In the last entry of this series we took the first big step in identifying the personal calling and equipping of God. We took care to ask, and answer, the question of the meaning of life itself—and only in about 2000 words, eat your heart out Plato! That is quite an achievement if you ask me, however we are only getting started. Last time we concluded that in order to know what God has called you to, personally and specifically, you must know and do what God has called all men everywhere to do; glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. However, you cannot hope but miserably fail in that first task if you yet remain in your sin. To begin to know what God has called you to do for Him in His Kingdom you must be born again, repent, and be washed in the blood of Jesus.
Read Part 1: Man’s Highest Calling
What is God’s general command to His Church?
What does one do if he is a Christian; saved by the grace of God, and confidently assured that he is right with God because he is justified by faith in Jesus’ atonement? To the brother or sister asking that question we come to the general command to the whole of Christ’s bride. This familiar passage should suffice to get us in the right direction.
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
– Matthew 28:18-20
This is the Great Commission. It is the final word and command of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew, before ascending to take His rightful place at the right hand of the Father. The “Great Commission” passage is a direct command to the eleven apostles of Jesus, but it carries an ongoing instruction and authoritative decree on how the subsequent generations of Jesus’ disciples are to conduct themselves in preparation for and looking to His final advent.
In issuing this command to His apostles, Jesus first states the qualification of His power and authority. Often Christians reading this passage miss that most important point. In verse 17 of this chapter we are told some of the apostles are doubtful whether the man in front of them really is the resurrected Jesus. In response to this and, I assume, to put their doubt at ease, prior to issuing the command, Jesus reminds them unequivocally who it is that is speaking. This is the King of Israel, and not just Israel, this is the King of all creation! Jesus possesses ALL authority, in heaven; over the angels and spiritual creatures, and on earth; even over the most wicked tyrannical Caesar to ever come to power.
Make disciples of every nation
After declaring His authority, Jesus gives the command to His apostles: make disciples of every nation of the world, baptizing them in the name of the only God, the Triune God, and finally to teach them to remember and keep the commands of their lord, Jesus. Now, considering this great commission passage, which I assume most, if not all, readers are familiar with, I ask; “why?” To what end do we keep this command? I mean, what is our final goal to carry out this commission, or perhaps a better way to ask is, what is Jesus’ ultimate end and goal in the making of disciples? Is our main goal in this task just to save souls of sinners? Is the chief goal of Christ’s atonement and resurrection only that some damned sinners may have eternal life? I must remind you, the last time we dealt with a question like this some folks might have had their hands pinched. Remember, God did not create you for your own sake, or because you, creature of dirt, make His perfect infinite being so much more exquisite. No, your existence, and that of all men from all history, has been to magnify the glory of God, whether in the lavishing of sweet grace upon the unworthy elect saint, or the exhibition of just wrath against the haughty unrepentant sinner (Romans 9:22-24).
God has a much higher end in mind to the salvation of sinners, and thus the command of the Great Commission. The Great Commission, which is the work of the entire universal Church throughout redemptive history, is more than the proclamation of God’s rich beautiful love and mercy—though the preaching of these is required. The calling of the church of Jesus Christ, and therefore every living Christian, is for the uncompromising, unbending, proclamation of Jesus Christ’s universal dominion! So, the command to the whole of the Church, by Jesus’ words to His apostles, is a command to conquer in Jesus name! To take dominion, and shatter strongholds, yet not as the pagan Caesar would do, in the strength of his own arrogant might, through war and ravaging, but instead through the uncompromising, unbending, unchanging power of God; His Word, the Gospel of His Kingdom, and the strength and power of His Holy Spirit to give dead men life!
A proclamation of willing submission
Think carefully of the depth of this passage. Jesus declares His authority, His dominion, over all creation, and then He tells us to go into the nations and make disciples out of them. This is a mission to go infiltrate, behind enemy lines, and steal away men and women to defect from their old master and follow Jesus, the true King. The command to baptize is not just an institution of an ordinance of tradition with no special purpose. Without attempting to explain the depth of the ordinance of baptism and everything communicated in its administration, the baptism of one person into another’s name is a submission to authority under that one in whom they are baptized. So, baptizing a new disciple in the name of the Triune God is a declaration of defection from their old gods and masters, and proclamation of willing submission to the Living God, the One and Only YHWH. The Great Commission, then, is a command to, and an instruction in carrying out, spiritual insurrection, under the authority of Jesus Christ, by the power and might of His Holy Spirit. This is precisely what Jesus means when He speaks of the binding of the strong man in Luke 11:21-22.
“When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder.”
– Luke 11:21-22
Christ has bound, and is binding (or keeping bound), by His great authority, the strong man (Satan) so that we, Christ’s agents and follower may enter by His authority and steal away those children of God whom the strong man previously had dominion over. Brothers and sisters, this is precisely what God is doing in Haiti through His humble servants, by the power of His Word! Devils, formerly possessing a seemingly full dominion over the island country of Haiti, are bound and being bound in Jesus’ name by His power and authority! They are unable to deceive many of these people any longer, and their followers and worshippers are being led away by the Holy Spirit to Jesus Christ! Houses of devils and demons are being leveled, and Christ is strengthening and purifying His bride to His glory.
The general calling of the Christian life is to labor considering this reality:
“But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep…For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For HE HAS PUT ALL THINGS IN SUBJECTION UNDER HIS FEET…When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”
– 1 Corinthians 15:20-28
Therefore
Jesus Commands us, by His power and authority, to spread the influence of His Kingdom. We are to work so that Jesus, who has dominion over all creation, would display His power throughout the world, to the glory of His name, and the shame of His enemies. Therefore, we preach the gospel! Therefore, we send missionaries! Therefore, we, husbands, shepherd our wife as He does His bride! Therefore, parents, you prepare your children to continue this work, to the ultimate end of Christ’s atonement, His own eternal glory!
Christian, as you ask the question; “what has God called me to in this life,” consider these general commands. God has commanded all men to repent and be reconciled through the blood of Jesus. To the Christian there is a command of ongoing pursuit of holiness, and a mission to go into the world to take dominion in Jesus name by the preaching of the Gospel and only by the power of the Holy Spirit. All of that being part of, and secondary to, that chief end of man, which is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
In the next installment of this blog we will look at what the scripture teaches of specific roles within the church body to walk faithfully in that command. But in the time between installments consider this; is the work which you desire to enter for the glory of the Son, that His name only would be praised, or is it for your glory, that you would be praised? Is it so that men and women will be pricked in their conscience by the Holy Spirit, and brought to their knees in repentance at the splendor of the grace and mercy of God, or is it instead an attempt to sedate your own conscience against the conviction of the Holy Spirit for sin in your life? Is the labor you wish to enter consistent with the general command that Christ gave to His Church, or are you inventing a new role for yourself?
“Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”
– Romans 12:1-3