Therefore Go

...All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. ~Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV)

All too often the "therefores" of the Bible are overlooked. In Matthew 28:19, there is a very powerful "therefore". In fact, this "therefore" is pivotal. It was pivotal for the eleven disciples to whom Jesus spoke these words and today, it is just as powerfully pivotal.

At the time these words were spoken, the hearts of the eleven had experienced devastation after devastation. Their Teacher and Friend, the Messiah, Jesus, had been captured, mocked and beaten, crucified and buried. Now, His tomb was empty. Some said they had seen Him, that He had risen from the dead. The two Marys told of seeing Jesus. They relayed His message to the disciples: "Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me". (Matthew 28:10)

So the eleven went to Galilee. Matthew 28:17 tells us, When they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.   Jesus knew their hearts. He knew what they had witnessed, that they had experienced devastation after devastation. He knew their doubts. Soon, He would be going back to sit at the right hand of His Father, but right now He wanted to encourage them with His presence.

His presence proved the truth of His words. His life was His Word. By His very life, He was showing them His power, His authority over death. For He had died -- He was crucified -- and yet He was alive. Death had no hold on Him.

By His very presence, He showed them His all-encompassing authority. Then He told them: "All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me." In that moment, He wanted them to be impacted by two things: the encouragement of His presence and the limitlessness of His authority. After showing His authority and voicing His authority, He gives them the commission to Go: Go to every nation and tell them what I told you. Go and teach others about Me.

But in between the voicing of His authority and the giving of His commission enters that very powerful and pivotal "therefore". "All authority in heaven and earth is given to me. Therefore go..." Because of my authority, Go. Because I have limitless power, Go. You see, He was not sending them empty or impotent, He was sending them in His power. He was not telling them to Go for Him, He was telling them He would Go through them.

As a reminder of the encouragement of His presence and the limitlessness of His authority, He says: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.". These words were a double reminder, for before His crucifixion He had promised them that in His physical absence His Spirit would come and live with them and be in them. (John 14:15-18, John 15:26, John 16:7-8,12-15)

It was very important for the disciples to grasp the limitlessness of Jesus' authority, for that very authority would live within them and would provide everything needed to accomplish all that had been commanded. If they were to "Go" without that authority, they would fail.

Before Jesus ascended to His Father, He expressed the crucial need for the commission to be worked out in His authority. He told his disciples, "I am going to send you what my Father promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." (Luke 24:49) Jesus wanted them to do nothing apart from Him, just as He had done nothing apart from His Father. (John 14:9-11) In His physical absence, the disciples needed to wait for the Father to send them His Spirit, then the commission could be carried out as intended.

As I mentioned earlier, the power of that "therefore" was not just for the eleven. It is for every follower of Christ. We, too, have been given the commission to Go, but our commission must be coupled with the authority of Christ. Without such authority, the commission is worthless.

When we believed on Christ as our Savior, we were given the Spirit, but the Spirit does not make us walk in His authority. Walking in the Spirit's authority is something we must choose to do every moment of every day. It is something that can only take place through faith. By choosing to believe Christ's authority in this moment and every moment that follows, the product of the commission is solidified. Do I have limitless confidence in the limitless authority of Christ?

He is the Answer to His Commission, therefore, encouraged in His presence, confidently equipped by His limitless authority, Go.

Great Faith, Part II

The humility with which the centurion approached Jesus makes me think of the words of Philippians 2:6-8. Describing Jesus Christ, this passage says: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross!

Jesus did not demand or cling to His rights as God. He sacrificially released these rights so that He could pay the price for the sins of all mankind. Jesus believed God's plan. He showed that He believed God's plan by submitting to God's authority. In speaking with the Father about the need to pay the world's sin debt, Jesus says, "...if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." (Matthew 26:39)

Jesus' very life taught great faith. His life was about fulfilling God's will on earth as it was fulfilled in heaven. He recognized the authority of His loving Father and surrendered every claim of entitlement. If anyone could claim entitlement, it was Him, but He released everything to the Father: His body, His reputation, His equality -- all of it was relinquished without expectation. He felt the freedom to say, "Father, I really would like to pass on this one, isn't there another way?" But He did not have expectations regarding God's answer. He knew God loved Him, so He knew God's response would be good, not harmful, and would be marked by love. Period.

Jesus was mocked, beaten and crucified... How can you possibly say God's plan for Jesus was good and not harmful? It may have been good for us, but good for Him?

While Jesus' act of surrender fulfilled God's plan of redemption, it also was the act of faith which effected God's good plan for Him. Though mocked, beaten and crucified, Christ did not stay in the grave. He rose on the third day, and Philippians 2:9-11 tells us that God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. It is true, Jesus relinquished every possession, but He sits now at the right hand of His Father and will ultimately be given the possession of all things.

God's plan is always for the good of those that love Him. This is what Christ wants us to grasp: Great faith, recognizing God's authority over every part of our lives and relinquishing every thought of entitlement, precedes great fulfillment. God loves His children and wants to give them everything that is good, but ultimate fulfillment can only be realized through great faith.

Like the centurion, Jesus wants our lives to be described by the greatness of our faith, for great faith renders all glory to a great God.

Great Faith, Part I

This week I was struck by the story of the centurion in Luke 7:1-10. The Lord used the centurion's story to add a new facet to my understanding of faith.

While we are not given the name of the centurion, we are given a very distinct and positive picture of this man: He is not a Jew. He is a Roman soldier, a symbol of Roman occupation within the Jewish homeland. But despite his position as a centurion, he has formed relationships with the Jews (vs. 5) even to the extent that he has built them a synagogue. He is a man who has authority over others (vs. 8), and yet he values those under his authority.

This is a man of character. A man, who upon finding his servant ill, has a desire to see him restored to health. This centurion has heard of Jesus. He knows Jesus has healed others of varying diseases and ailments, so he sends Jewish elders to ask Jesus to come and heal his servant.

After hearing the elders plead with Him on behalf of the centurion, Jesus accompanies the elders to the centurion's house. As Jesus and the elders approach the house, the centurion sends friends out to say these words to Jesus, "Lord, don't trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with servants under me, I tell this one 'Go' and he goes; and that one 'Come' and he comes. I say to my servant, 'Do this' and he does it."

These are powerful and humble words. Words filled with an understanding of authority. Jesus is amazed by these words. He tells all those following Him that He has not found faith this great in all of Israel. The friends, who had been sent to talk with Jesus, then return to the centurion's house. Upon returning, they find the servant has been healed.

Jesus said the centurion had great faith. What made his faith great? He believed that Jesus could heal his servant, but there was a deeper level to his faith than just believing Jesus could heal. This centurion recognized Jesus' authority. He knew Jesus needed only to say "Go" and the illness would go from his servant's body. Not only that, he recognized that Jesus did not need to be in the servant's presence in order to heal him. He knew that if Jesus said the word it would be done. Period. This shows that he understood that Jesus' authority was unlike any other authority.

The centurion realized Jesus was the Answer to his servant's need, but he did not feel entitled to that Answer. He sought Jesus with humble recognition of His authority.

Part II will soon follow.....

Soul-Generosity, Part II

By surrendering to God's truth over our own fear-filled feelings and emotions, our store of seed is increased and the harvest of our righteousness is enlarged. Simply put, the seed of God's Word is fertilized by our belief thus enabling Christ's fruitfulness to explode through our lives.

When we trust and surrender to God, our soul becomes fat and fortified. We are filled with the means to be soul generous. II Corinthians 9:11 says, You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion. To be full of His fruit and overflowing in the richness of His ways is what God desires for each of His children.

He will provide the fortitude, patience, perseverance, kindness, love, etc. that is needed for every occasion. As we believe Him, He supplies everything needed for life and godliness! Along with this, since He is the Storehouse of our soul-generosity, we need not be concerned that our resources will be depleted. Our Storehouse cannot be drained of any resource, so as long as our connnection to the Storehouse is free and unhindered, our supply of soul fruit will thrive.

Yet, it is very important to remember that this fruit is not being cultivated within us so that we can hoard it for ourselves. We are graced so that we may grace others. God wants us to give His generosity to others, to grace them with His love....to be generous in our outlook of others, as God is toward us, for the more soul-generosity we give, the more God will harvest His righteousness within us.

As we rest in God's fruit, through belief and surrendered acceptance, His Spirit will then have a smooth, unobstructed path to express Himself through us -- this is truth being expressed through frailty, light flowing out of a tarnished glass.

I know that of myself, I am ungenerous. Generosity does not flow freely from me, but God has an unending flow -- With God as my confidence and strength, I can walk into any situation with open generosity of soul. God is my shield and my refuge, so I do not need to protect myself. If others do not respond generously toward me nevertheless God always will, for it is His very nature to be generous. Any generosity of soul that is realized through me is of Him and unto His glory. As I trust God's generous nature, I will be equipped to give generously on every occasion.

Soul-Generosity, Part I

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion.... II Corinthians 9:10-11

God provides in abundant ways. His provision may come in the form of a needed amount of money, it may be that He stretches the monetary and physical resources that He has already provided, or it could mean that He defies all logic by allowing that old vehicle to start up every morning. God loves providing for His children. He has promised to provide our material and physical needs. But the most priceless provision that God promises to His children is provision of the soul. I have come to see that provision of the soul is my greatest need. Because such provision flows directly from my connection to God, it will always be His primary focus in my life.

As II Corinthians 9:10 says, God desires to enlarge the harvest of my righteousness. In other words, He wants my life to be brimming with soul fruit. He does not only want fruit to flow from my life, He wants MUCH fruit to flow from my life. This soul fruit is what Paul describes in Galatians 5:22-23: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I know this list of soul fruit -- I even desire to be a producer of soul fruit -- but there seems to be a big disconnect between my soul desire and my soul production....perhaps my soul was not equipped with the instructions for fruit-production.....

No, I know this is not the case. I understand that once a soul is in Christ, that soul immediately begins producing fruit, but the amount of soul-fruit production is determined by belief. Unbelief drastically affects soul-fruit production. Do I believe the Provider of this fruit over my own feelings and emotions? Do I want to live His truth more than I want my own way? How many times have I chosen my own way over His and yet still expected Him to empower me? How many times have I chosen selfishness when God wanted to fill me with love and kindness or chosen fearfulness when God wanted to fill me with faithfulness?

When I am choosing my own way, these fruits cannot be harvested in my life. Faith-full-ness cannot be enlarged in me if I am living in fear-full-ness. II Timothy 1:3 says that I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. This is a promise, but in order to receive the bounty of this promise, I must believe this promise. A sound mind filled with love and power is waiting to be realized, not only in my life, but in the life of every Christian.

By grace through faith, such fruits are part of every believer's inheritance in Christ -- will we bend our fear-filled hearts and allow the truth of God to reign supreme in our lives?

Part II will soon follow......