His glories known. While sinful man certainly benefits from God’s gracious actions, those actions are first and foremost designed to declare the glory of God. With this view, the primary motivation for disciple-making is God’s glory, not man’s happiness.
This way of thinking is vastly different from most modern-day evangelistic techniques, which are focused primarily on man’s happiness. They teach us that our primary concern in evangelism is to rescue our fellow man from an eternity in a hell prepared for the devil and his angels. It is all about man, and the glory of God is rarely mentioned. When our primary motivation in evangelism is the happiness of man, God ceases to be the end goal of our evangelism, and is viewed as a means to man’s happiness and well-being. This is dangerously close to humanism. On the effects of humanism in evangelism, Paris Reidhead said:
“…we find something like this;
"Accept Jesus so you can go to Heaven, you don't want to go to that old, filthy, nasty, burning hell when there's a beautiful Heaven up there. Now come to Jesus so that you can go to Heaven." And the appeal could be as much to selfishness as a couple of men sitting in a coffee shop deciding they are going to rob a bank to get something for nothing.
It becomes so subtle ... this philosophical postulate that the end of all being is the happiness of man has been sort of, covered over with evangelical terms and Biblical doctrine until God reigns in Heaven for the happiness of man, Jesus Christ was incarnate for the happiness of man... Everything is for the happiness of man!
And I submit to you that this is un-Christian!
Christianity says... "The end of all being is the glory of God."
Humanism says, "The end of all being is the happiness of man."”
We must be careful to remember that we are to make disciples because we are ambassadors of Christ, who is working in and through us to accomplish the will of the Father; that is, to bring sinners to repentance for the glory of God. This does not rule out compassion for our fellow man, for Jesus was merciful and compassionate; He loved His sheep, and gave His life for them. And if we are to have the mind of Christ, if we are to be conformed into His likeness, then we will most certainly have compassion for the lost. But if we truly possess the mind of Christ, that which will drive us to make disciples more than anything else, is the hope of seeing God glorified in His salvation of lost sinners. Evangelism and disciple-making must always be centered on God and His glory. God is not a means to man’s happiness; man’s salvation is a means to God’s glory.
The source of this purpose, then, is God’s intent to make for Himself a people in perfect relationship to Him. We are invited – we are charged– to join Him in this most glorious work of making disciples.
Scope of Purpose
As we move to look at the scope of this great purpose, it is important that we understand that we are to be about the work of making disciples, not merely converts. So we must ask, What is a disciple?
The Greek word used for disciple means learner or pupil. A disciple of any given rabbi would follow the rabbi, learning his teachings, so that one day he might become a rabbi and have disciples of his own. But being a disciple of Christ requires more than simply following His teachings; in fact many who reject Jesus as Savior hold His teachings in high regard and find great value in living according to them.
When we talk of a disciple of Jesus, we speak of one who has heard the Gospel and trusted Jesus for his forgiveness and righteousness; he is saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, this is where we usually stop. We ‘get people saved’ and then relegate them to the role of spectator, never tending to their spiritual growth, never teaching them or expecting them to make disciples, never expecting them to become a disciple themselves. A disciple is much more than a saved spectator. A disciple is one who has trusted in Jesus, and has devoted his life to following Christ, learning His teachings, being conformed to His image, making other disciples, and bringing glory to God. Making disciples is an investment; it takes much time, energy, study, and prayer. It is much easier to convert people and let them fend for themselves, gleaning what they can from sermons and home team lessons. But Jesus’ example of disciple-making calls for much work. Making disciples means that we must be disciples ourselves. We must be growing in Christ, daily in His Word, daily in prayer. Since we cannot disciple anyone in things which we know nothing about, it is imperative that we are maturing in our walk with Christ. Disciple-making is a labor of love, love for God and for our neighbor; and it is a labor to which each believer is called.
So we are called to make disciples, not merely converts. But we must also remember that we are to make disciples of every nation, tribe, and tongue. Clearly, not everyone will be able to travel to every nation on earth, and certainly it would be nearly impossible to disciple people from every nation at once. How then do we make disciples of all nations? This is the mission of the church, and God gifts and calls people to devote their lives to making disciples in foreign nations. The church works to help equip these missionaries to do their tasks, supporting them prayerfully and financially. Southern Baptists send missionaries throughout North America and the world via the Cooperative Program. But simply giving to the Cooperative Program doesn’t excuse us from making disciples where we are. All believers are to be disciples and are to be making disciples. We have an opportunity to be missionaries at work, at school, at play – anywhere we are around people! We are to practice life-style evangelism; that is, to live in such a way that people notice we are different (we are to be different from the world) and then engage them with the Gospel when they ask why we are different. This can be difficult; our culture encourages bifurcated lives – the separating of our spiritual life from our secular life; nothing could be more unbiblical. As followers of Christ, we are called to be a witness for Christ in all we do. We are to seek opportunities to engage people with the Gospel, to be prepared to give a reason for the hope we have (1 Peter 3:15).
Sense of Purpose
Hopefully, seeing the source and scope of this great purpose will lead to a deeper and proper motivation for fulfilling the Great Commission. While it is true that we are saved from the wrath of God, it is also true that we are God’s workmanship, “created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Because Christ commands us to make disciples, we can conclude that it is indeed a good work.
Great Promise
Making disciples of all nations seems like a daunting task, and indeed it is impossible for us to do on our own. Salvation is of the Lord, and we can save no one; we can only share with them the Good News. The Spirit must work in the lives of individuals if they are to trust in Christ, yet no one is saved apart from the gospel, “for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Still, even the work of simply sharing the Gospel with all nations seems nearly impossible. It is for this reason that Jesus closes the commissioning of His disciples with a great promise: “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Source of Promise
We can have great confidence in the promise because of the One who made it. Having been given all authority, and being Himself God, the words of Jesus to His disciples carry in them the certainty that these promises will be fulfilled. We see in Psalm 119:89-90 that He is faithful:
89 Forever, O Lord, your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
And again in 2 Timothy 2:13:
13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful—
for he cannot deny himself.
And we see in Numbers 23:19 that God cannot lie:
19 God is not man, that he should lie,
or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it?
Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
And again in Titus 1:1-2:
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.
We see in these passages that our God keeps His promises; He is faithful, even when we are not. Our assurance that God will keep His promises is rooted in His very nature. Therefore, we can have every confidence that God will remain true to His word simply because He is God.
Scope of Promise
Jesus Christ promised the eleven that He would not leave them to accomplish the task of disciple-making on their own; that same promise extends to all disciples throughout time. True to His name ‘Immanuel,’ Jesus remains ‘God with us,’ through His Spirit, the Helper He promised the twelve:
John 14:16-17, 26
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 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… 26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
While we long to see Jesus in the flesh, it was to our advantage that He went away:
John 16:7-11
7 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. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
By going away, Jesus was able to send the Helper, so that each believer is indwelt with the Holy Spirit, who empowers us to fulfill the Great Commission and gifts us for kingdom work. It is this same Spirit who gives us understanding of the things of God:
1 Corinthians. 2:12-13
12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
It is this same Spirit who gives us words to say when we stand before godless accusers:
Luke 12:11-12
11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
It is this same Spirit who intercedes for us before the Father:
Romans 8:26-27
26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
Though the Son sits at the right hand of the Father, His Spirit is with us, and “bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Rom. 8:16). His Spirit will strengthen and equip us for every good work.
Now, as surely as He has not left us alone, so His promise to be with us “to the end of the age” speaks with certainty of the consummation of this age, when Christ will return in glory to judge the wicked, reward the faithful, and establish His kingdom. He will come for His bride, the church, and we will be in a perfect relationship with the Father because of the justifying work of the Son. In glorified bodies we will forever serve our God, who saved us according to His good pleasure through the sinless life, propitiating death and glorious resurrection of His blessed Son.
This promise, this assurance allows us to boldly go forth, making disciples of all nations. We know that it is not in our own power but in the power of the Holy Spirit that we fulfill our roles as Christ’s ambassadors.
I pray that today you’ve seen that the Great Commission is indeed great. It was given with a great authority, and it is with this same authority that we are to make disciples. It was given for a great purpose, as God works through us to make for Himself a people in perfect relationship to Him. And it was given with a great promise, that the task of making disciples of all nations is not to be accomplished in our power, but in the power of God, the Holy Spirit working in and through us. As we close, it is my prayer that we would be zealous for the kingdom of God, passionately working to make disciples, as Christ has commanded us. May we find the commitment to the Lord seen in the story of the Moravian Missionaries:
Two young Moravians heard of an island in the West Indies, where an atheist British owner had 2,000 to 3,000 slaves. The owner had said, “No preacher, no clergyman will ever stay on this island. If he’s shipwrecked, we’ll keep him in a separate house until he has to leave, but he’s never gonna talk to any of us about God. I’m through with all that nonsense.”
Three thousand slaves from the jungles of Africa brought to an island in the Atlantic, and there they were to live and die without hearing of Christ. Two young Moravians heard about it. They sold themselves to the British planter then used the money they received from the sale to pay their passage out to his island, for he wouldn’t even transport them. And as the ship left its pier at the river at Hamburg and was going out to the North Sea, carried with the tide, the Moravians came from Herrnhut to see these two lads off, in their early twenties, never to return again. For this wasn’t a four-year term; they’d sold themselves into alifetime of slavery, simply that as slaves they could be as Christians for these others who were lost. The families were there weeping for they knew they’d never see them again. And they wondered why they were going and questioned the wisdom of it. And the gap widened and the hawsers had been cast off and were being curled up there on the pier. And as the young boys saw the widening gap, one lad, with his arm linked through the arm of his fellow, raised his hand and shouted across the gap the last words that were heard from them: “May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering” And this became the call of Moravian missions. And this is the only reason for being, that the Lamb that was slain may receive the reward of His suffering.
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