August 06 2025

Wednesday August 06

Jesus Gives Us the Great Commission

Luke 24:46-49

46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."

We're continuing to look at the last verses of Luke 24. In these verses, Jesus gives His last words to His disciples before He ascends into heaven. It is what we call the Great Commission, the commission to go into all the world and share the gospel with every creature. We have this recorded in Matthew 28:19-20. There Jesus said, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations." In Mark 16:15, “And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature”.

And here in Luke's Gospel, verse 46, “Then He said to them, "Thus it is written and thus it was necessary for Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day." This is essence of the gospel. Then Jesus says in verse 47, not that this is just a historical event that a few people might be saved, but, my friend, “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”. For a person to come to Christ, they must turn. That's what repentance means. Turn from their sin, turn from the world, turn from their self, and turn to God. Turn from religion, turn from good works, and turn to God, God alone, and the name of Jesus Christ.

Then it says they'll receive “remission of sins”. Their sins will be removed from them as far as the east is from the west. My friend, how simple can God's salvation be? Simply turn to Him and you will receive forgiveness of sins as you repent, as you turn, as you believe, as you trust, as you receive Him. You become a son of God. John 1:12. And then He goes on to say here, "And you are witnesses of these things." In Acts chapter 4, when Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin and told they could not preach anymore in the name of Jesus, they proclaimed, "For there is salvation in no other name. For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." It's only the name of Jesus. His name means Savior. His name means Deliverer. He is the only one who can deliver us, save us from our sins.

That's why Jesus came. Jesus said. “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).  In John's gospel, the Great Commission is also given in John 20:21, He said, "Peace be to you. As the Father has sent Me, even so send I you." My friend, you and I as followers of Christ, believers in His great salvation, have been sent and commissioned by Jesus Himself. Now we have the opportunity to be witnesses unto Him. In other words, He is the one who does the witnessing.

Jesus tells us, "Behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you. But tarry in Jerusalem till you be endued with power from on high”. This is the authority of the Holy Spirit, God Himself in us. We are on mission with God. God is always at work in this world to reveal Himself. God is speaking to people's hearts and lives today. There people with empty hearts living aimless lives seeking in their hearts to know the truth. And God is ready to connects you with them because where the Master is, there will His servant be also.

 Oh, what a privilege it has been for me these 50 years to be on mission with God and experience His Holy Spirit bring dear people to Jesus and save their souls. I love these verses in the book of Daniel 12:2-3 that give us a great promise. “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever”.

Proverbs 11:30 says, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that wins souls is wise." My friend, you can't take anything to heaven with you. Your money, your fame, everything gets left behind. The only can take to heaven are the souls, those precious lives that you share Jesus and His wonderful Gospel message with. Who are you taking to heaven with you?

Over the next few days, we're going to be talking about the Great Commission and the task before us today in this world of 8 billion people, and how you can be a special part of it. I trust that by God’s grace you will be a part of turning many to righteousness, and one day you'll shine like the stars forever.

God bless!