Our Great Commission
By Pastor Cornelius R. Stam
Much is said of the “great commission” which our Lord gave to His
apostles just before His ascension. We wonder whether our readers have
ever examined the various records of this commission carefully.
This “great commission” does not say one word about “the preaching of
the cross” or “the gospel of the grace of God”. The “gospel” which they
were sent to preach was very evidently the same “gospel” they had been
preaching — the Gospel of the Kingdom — only they could now declare, as
Peter did at Pentecost, that the King had risen from the dead and would
still some day occupy the throne of David.
The “great commission” demanded faith and baptism for the remission
of sins (Mark 16:15,16); it included the power to heal the sick and work
miracles (16:17,18), but it did not include the glad message that “Christ died for our sins”
(ICor.15:1-3). At Pentecost, when Peter began to carry out this
commission, he rather blamed his hearers for the death of Christ and
when, convicted of their sins, they asked: “What shall we do?” he did notsay:
“Believe on Christ who died for your sins.” He rather commanded them to
“repent and be baptized every one…for the remission of sins” (Acts
2:38).
But after Christ and His Kingdom were again rejected, God interrupted the prophetic program and sent Paul forth to proclaim “the preaching of the cross” and “the gospel of the grace of God”. In II Corinthians 5: 14-21 this apostle proclaims “the love of Christ” who “died for all” and instructs us as to our“great commission”:
“And all things are of [provided by] God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, AND HATH GIVEN TO US THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION;
“To wit, that God was inChrist, reconciling the world unto Himself… AND HATH COMMITTED UNTO US THE WORD OF RECONCILIATION” (II Cor.5:18,19).
Read:
HE PROVED HE WAS GOD - Connie (Ashlock) Spivey 1997
Posted By Cecil and Connie Spivey
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