Jesus’ so-called “Great Commission” that we find in Matthew 28:18-20 is a familiar passage. In it Jesus commands His followers to “Go.” Jesus received the authority to give this command from His Father, and He endows His followers with His authority to carry the command out boldly and confidently. Jesus command carries with it the promise that we do not “go” alone to fulfill His command, but that He will be with us always.
As Jesus entered Jerusalem for the last time riding on a donkey, the crowd awaiting His arrival called for Him to save them, shouting Hosanna. Almost every one of them recognized that Jesus’ arrival fulfilled the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 about a coming King who would come riding on a donkey to bring them salvation. But the hope that Jesus came to fulfill wasn’t political salvation for Israel from the oppression of their Roman occupiers as most of His greeters expected, but spiritual salvation for all mankind out of death in our sins and into eternal life in the glory of God’s presence.
In this series of messages, we have examined God’s love. We found that God is love by His very nature. God manifested His love in the world when Jesus – God the Son – was embodied in the flesh of the man Jesus of Nazareth. God’s Spirit fills the heart of every believer with His love in the hour we first believe. On the evening He was betrayed to be crucified, Jesus demonstrated the sacrificial love we are to offer people when He washed His disciples feet, then He gave them (and us) a “new” commandment, that we are to love one another just as He has loved us, saying that all people would recognize by our love that we are His disciples.
When Jesus’ disciples asked who is the greatest in His Kingdom, Jesus showed them a little child and proclaimed that if we don’t come to Him with childlike faith, we cannot even enter His Kingdom, much less be great in it. We can do nothing to earn our salvation. We must simply believe in Him and His Gospel unreservedly as an innocent child believes.
As we celebrate Fathers Day, it is helpful to look at how Jesus modeled His own relationship with His father during His ministry on Earth. The defining characteristic of that relationship is connection. Jesus was in continual communication with His Father as He accomplished the mission on Earth that He was given by God the Father. Then, by dying on the cross in our place, Jesus made the way for us to enter into that same kind of relationship with God.
In finishing up our series on God’s grace, it’s important to remember that it is certainly God’s grace alone through which we are saved out of death in our sins – His saving grace, and His grace is sufficient for us to carry us through whatever we might encounter in this life – His sustaining grace. Along the way, God’s grace is perfecting us day-by-day into the very image of God’s Son Jesus – His sanctifying grace. Finally, throughout this life and our eternal life to come, God’s grace is and will forever be poured out in infinite measure upon His children who have believed on the Name and Gospel of Jesus for salvation – God’s securing grace.
sustaining grace, God will always provide for our needs and give us the strength we need to sustain us through times of hardship. Jesus Himself confirmed this truth in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:25-34). Yet we must be careful to note that God never promised that we would not encounter troubles in this life, but that by His infinite grace He will always sustain us through them.
God has chosen each of His followers for His specific purposes. Some of us will seem to move from blessing to blessing while others will have to endure seemingly endless sorrows and frustrations. From time to time, most of us question God’s purposes as we make our way along the path God has ordained for us. We are tempted to compare our own lives with those of others – particularly other believers. In such seasons, we need to always remember that God is sovereign in all things and He is always working His perfect plans in our lives and through our lives. So instead of comparing our own circumstances with those of others, we must seek to learn God’s purpose in the things He has led us to and move confidently in assurance that whatever God has led us to He will also lead us through for His own glory.
The final three of Jesus’ chosen twelve apostles – James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the sealot, and Thaddaeus – are largely unsung. Almost nothing is written in God’s Word about them apart from the listings of their names among the twelve. Yet we know Jesus chose them specifically for His own perfect reasons. Therefore, they serve as encouragement to those who quietly serve the kingdom of God without any fanfare.
Matthew was by profession a collaborator with the hated Roman occupiers, and tax collectors in general were seen as extortioners and oppressors. Jesus chose Matthew in part due to his skills as a scribe. Matthew immediately and completely obeyed Jesus’ command to follow Him.
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Mt. Freedom Baptist Church
