Following His resurrection, just before He ascended into heaven, Jesus left His earthly ministry in the hands of His disciples, with clear and specific commissions.
The First Commission to His disciples: GO to every CREATURE—Make BELIEVERS!
Mark 16:15–18 15 And He said to them, “Go INTO all the world and preach (kerusso – herald, proclaim) the gospel (the good news) to every CREATURE (kitsis – INDIVIDUAL of creation, not creation as a whole).
I believe this is the physical manifestation of what Jesus was foreshadowing in the Parable of the Sower: “A sower went out to sow (Mat.13:3, Mk.4:3, Lk.8:5)”—“The sower sows the Word (Mk.4:14)!” The “ground” in the parable represents individual hearts in various spiritual conditions—some good and others not. When an individual of the world humbly receives the seed of the Word, before he realizes it, that seed begins to take root and grow in his heart, to and He becomes a believer. Soon, the believer who has received seed from a sower of the Word becomes a sower himself. He then goes forth and shares his testimony and the Good News of Jesus he has received with others so they too might become believers. The cycle can then repeat itself over and over.
This First Commission of Christ is about focusing ministry FIRST on the INDIVIDUAL. THE HEART is the starting place of an entirely NEW LIFE—Being a BORN-AGAIN BELIEVER! It’s the place of not only a change of INDIVIDUAL thinking, but also a change of INDIVIDUAL occupancy. No longer am I the sole occupant of my heart, but Christ moves in with me. This was His plan from the beginning, but until now, it was a mystery not only for the Jews, but now revealed for the Gentiles. Paul stated it this way:
Colossians 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ IN you, the hope of glory. (NKJV)
2 Corinthians 5:17-21 17 Therefore If any man be IN Christ, he is a new CREATURE (kitsis – individual of creation): old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (KJV)
16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (NKJV)
But notice: nowhere in scripture does Jesus say that baptism has any power to save you (only FAITH IN JESUS can do that)! Neither does He say that casting out demons, speaking with tongues, or laying hands on the sick can save you either! These are all outward signs that something supernatural has happened on the inside—in the heart of the believer IN Christ. But these signs also testify of an outward change as well. That change is described by the English word “saved,” and even more by the Greek word “sozo,” which means to save, deliver, protect, heal, preserve, and make whole. Do you see how these outward signs are all expressions of the salvation which has occurred IN the BELIEVER? Knowing this, who wouldn’t want to become a believer in Jesus and be saved? That’s why Jesus commissioned/commanded His disciples to GO to every CREATURE—Make BELIEVERS!
The Second Commission to His disciples: GO to all NATIONS—Make DISCIPLES!
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He spelled out another thing He wanted His disciples to do. Theologians have called this “The Great Commission.”
Matthew 28:16–20: 16 Then (after the resurrection) the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain (symbol of authority) which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the NATIONS (not only the Jews), baptizing them in (into) the name (giving them the authority) of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them (obedience, by example) to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am WITH you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Jesus commissioned/commanded His disciples to MAKE DISCIPLES by giving them AUTHORITY and teaching them OBEDIENCE, and then assuring them that Jesus Himself will be WITH them always! Remember: Jesus is IN the BELIEVER and then WITH the DISCIPLES!
This takes the First Commission which is about salvation and making BELIEVERS of Jesus to the next level. This commission is about giving believers the AUTHORITY of the Godhead, teaching OBEDIENCE to Christ, The WORD. and making DISCIPLES FOR Christ.
What seems obvious to me is that Jesus commissioned them to GO and make disciples for Him, NOT make disciples for themselves, for a certain church, or particular denomination. Sadly, many souls have been spiritually kidnaped and robbed of their freedom and rightful relationship with Christ and the Triune Godhead by leaders who acted not like Paul, who selflessly fathered many sons after the Spirit, but rather like Laben, who selfishly used Jacob for his own gain and made him his slave after the flesh. And shame on those leaders who robbed “their disciples” of the Truth by preaching against the Holy Spirit and teaching that the Five-Fold Ministry is no longer in existence, and that prophesy, divine healings, and the supernatural gifts and manifestations of the Spirit died with the apostles. According to them, all we have now is the Bible, which they proudly interpret for us using their powerless intellectual theology and carnal natural reasoning. Woe unto them for not only robbing these countless individuals of their gifts, callings, and heavenly rewards, but also for robbing Christ of many sons, as well as the entire Kingdom of God, which includes every one of us.
Ultimately, we are seeing many more believers becoming disciples and then many disciples living forever in His Word, knowing the truth (Jesus is the TRUTH) and the Truth making them free.
John 8:31-32 31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 14:12–18 12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask IN My name (this is the result of my baptism into the God-Head AUTHORITY of the Disciple), that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything IN My name, I will do it.
The Promise of the Spirit
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—17 the Spirit of TRUTH, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells WITH you and will be IN you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you (the DISCIPLES promise – “I will be WITH you!”). (NKJV)