Great Commission And Mission Series

Text: Matthew 28:18-20

Theme: Great Commission

Introduction:

Commission and commissioner are very familiar words to our modern society. Two thousand and twenty years ago, Jesus Christ has shared this power with his disciples and gave them order, it was a mandate for followers of Christ. For centuries we call it a great commission. The great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ is evergreen and ever demanding. Often we want to achieve our goals. But God calls us to Chase the best and run the race set before us and make great feat for him.

The great commission recorded in Mathew 28:18-20 gives three features, such as, God has All authority, He is the God of All nations and He is always present, omnipresent.

It also reminds us of the new power of the disciples, through which they had new perspectives in their lives and led them to establish Church through new presentations.

1. New Power

2. New Perspectives and

3. New presentations

First, let us mediate the first point in this passage:

1. New Power (Mathew 28:18)

The words Dunamis and Exousia are interchangeably used by the Gospel writers to communicate the power and authority of Jesus Christ. The first word DUNAMIS means, "strength, ability, power; inherent power, power residing in a thing under its nature." The second word EXOUSIA means "power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases; leave or permission." The first is "personal strength or ability," the second is "the right or privilege bestowed on one." (E.M. Zerr)

Christ refers the authority as absolute power, “all authority in heaven and on earth”, it’s not the power on the rotating earth or the inhabited globe but marvellous celestial beings, power over all milk ways and creations of God (1 Corinthians 15:27-28, Psalm 8:6). A cosmic dominion has come to Christ, powers over all the authorities, over all the powers of the darkness, overall the spiritual forces of evil, overall the heavenly realms(Ephesians 6:12).

Here in Mathew 28:18, Jesus talks about that great authority has been given to him. All authority vested with Christ. He gives victory over everything in our lives. Satan was trying to cheat Christ, he was trying to induce with short-cut method to earn authority and luxuries.

Luke 4:5-7 reads, ‘the devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendour, for it has given to me, I can give to anyone I want to”. Jesus did not believe the liar and he was completely trusted in God the Father and took the righteous path. He received this authority through prayer, holy life and obedience and sacrifice.

St. Paul desired to know that power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and to participate in it. “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).

Jesus Christ had a Vision Statement which is found in Luke 19:10 “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost”. His Mission Statement is the great commission and how to implement it. Implementation is possible because has given us that authority in Luke 10:19 “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you” You are not alone God is always with you in this great work.

Jesus told his disciples “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).

Power of God was always understood with the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Every successful person of the Bible, say it, prophet, judge, priest or king in the Bible was possessed with this power whenever they went for war or meet people. YHWH was with them through his spirit. The absence of power was understood as the absence of the Spirit of God. God never sent anybody without his Spirit and authority for his mission and ministry.

Moses was sent with the power to perform miracles and announce the plagues. He was sent to bring changes in the status and lives of the Israelite (Exodus 3:10). Gideon was sent with his possessed strength to subdue the Philistines (Judges. 6:14). David urged God not to take away the Holy Spirit from him (Psalm 51:11).

In Ezekiel 11:19 God says “I will put a new spirit in them”, in 2 Corinthians 5:17 God says ‘if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The Old has gone and new has come!’. The new spirit leads to singing new songs (Psalm 33:3, 40:3, 144:9, 149:1, Isaiah 42:10, Revelation 14:3). The new song is all about the Lamb of God, great and marvellous deeds of the redeemer Jesus Christ and the new paths he has set for all of us to run and enjoy in Christ. The modern society composes many new songs.