The Great Commission Series

THE GREAT COMMISSION

Text: Gal 4.4

Intro.:

1. The birth of Jesus is a well-spring of great joy to the world.

2. We associate w/ His death, sorrow & regret, but from His birth, joy.

3. The 1st Christmas carol of the angels was a joyful event expressing the gladness of God’s heart.

4. The stars of Bethlehem casted no gloomy light but shone forth w/ great glory & joy

5. When the Eternal God stooped from heaven & became a babe among those that rebelled against Him, the deed could mean no harm to us.

6. We could have if we had been there taken the young child into our arms & held the Eternal Lord in weak & freebie hands.

7. God in our nature is not God against us but God w/ us & for us.

8. If God had meant us harm He would never came as a babe.

9. He would have come as a man of power bearing His sword before Him.

10. It is no mystery that lost men & women celebrate the birthday of Jesus for God coming as a babe could mean no harm to them.

11. They know nothing of the spiritual meaning of His coming but they do respond in their own way by remembering His coming.

12. To those who are truly the Lord’s people, His coming is the subject of quiet & deliberate thought & a source of joy in a somewhat dismal world.

13. The birth of Jesus not only brings hope but the reality of goods thing

14. We do not speak of Jesus coming into a relation w/ our nature but of Him entering into union w/ us for the cause of our salvation.

15. He didn’t just become flesh but He is flesh of our flesh & bone of our

16. He is one w/ all of us who believe in His name & declare Him Lord.

17. Bible scholars call the commission of Matt. 28 the Great Commission but in our text is the Great Commission of the Bible.

18. Before Jesus came into the world, we were children, children under bondage, children under the tutorship of the law.

19. But the Great Commission: God sent forth His Son changed that.

20. We are no longer children, but adults, heirs w/ God & joint-heirs w/ Jesus Christ.

21. Our Lord’s birth brought the Church to maturity, we are no longer children born under the Law, but the sons & daus. of God.

22. If sons & daus., then we are heirs of God & joint-heirs w/ Jesus Christ.

23. We can divide the text into two parts: The Joyful Mission & The Joyful Results.

I. THE JOYFUL MISSION OF THE SON OF GOD.

A. THIS GREAT COMMISSION WAS ACCOMPLISHED AT THE

RIGHT TIME

1. Why the world had to wait in darkness so long, we cannot explain.

2. Why the Church still struggles to attain maturity, we cannot explain.

3. But this we do know: God sent forth His Son in the fullness of time

4. Jesus didn’t come before His time nor behind His time.

5. He was punctual to the very hr. neither late nor early.

6. The Birth of Jesus is the greatest event of history.

7. All of history either points to His Birth or points back to His Birth.

8. The Birth of Jesus is to our history as the Sun is to our solar system.

9. Just as we derive our Light from the SUN, we get our light from the SON.

10. Just as the planets revolve around the Sun, we revolve around the Son.

11. To us He is not only the Alpha & Omega, the beginning & end, He is all there is in between.

12. But why did it happen at this moment in time?

13. Well, 1st it was predicted by all the prophets - God’s Word will not return void, it must be true.

14. In Dan., a Bible student could have told the exact day of the birth of Jesus.

15. In Michael, the exact place of His birth is told.

16. The Lord appoints the date of every event, all times are in His hands.

17. There is nothing which happens by change in God’s time, there are not loose threads in the providence of God.

18. The Great Commission of God happen on scheduled time.

19. The Keeper of the Great Clock of the universe keeps good time & God sent forth His Son in the fullness of time.

B. THE LORD WAS MOVING IN TIME TOWARD MAN

1. We moved not toward the Lord, but it was the Lord who moved toward us.

2. I find no where in the history the world it move w/ repentance toward God.