The Great Commission
December 28, 2011

"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).

These incomparable words were spoken by Christ on a mountain in Galilee (v. 16), sometime after His resurrection.  He had already told His disciples while they were still gathered in the upper room: "As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you" (John 20:21).  Then the sense of His instruction on the mountain was: "As you go into the world, you are to make disciples in every nation."

What an amazing thing to ask of such a small, unpromising group of followers.  Yet, soon afterward, on the Mount of Olives, He made this command an actual prophecy: "Ye shall be witnesses unto me . . . unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:.  This absurdly impossible prophecy seemingly could never be carried out by such a motley group, but somehow it has! There are today millions of followers of Christ, some in practically every nation on earth.  The prophecy seemed humanly impossible, but the Holy Spirit of God came upon them in great power, and He has been with Christ's witnesses in every age since.

Not only the Spirit of God, but also the Father and the Son. New disciples were, in fact, to be identified as such by baptism in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One name, yet three names!  The three are each equally and fully God, and each is vitally involved in the redemption, guidance, and ultimate glorification of each believer.  "For through |Christ| we both |that is, Jew and Gentile| have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18).  Someday the Great Commission will have been completed, and all the disciples from every land and every age will assemble in praise to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the heavenly "city of the living God" (Hebrews 12:22). HMM

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