God's Plan

(last week's message in our Knowing God series)

Have you ever spent a bunch of time with someone special, maybe family or friends that live far away, and it gets time for you to leave, and you just hate to go?

This happens to Pastor Rob and I every time we go up North. In fact, we are planning for our vacation time this summer, we are going to make the long trek to Iowa, stopping to see all our friends and family along the way there and back. And as much as I am looking forward to seeing everyone, there’s a little part of me that’s dreading the ‘goodbye’ process. It’s hard to hug someone and walk out the door knowing you may not see them for another 3-5 years. We usually linger over goodbyes.

And man, when I was a kid and someone would leave, we’d stand out in the driveway, waving wholeheartedly until their car was a teensy speck on the horizon, then rounded a corner and we’d see them the next time. In fact, my favorite aunt still does that. She stands in her yard, a big smile on her face, waving until you can’t see her anymore, sending all the love she possibly can with you on your way. And you feel her love right down to your toes. I mean, who does that, standing in the yard waving like a goober? She must really love me!

Soon, you’re a mile or two down the road and suddenly you realize you forgot to tell them something, something really important. Something you want to make sure you say face to face. What do you do then? You swing into the nearest parking lot, pull a u-ey and head back to your loved one, right?? This message is important!

Jesus did the same thing with his disciples. He’d walked with them for three years and poured out His life into theirs, even to the point of death on the cross. Death. He was gone, the car had disappeared on the horizon and his disciples had stopped waving in the driveway.

And yet, there was something crucial he still needed to say.

We pick up in Matthew 28:19-20; the very last scriptures in the first gospel. This is after Jesus’s crucifixion and resurrection. He tells His disciples this one last very important thing, sort of a honey-do list while He’s away preparing a place for them.

“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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very ends of the earth.”

We all know this scripture as the Great Commission. Let’s dissect that term a little bit. If you’ve grown up in church you’ve probably heard it so often that you don’t even ‘hear’ it any more. What does it mean to be great?

Well, let’s start by remembering that words used in the Bible are truer than words we commonly use today. Point in case, I love the word awesome. I’ve been using it since I was a teenager. In fact, at my first ‘real’ job, my boss always teased me about how often I used the word awesome. He’d be like, “hey Anna, how was your weekend, was it awesome?” Back then, and even a little now, everything was awesome. My friends were awesome, Dr Pepper was awesome, the last movie I had seen was awesome, and of course, Rob was AWESOME. I can even remember how delighted I was when I realized that the word ‘awesome’ was in the Bible, I just knew it was a God word!

You get the idea, I probably wasn’t using ‘awesome’ in the fullness of it’s ‘awesomeness’. When we throw around a word too often, and it begins to lose it’s meaning.

A perfect example of that in the Bible is the word ‘good’. You and I say ‘good’ when someone asks “How’s the pizza?” or “What did you think of last night’s Sing Off?” Good is just above mediocre and a far cry below excellent.

But when you see the word ‘good’ in the Bible, it must mean something different, something more pure and holy. Because the Word tells us that God made the world in six days and at the end of each day He said that it was ‘good.’

Hmmm. God whipped up the world in six days and said that it was good? Um, I think I’d use a more fantastic descriptive word, don’t you? I mean, Bob Ross, the painter would paint a tree and call it ‘happy’. God creates all the trees and all the plants and all the vegetation in one measly day and He calls it ‘good?’ I’d call it AWESOME!!

But God says ‘good.’ I think that’s a pretty healthy indicator that His definition of ‘good’ is more profound than mine. And since He’s God, I’m going to go with His standard.

Another Biblical example of ‘good’ is the fact that God is described as good.

In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 19:17 “There is only One who is good.” Referring to God the Father. God reveals His goodness to us in His love for us, His care of us, His mercy on us, and His grace to us.

Psalm 100:5 says “The Lord is good and His love endures forever.” The words good and love are interchangeable. God is good, in all things and in all ways. A good that you and I can’t describe, let along truly comprehend.

So I think we can all agree that when a word is used in the Bible it has a truer meaning than if it’s used at the lunch table or in a thread on Facebook.

So Matthew 28:19-20 is the Great Commission. Great meaning unusually large in size or dimension. Yep, that’s pretty accurate. ‘Go and make disciples of all nations.’ That’s a pretty large scope, isn’t it? Can you get much bigger than all nations?

Great also means unusual in degree, power or dimension. This commission requires a considerable amount of inertia. How can we reach the whole world?? We need supernatural power to even begin to achieve this goal! Thank God that He provided the Holy Spirit to empower our efforts. This task would seem utterly unattainable without the power of the Holy Spirit.

Great means wonderful, first rate, very good. The Great Commission is a noble task. It’s simply a good idea. Of course, that’s because it was God’s idea from the very beginning.

You may remember from the shiftAM Fundamental Truths classes last summer. Truth #4, the Fall of Man, when Adam and Eve take that first bite of forbidden fruit in Genesis, God mentions Satan’s head being crushed. It has always been God’s plan to reach all people with the love of Christ. He has always intended to pursue our hearts with the primary objective of a love relationship with us. What a GREAT idea, truly first rate.

So if we have biblically defined great, and perhaps rocked your world a bit, the next natural question is, what does it mean to be commissioned?

Commissioning is usually done when someone extremely important gives a task to a subordinate or inferior (little guy). It’s also a sign of power being given to the subordinate, like a knight being commissioned into service from a king, the knight now swears loyalty unto death to the king and his mission. The knight’s power comes directly from the king’s sovereign power. It’s an honor to be called into service of the king. Wow, now compare that Jesus’ great commission to His disciples. We are honored to be called to His service.

We are honored because you and I, by our own merit are not worthy to untie Jesus’ sandal or to wash His feet. Our sin and prideful heart should limit any contact with Jesus. Yet through His sacrifice on the cross, we are allowed into His presence. Considered sons and daughters with Him. We are honored to to be called into His service.

Another way to think about commissioning is to picture a warship being commissioned. When a warship is commissioned no longer just a ship, it’s been placed in active military duty, it’s now part of a navy that symbolizes the strength of a nation.

Christ commissioned us.

2 Corinthians 5:17 “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old has gone and the new has come!”

He’s pulled us out of ordinary day-to-day service into the highest calling – serving our Lord in ministry. We are on active duty, engaging in a real war with a real enemy. And there will be casualties in this war. The casualties will have names and faces. They are your lost friends and family. They are the unsaved masses filling the halls at Madison and Judson and O’Connor and Wood and Harris. They are the starving children in Africa and Haiti. They are the drug runners in Juarez. They are the politicians in Washington DC.

We need to start seeing the people around us as prisoners of war. Satan has them bound in their sin and their self-absorption and their ignorance of the truth. We have been commissioned to share our story, and with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, they can make the choice to be set free. Just like you and I made that choice.

There is a verse in Revelation that haunts me. It’s found in Chapter 12, verse 11 and it says “They overcame him, by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony.” It’s referring to Satan. And the fact that we can overcome, we can defeat him by the blood of the lamb, which is a Bible way to say Jesus’ sacrifice and the word of our testimony. Meaning that the war on sin is surmountable. We WILL overcome with the knowledge of what Jesus did for us and the strength of our story of finding Him.

We simply need to be willing to believe in the power of the cross. To have faith that Christ’s blood was enough to cover our sins, to wash us white as snow. And to have the courage to share our story with others.

That is the Great Commission. Sharing the goodness of God with all the world. It will be difficult. If it was easy, it wouldn’t be the ‘Great’ Commission, now would it? But we know we will overcome, we will triumph. Another incredible verse reminding us of our certain triumph over sin is Romans 8:37 “In all things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us deeply.”

We are going to win this thing. And if we put the effort in with our friends and family and the people in the halls of our schools, we’ll see miracles happen and lives changed. And when we give money to Speed the Light we equip missionaries to reach the lost in Africa and Haiti and Juarez and Washington DC and every other place the gospel needs to be heard.

You and I have been commissioned. And we’ve been empowered by the Holy Spirit. God wants each and every one of us in this room to participate in His plan. You personally have opportunities to touch lives that I will never come in contact with. And that’s true for each of you, just as I have opportunities that you’ll never have. You can see why it’s so important to take this seriously. God has called each of us to be used for His kingdom development in a specific way. We need to realize the greatness of this commission and make it our highest daily priority.

We need to understand the honor and the responsibility of being commissioned with God’s plan. I thought this clip from the first Narnia movie would paint a better picture in your mind. Peter has just saved his sisters from certain death, proving his commitment to goodness and Aslan. Aslan is about to call Peter into his service.

(video of a Peter being knighted)

Just like Peter, we have been commissioned by the King. But let’s not forget the end of today’s scripture, there’s a very important condition of this commissioning. Jesus tells us in verse 20 “and surely I am with you always, to the very ends of the earth.”

You do not have to fulfill this great commission on your own. Yes, we should each do our part, but Jesus is with us through this process. When you accepted Christ as your savior, you were sealed with His Holy Spirit. He is with you, even to the end.

So tonight, I feel like God is asking, who will accept His Great Commission? Who is willing to lay aside their stuff to go about God’s work? Who accepts His goodness and grace and receives His plan for their lives? The reality is, when you truly realize who God is and what He has done for your life, the natural reaction is serve Him. We have such an incredible debt of gratitude to our Lord and King.

If you are willing to accept Christ’s Commissioning this evening, I’d like you to come forward and kneel at the altar.

(wait a few moments – with Michael W. Smith’s ‘FREEDOM’ playing softly in the background)

Like Peter received his knighthood from Aslan, picture Jesus standing before you in your mind. Receive His plan and embrace it fully.

He says to you:

“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, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very ends of the earth.”

Lord, inspire these students to receive your Great Commission. Engrave Your mission in their hearts that they would be forever changed to see the world with Your eyes. Empower them with your Holy Spirit. Give them boldness and authority to speak truth into the lives of their friends, their family, and the people they come in contact with each day. Inspire them to give to missions and pray for the lost to receive You. Keep them in Your service until You return to establish Your kingdom. In Your precious name we pray. Amen.