Matt.28:18-20 – And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
The Great Commission gives us a look at the purposes of God revealed in the life, ministry, and death of Jesus. From the beginning it has always been, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” His plan has always salvation for multitudes from every nation and ethnicity group on earth. After the death and resurrection of Jesus He was given authority as a man to reach the nations and bring in this harvest. Just as He prepared to return to heaven to take His place on the throne He gave His authority to us. His sons and daughters go in His Name, His authority, to reach the nations at the end of the age. Here is what Jonathan Edwards says about this passage.
“I have acquired a right to all mankind. Go therefore and bring ’em home to me. This shows that it was in Christ’s aim to assert his right over mankind, that he had acquired by the labors he went through, by actually bringing all nations into his kingdom. And therefore, inasmuch as this has never been accomplished, we may suppose that there is a day remaining in which it will be accomplished….which is agreeable to what God the Father says to his Son in Ps. 2. ‘I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree . . . Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee’ (i.e., especially on the day of his resurrection). ‘I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession’ [Ps. 2:6–8].”
We have been chosen by the Lord to live at the most important and exciting time in all of human history. We are appointed by the Lord to reach this final generation before He returns. Not only has He commanded us to do it, when we operate in His Name He actually does the work through us through the power of the Spirit. So let’s go now with boldness and reach this generation, something unprecedented is happening all around us.
