The command of the resurrected Jesus to make disciples of all nations is both a great commission and a great mandate. It is our duty to make disciples, a task for which we are accountable to our Lord and Savior at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Jesus did not make a call for volunteers. All of God’s people are to be mobilized to fulfill the Great Commission.
When we combine the various Great Commission passages into a paraphrase, we see just how great and all-encompassing this command from Jesus to His disciples is.
The Great Commission Mandate passages
Jesus said to His disciples,
“I have risen from the dead. All power (authority) has been given to Me in heaven and in earth. As the Father has sent Me into the world to provide salvation in His name, so I now send you with my authority into the world to proclaim that gospel (good news) of salvation in My name.
The awaiting spiritual harvest of souls is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into His harvest. You are the answer to that prayer.
Go now and preach the gospel to every creature (to all creation, every people). You must proclaim to them that they must repent of their sins and believe in Me for forgiveness.
Go into all the world to make these disciples. As they believe, baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them what it means to be a disciple, to obey (keep, observe) everything I have commanded you.
You are My witnesses sent in the power of the Holy Spirit Whom I have given. Be sure to remember this: I am with you always, even unto the very end of the world (end of the age).”[1]
(Matthew 9:36-38; 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-49; John 17:18; 20:21; Acts 1:8)
What powerful and life-changing realities!
2 Key Observations from the Great Commission Mandate Passages
The Great Commission Mandate to go and make disciples among all nations is extremely important to our Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s eternal plan of salvation, His purpose for mankind, are found in Jesus and what He did through His life, death, and resurrection. Jesus is building His church from every tongue, people, tribe and nation. He has chosen to use us, those He has already saved, to bring others. Obedience to the Great Commission achieves God’s eternal purpose. It is crucial that God’s people understand the importance of the Great Commission.
Christians whose lives honor Jesus will prioritize obedience to the Great Commission.
Jesus fully expects that our lives find their purpose and meaning through the truths about Him communicated in these verses. The Gospel and the spread of the Gospel must define our lives.
Jesus does not casually expect this; He commands it. He commands all of His followers to make disciples. Obedience to the Great Commission, then, becomes a kind of measure of our obedience to Jesus generally.
Put another way, those who have God’s priorities in their lives prioritize the Great Commission. Our priorities affect what we value in life, changes how we spend our time and energy, and how we use our money and possessions. Our daily lives are to prove that we prioritize what is important to Christ: the fulfillment of His Great Commission Mandate. Jesus Christ commands us to be Great Commission Christians.
Difficult questions
Hard questions need to be asked: Are we on-mission, focused on Christ’s mission? Do our daily life decisions show that we prioritize the Great Commission Mandate? Have we once been focused on making disciples but now have hearts cold and indifferent?
I believe that so much about having God’s heart for the Great Commission comes down to this: living in the reality of Jesus. My appeal to you is to live in the reality of Jesus. Those that do could be described as Great Commission Christians.
The Reality of What Jesus Has Done
I see at least 16 truths about Christ communicated in these Great Commission Mandate passages. Each one of these truths is powerful and life-changing for us.
- Jesus came and accomplished His Father’s will, the salvation of mankind from sin.
- Jesus died and rose again from the dead, proof that He accomplished this work of salvation.
- Jesus has returned to His former glory in heaven but now as both Savior and Lord over all.
- Jesus now calls upon all mankind to repent of their sins and receive forgiveness through Him.
- Jesus’ purpose is to use all of His disciples to be His voice, His representatives, in declaring this message of good news (His salvation).
- Jesus declares the harvest of souls to be reaped is great, but that laborers to reap them few.
- Jesus commands His disciples to pray for laborers to enter into the work of the harvest.
- Jesus extends to His disciples His authority to preach His message.
- Jesus our Lord and King sends/commands/commissions/mandates His disciples to go to all peoples, tongues, and nations to proclaim the good news.
- Jesus commands that His disciples make disciples, obedient followers of Christ, not professors.
- Jesus commands His people to baptize His new followers in the name of each member of the Trinity, symbolic of their faith that Jesus is the Son of God who became man, accomplished our salvation, rose again, and remains the eternal Son of God.
- Jesus commands baptism for converts as a symbol of repentance, their decision to now follow Jesus as Lord.
- Jesus sent His Spirit in part to enable His people to fulfill this commission.
- Jesus promised that He will be immediately present with believers everywhere and at all times as they fulfill this mandate.
- Jesus expects each one of His children to keep the task of making disciples a lifetime priority.
- Jesus’ command extends until the end of the age when He comes again.
These things are true! We can be saved from our sins and made right with God today-right now!
Re-owning these truths
These things are true! Christian, these facts must continue to inform our goals, priorities, daily choices, ambitions, and all of our relationships. Who Jesus is and what He has done affects everything.
And yet, every Christian still battles with sin and worldliness. Christ has called us out of the world, but we still live in it. The world bombards us continually with godless ideas and values. Temptations and distractions are many—Satan makes sure of it.
Because of this ongoing struggle, believers must continually return to the truths of the Gospel to stay focused. One truth that helps us stay focused on God’s priorities is His love.
The Reality of the Love of God in Christ
Remember the love of God shown to you in Jesus.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).
“In this the love of God was manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn 4:9-10).
Remember God’s true love for all men, women, and children in this world.
“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time” (1 Tim 2:3-6).
“The Lord is…patient towards you, not willing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet 3:9).
Remember the sacrificial love of Jesus.
“Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet 3:21-24).
Our Heart Response
As you read these passages of Scripture that declare the amazing grace and love of God, did your heart fill with joy and gratitude? Was your heart stirred?
As we reflect on God’s love for us and feel that love it moves us to think about God’s love for others. It motivates us to pray for the lost. It gives us a heart to witness and overcome our awkwardness and fears. When God’s love fills us, we long to make disciples for Jesus because we want them to know the love of God in Christ as well.
The hearts of some reading this are not stirred. Maybe you know that you are a believer, but the message of the Gospel does not move your soul anymore. You might not even have a desire to witness because your heart is cold. What can we do if we realize our hearts are apathetic?
Spiritual Reality Restored
Repentance
Sin is the reason for coldness and apathy. Known sin in our lives must be confessed and forsaken if we want to live in the reality of what Christ has done. Unconfessed sin, hardness of heart against the Lord wastes the life of a Christian. A distracted believer will not be a Great Commission Christian. Repent!
It may be that we have become apathetic and don’t know why. We must pray that God will expose the sin that hinders us. Apathy wastes the life of a Christian. An apathetic Christian is not obedient to the Great Commission. Something is wrong, very wrong. It is a spiritually dangerous place to be in. Come back to living in the reality of who Jesus is and what He has done! Repent!
Rekindling
If we repent of our sin, God will hear our prayers and give much grace. God always responds to humility: “God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble” (1 Pet 5:5b).
Jesus gave us a way to pray to kindle our love for the lost and move us to action. He commanded us to pray for laborers for His harvest:
“And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Matt 9:35-38).
Pray this passage to the Lord. Ask God to give you His love for others. Pray that God would help you to see the spiritual need of those around you. Appeal to Him to help you live in the reality of what He has done and what He desires to do for sinners. Ask God to raise up laborers for His harvest and ask Him to show you how to enter the harvest. Jesus commands us to pray for laborers—a prayer He will certainly answer.
[1] I have used past tense about the sending of the Spirit to reflect where we are after Pentecost.
Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®).