Have you heard about the Great Commission? That last order and instruction that Jesus left to his disciples before ascending completely to heaven. If you want to know a little more about it and why it is so important for Christians, continue reading this post.
The grand commision
As we mentioned at the beginning, after Jesus died and his resurrection, but before ascending to heaven, he spoke to his disciples about the mission they had, he gave them a last order which is known as the Great Commission. He said a few words where he indirectly ordered to go, baptize and teach others. He commissioned his apostles and his disciples to make more disciples, to teach others to follow Jesus, to obey and believe in him.
But when to make those disciples? The verb to go within his words, means an order to leave where you are to go to other places and as you progress in these, make disciples, as your life progresses teach others to believe and follow Jesus. To trust, to live a life according to his Law.
What is the Great Commission?
The Great Commission is one of the most significant and important writings or passages in the Bible. First, because it is recorded, as we said before, as the last command that Jesus Christ gave to his disciples. Second, because it is a call that Jesus makes to all those who believe in him, who follow him, to act in a certain way during their stay on earth. We can find this in the Bible, in Matthew 28: 18-20:
"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, until the end of the world.”
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What is the importance for the Christian?
The Great Commission is perceived as the beginning of faith carried out for each of the existing Christians and as the end of a gospel. This last commandment given by Jesus is of the utmost importance, because it is a special, personal and specific order for Christians to develop a marked faith in Christ. This is how it is interpreted in Matthew 28-18:
“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.”
This is an affirmation that indirectly demands faith in Christ, and shows how he is present in the life of each one of the believers and the commitment that they must have towards him, in this verse the omnipotence that Christ represents is made present and confirmed, of His deity. And if Christian believers are not able to believe in this confirmation, then their faith is not complete. And Jesus always was, is and will be sure of the authority that he possesses in the entire world, which is complete and total since the beginning of time.
Then in Matthew 28: 19, Jesus gives a specific order to the disciples and followers present to continue even if they have already declared themselves to be believers. He gives the order to go everywhere they could to continue carrying God's message, to continue creating more disciples and followers. When he says:
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
Jesus is telling his followers in a very clear way to take action and share all the good news about salvation for the whole world. And there are many who have heeded this call, have brought God's message, have taught to believe in the Lord. There are those who have traveled all over the world to spread the word, to bring the word of God to every corner of the world, to the most remote places you can imagine, they have made the sacrifice of moving away from their families, perhaps, to preach God's love.
There are others who are responsible for getting the message to people close to them, their relatives, their neighbors and their friends. And there are still others who have brought hope to helpless people, have been able to give encouragement to those less fortunate with the word of the Lord. Today there are many people who need to hear the words of the Lord, and they can seek it by almost any means.
Christ teaches through this verse 19 the doctrine of the Trinity, each of the people that make it up are God, only that with it they are presented in a more logical order as the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, but they are one God at the end, and from the beginning. Finally, in verse 20 of Matthew 28, Jesus clearly commands his followers to teach others all about Jesus Christ, the whole truth. He says this:
“Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, until the end of the world.”
You cannot reject any of the Lord's teachings and at the same time profess Christ as the savior. By teaching each of the truths of Jesus Christ, you can be assured that he will always, always sustain us. And this for centuries has been proven, above all, by the way in which his followers and believers have increased, because they have heard the word, they have accepted Christ and they have also taken it upon themselves to continue sharing what they have learned, the teachings. In this way, God manifests himself in each of the believers.
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a personal call
There is no doubt that the Great Commission is a personal call by Jesus to each one of the Christians, of the believers to go out because they have faith to transmit each and every one of the Good News. This is known as acting faith. Anyone who obeys this specific command of the Lord will be able to feel a spiritual change in his life. It does not matter with whom the teachings of God are shared, with friends, with family, with children or with people who live in the most remote places.
In addition, it does not matter where you go, where you are, each of the faithful believers is obliged to obey the word of God, and among its mandates is to share the Gospel, that is the Great Commission of the Lord.
And we have reached the end of the article, we hope it has helped you a lot. And here we leave you a video with a reflection on the Great Commission: