An Examining Of The Great Commission Religion Essay

An Examining Of The Great Commission Religion Essay â€Å"God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day, right up to the end of the age.† (Matt 28:18-20 The Message) â€Å"18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:   20Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. â€Å"(Matt 28:18-20 KJV) Introduction The Gospel of Matthew ends Jesus meeting with His apostles in Galilee. This was a special meeting and would change the course of world history in many ways. The meeting was foretold by Jesus in Matthew 26:31-32 : â€Å"31 Then Jesus said to them, â€Å"You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’ 32 But after I am raised up, hI will go before you to Galilee.† This meeting was announced both by an angel (Matt 28:78) and Jesus Himself (Matt28:10). It was a meeting filled with mixed emotions. Some had run away and others had denied Him before His death. Now He stood before them, alive. Their reaction was to bow down in worship (Matt 28:16-17) I was a meeting in which Jesus gave His disciples a command that we now refer to a the great commission. Someone once said that this was seen by many Christians as the great suggestion, but it is a command that lies at the heart of the Church and from which she operates. The command ends with the beautiful promise that He would always be with them. This is not something to be ignored, but to be a constant part of the C hurch’s functioning as well as that of every believer. I will be looking at what makes this commission so GREAT. I Great in its Authority To Jesus was given all authority. As the creator, He is the One who has the original right to do all things: â€Å"For by1 him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things were created through him and for him. And is before all things, and in him all things hold together.† (Colossians 1:16-1) What higher authority than the creator Himself to issue such a command. As our Redeemer, this authority is even more pronounced: â€Å"who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has hig hly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.†(Philippians2:6-11)