“And Jesus came and said to them, “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.” (Matthew 28:16-20)
We believers must take the commissioning words of Jesus seriously for they are directed to us. Prior to His ascension into heaven, the Lord Jesus commissioned His disciples to make disciples of all nations, of all peoples. They were to teach them the truth of the gospel, the truth about Him, the truth about living a life of faith in obedience, righteousness, and love. He commanded them to baptize all in the name of the Triune God, to teach all the truth about Himself and what He has done in saving all mankind from their sins.
Perhaps the chaos and suffering we are enduring these days is due to the fact that the Church, the people of God, may have forgotten this commission. We the church may have gotten too caught up in politics, worldliness, and materialism to carry out a witness that should stand in sharp contrast to the message we hear from politicians, celebrities, the media, and the voices crying for change. Many cry out for justice for all but in God’s Kingdom that would mean condemnation and punishment for all, because no one is righteous, all our condemned before God. All are sinners bound for hell. Only by faith in Jesus can anyone be declared righteous by God. So what we preach is mercy and forgiveness of sins by faith in Jesus alone.
The great commission is given to all disciples alive now in the 21st Century. This is a time of spiritual and moral chaos, violence, and despair. We who have faith in the gospel of Jesus should be so grateful that God has given us His mercy and grace that we should be eager to share the hope of the gospel with everyone we meet. Because we have been so greatly delivered we proclaim to all nations the glory of the Lord and what He has done in the person and work of Jesus, his atoning death, burial, and resurrection. Just as the disciples were sent we have been sent out to a strategic location and divinely commissioned to preach the gospel where we are. We have the calling and the means in Christ Jesus, by his Holy Spirit for the glory of God the Father.