Are You Following Your Marching Orders?
The voices can be bewildering. Just turn on the TV for 20 minutes and you get a dozen or more suggestions and directions, some subtle, others not so much. Wouldn't it be great if we could get some clear and compelling focus for our lives? This week Ken Boa reminds us of what that is...
Ernie
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Marching Orders
by Ken Boa
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.”
We all get marching orders at some point in life. An army battalion receives orders to help quell a disturbance in an overseas location. A company transfers a trusted employee to a new city to open a branch office. A warehouse supervisor directs his staff to complete an inventory. Parents discuss with their teens how they can enjoy an uninterrupted supper hour and a family devotional time afterwards. Marching orders reveal the character of the ones issuing them and help determine the purpose of the ones receiving them.
The church of Jesus Christ has marching orders as well. They are expressed in various ways in each of the four Gospels and in Acts (Matthew 28:18–20; Mark 16:15–16; Luke 24:46–48; John 20:21; Acts 1:8). These orders are commonly referred to, collectively, as the Great Commission. Like all marching orders, the Great Commission expresses something about the One from whom the orders come, and what will occupy the time and energy of those to whom the orders are given.
Matthew’s account of the Great Commission teaches us that God’s plan and purpose for the church—to spread the gospel and disciple the nations—flows out of His authority (“All authority . . . has been given to me”; Matthew 28:18) and His presence (“I am with you always, to the very end of the age”; 28:20). God’s ultimate purpose on earth has always been to invite people to enter into a relationship with Him. Those who know Him reach out to tell others.
For example, God told the Jewish patriarch Jacob almost the exact same thing that Jesus told the disciples: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac” (God’s authority; Genesis 28:13) and “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go” (God’s presence; Genesis 28:15). And where were Jacob and his descendants going? To spread out to the north, south, east, and west so that “all peoples on earth will be blessed through [them]” (Genesis 28:14).
So Jacob had his marching orders, and so do we as members of the church of Jesus Christ today. If we are Christians, they are part of our purpose for living. Telling the world about God’s love is no small order. Thankfully, we are not left on our own in fulfilling our purpose. God’s power and presence ensure that, as we “march” in step with Him, we will succeed.
God’s Promise: He has called you to no purpose greater than His provision.
Ken Boa, kenboa.org is engaged in a ministry of relational evangelism and discipleship, teaching, writing, and speaking. He holds a BS from Case Institute of Technology, a ThM from Dallas Theological Seminary, a PhD from New York University, and a DPhil from the University of Oxford in England.
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