God’s Eternal Purpose and the Great Commission
Lloyd Gardner
February 28, 2014
Before He split the sky on His return trip to heaven, Jesus gave this commission to His church:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:18-20).
Every commission must be backed with authority. Someone sent out as an ambassador for a nation must have the authority of that nation. Jesus declares to us, His ambassadors on earth, that all authority has been given to Him. That authority is based on His original commission in eternity past coupled with His redemptive death, resurrection and glorification. Because He fulfilled the righteous requirement of the Father, all authority was given to Him for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose on earth (Eph. 1:4-10).
When He was raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father He was given a position “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion”. All things were put under His feet and He was presented as “head over all things to the church” (Eph. 1:21, 22). All authority is given to Christ and Christ and His authority have been given to the church.
In that authority Christ commissioned His followers to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”. The word for nations here is ethnos, the races of earth’s people. The Gentiles and the Jews are included as the target of this commission. The church is a sent people. We are sent with a mission to carry God’s eternal purpose to the ends of the earth and to the hearts of all people.
And what is that commission? Jesus said it clearly—“make disciples”. Some translations say “teach” here but the word means literally to make disciples. A disciple is a learner, a pupil and follower of Christ. This is not a commission to spread doctrine to the minds of the nations but to teach and train people in such a way that they become followers of Christ. They begin that journey by being baptized as a symbol of their immersion into Christ and His body.
The way that people are to become disciples is by His followers, in Christ’s words, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”. The word for “observe” here means literally “to guard”. The word is used in this same chapter of Matthew of the guards who watched over the tomb of Jesus (v. 4). Just as they were guarding and watching over the tomb, we are commanded to teach people to guard or watch over the things that Christ has commanded. Jesus commanded many things to and through the disciples that are recorded in the word. Since Jesus has all authority, His words and commandments form the curriculum of truth to be taught in this Great Commission. As they learn what Jesus has commanded and said, they are able to become true disciples of the Master.
The Great Commission is essentially our directive from the Lord about what we are to do to further the eternal purpose of God. That purpose involves guiding people into the kingdom and then helping them to become effective members of the body of Christ.
So, how did these eleven disciples who heard this commission from Jesus respond? Did they all immediately pack their bags and head for the nations of the world? No. They stayed in Jerusalem to help establish and strengthen the first local church. In the first seven chapters of Acts, the apostles do not leave Jerusalem. Even after the persecution came and scattered many believers, the apostles who had received the commission to “go and make disciples” stayed in Jerusalem as the Spirit led (see 15:4).
It is clear that the apostles of Jesus knew that the way the Spirit would “make disciples” was through the local expression of His church. They no doubt remembered the words of Jesus, “…on this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). By establishing functioning Spirit-led churches they were providing the means for the discipling of those who would come to Christ and the amazing multiplication of life that would follow. The disciples did not merely go forth and preach the Gospel without the realization that new converts need an incubation center in which to be nurtured and discipled toward maturity.
Antioch is one of the first examples of this process. It was the first church composed of other “races” or Gentiles that Jesus included in His Great Commission. There in Antioch of Syria a center for apostolic work was established and functioning. From this center Barnabas and Saul were selected by the Holy Spirit to go forth in apostolic work to carry out the Great Commission in the surrounding region.
The discipling center is the local church. It is to the church that Christ gave the five equipping ministries whose task is to equip the saints for the work of serving so that the church can be built up (Eph. 4:11-12). Believers are equipped to be disciples in the local church. Without a functioning, effective local church environment, there cannot be an effective response to the Great Commission. Jesus did not charge us to merely get people saved but to make disciples of them by teaching them to hear and obey their Master. Without a healthy church environment this cannot be done effectively.
To merely go forth preaching the Gospel without an understanding of how the converts are to be discipled is like bringing babies into the world without provision for their nurture. The church is the family environment in which that nurture commences and continues.
The church is therefore the environment in which the Great Commission is fulfilled. It is the setting in which all believers are equipped to do what Christ destined them to do in His authority. Some are called to be prepared in the local church and then go forth to extend the eternal purpose of God into other places. Others are called to stay and contribute to the discipling ministry.
Christians involved in the Great Commission through mission work must see the eternal purpose of God and desire to contribute to it. This demands that the end result of mission beyond the local church is to duplicate the life of the discipling center. This requires that those involved in mission work have a clear understanding of what they are producing. Are they merely continuing a form of church life that is top-down and clergy centered, or are they producing a body of believers who are being equipped to do their part?
Paul alluded to this process in his letter to the Ephesians: “…making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (1:9, 10). The word translated “plan” here is oikonomia from which we derive the word economy. It really means a divine plan designed by God for this present church age that will result in the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. As Paul says here, it will result in the uniting of all things in Christ—the very essence of the eternal purpose.
Should we be so foolhardy as to do it our way when the Holy Spirit has designed a way before the foundation of the world? Many are realizing that much of what man devises in his fleshly cleverness is not producing the perfect will of God. I believe it’s time to repent and let God do it His way.
Lloyd Gardner
February 28, 2014
Before He split the sky on His return trip to heaven, Jesus gave this commission to His church:
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age (Matt. 28:18-20).
Every commission must be backed with authority. Someone sent out as an ambassador for a nation must have the authority of that nation. Jesus declares to us, His ambassadors on earth, that all authority has been given to Him. That authority is based on His original commission in eternity past coupled with His redemptive death, resurrection and glorification. Because He fulfilled the righteous requirement of the Father, all authority was given to Him for the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose on earth (Eph. 1:4-10).
When He was raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father He was given a position “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion”. All things were put under His feet and He was presented as “head over all things to the church” (Eph. 1:21, 22). All authority is given to Christ and Christ and His authority have been given to the church.
In that authority Christ commissioned His followers to “go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”. The word for nations here is ethnos, the races of earth’s people. The Gentiles and the Jews are included as the target of this commission. The church is a sent people. We are sent with a mission to carry God’s eternal purpose to the ends of the earth and to the hearts of all people.
And what is that commission? Jesus said it clearly—“make disciples”. Some translations say “teach” here but the word means literally to make disciples. A disciple is a learner, a pupil and follower of Christ. This is not a commission to spread doctrine to the minds of the nations but to teach and train people in such a way that they become followers of Christ. They begin that journey by being baptized as a symbol of their immersion into Christ and His body.
The way that people are to become disciples is by His followers, in Christ’s words, “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you”. The word for “observe” here means literally “to guard”. The word is used in this same chapter of Matthew of the guards who watched over the tomb of Jesus (v. 4). Just as they were guarding and watching over the tomb, we are commanded to teach people to guard or watch over the things that Christ has commanded. Jesus commanded many things to and through the disciples that are recorded in the word. Since Jesus has all authority, His words and commandments form the curriculum of truth to be taught in this Great Commission. As they learn what Jesus has commanded and said, they are able to become true disciples of the Master.
The Great Commission is essentially our directive from the Lord about what we are to do to further the eternal purpose of God. That purpose involves guiding people into the kingdom and then helping them to become effective members of the body of Christ.
So, how did these eleven disciples who heard this commission from Jesus respond? Did they all immediately pack their bags and head for the nations of the world? No. They stayed in Jerusalem to help establish and strengthen the first local church. In the first seven chapters of Acts, the apostles do not leave Jerusalem. Even after the persecution came and scattered many believers, the apostles who had received the commission to “go and make disciples” stayed in Jerusalem as the Spirit led (see 15:4).
It is clear that the apostles of Jesus knew that the way the Spirit would “make disciples” was through the local expression of His church. They no doubt remembered the words of Jesus, “…on this rock I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). By establishing functioning Spirit-led churches they were providing the means for the discipling of those who would come to Christ and the amazing multiplication of life that would follow. The disciples did not merely go forth and preach the Gospel without the realization that new converts need an incubation center in which to be nurtured and discipled toward maturity.
Antioch is one of the first examples of this process. It was the first church composed of other “races” or Gentiles that Jesus included in His Great Commission. There in Antioch of Syria a center for apostolic work was established and functioning. From this center Barnabas and Saul were selected by the Holy Spirit to go forth in apostolic work to carry out the Great Commission in the surrounding region.
The discipling center is the local church. It is to the church that Christ gave the five equipping ministries whose task is to equip the saints for the work of serving so that the church can be built up (Eph. 4:11-12). Believers are equipped to be disciples in the local church. Without a functioning, effective local church environment, there cannot be an effective response to the Great Commission. Jesus did not charge us to merely get people saved but to make disciples of them by teaching them to hear and obey their Master. Without a healthy church environment this cannot be done effectively.
To merely go forth preaching the Gospel without an understanding of how the converts are to be discipled is like bringing babies into the world without provision for their nurture. The church is the family environment in which that nurture commences and continues.
The church is therefore the environment in which the Great Commission is fulfilled. It is the setting in which all believers are equipped to do what Christ destined them to do in His authority. Some are called to be prepared in the local church and then go forth to extend the eternal purpose of God into other places. Others are called to stay and contribute to the discipling ministry.
Christians involved in the Great Commission through mission work must see the eternal purpose of God and desire to contribute to it. This demands that the end result of mission beyond the local church is to duplicate the life of the discipling center. This requires that those involved in mission work have a clear understanding of what they are producing. Are they merely continuing a form of church life that is top-down and clergy centered, or are they producing a body of believers who are being equipped to do their part?
Paul alluded to this process in his letter to the Ephesians: “…making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (1:9, 10). The word translated “plan” here is oikonomia from which we derive the word economy. It really means a divine plan designed by God for this present church age that will result in the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose. As Paul says here, it will result in the uniting of all things in Christ—the very essence of the eternal purpose.
Should we be so foolhardy as to do it our way when the Holy Spirit has designed a way before the foundation of the world? Many are realizing that much of what man devises in his fleshly cleverness is not producing the perfect will of God. I believe it’s time to repent and let God do it His way.
