The mission of the Church is to proclaim the Good News of God’s Kingdom to all nations without exception until Jesus returns – Matthew 24:14.
Jesus commanded his followers
to announce the same message he preached. He summarized it as the “Good News
of the Kingdom of God.” His Church would spread this Kingdom on Earth in
unexpected and paradoxical ways. His sovereignty over all nations would be
established and his “enemies” would be subdued by the day of his return.
Until then, his disciples were summoned to proclaim his message to the “ends
of the Earth.”
All men are invited to accept his
offer of life and salvation while the door remains open. The day will come when
it will be too late, and all men and women who reject his gracious gift will
find their names excluded from the “Lamb’s Book of Life.”
 |
| [Photo by Nejc Soklič on Unsplash] |
Embracing his message means a complete reorientation of life. Absolute commitment to him is mandatory. Nothing is more important than responding to his call to believe the “Good News,” take up the cross, and follow him “wherever he leads.”
Through his Death and Resurrection,
Jesus defeated the forces that were hostile to God, including Satan, Death, the
“powers and principalities,” and Sin. His Resurrection and the
outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost signaled the start of his
reign from the “right hand of God” - (Psalm 2:2-8, 110:1).
His Death and
Resurrection also meant the arrival of the period known as the “Last Days.”
Therefore, the “forms of this age are passing away.” Sin and Death may persist
for a time, but the decisive victory was achieved on the Cross. The Gift of the
Spirit granted to the Church is irrefutable evidence of his conquest of his
enemies.
God confirmed Satan's defeat by
raising Jesus from the Dead. Since then, he has been putting down the “powers
and principalities” that oppose him. He will continue doing so until all
that remains is the unopposed rule of God - (1 Corinthians 15:20-28, Hebrews
1:5-14, Revelation 1:4-6).
Before he ascended
to Heaven, Jesus commanded his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until “they
received power after the Holy Spirit came upon them.” They would then be his
“witnesses… to the ends of the earth” - (Matthew 28:18-20, Luke
24:45-48, Acts 1:7-9, 3:19-21).
His disciples are his “witnesses,”
his envoys commissioned to call all men to enter his Kingdom, and to
preach “repentance and the remission of sins in his name among all the nations.”
This mission must continue until the “end” when he appears.
None of this means that we should disengage from the world. Far from it! But we are called to help humanity by preaching the Gospel and living cruciform lives. Without his salvation, the world would remain forever in darkness and without hope.
Before his death, Jesus predicted
the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. In response, the disciples asked when
that would occur, and what would be the “sign” of the “Coming
of the Son of Man.” To the first question, he replied, before the end of
the generation contemporary with him. To the second, he warned, no
one except God alone knows the hour, day, “season,”
“seasons” or “times” of his return - (also, Mark 13:30-33, Acts
1:6-9).
The one factor that will determine
“when” he returns is the completion of the Gospel mission by the Body of
Christ - “This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole
habitable earth for a testimony for all nations, and then shall the end
come” - (Matthew 24:14, 24:36, Acts 1:6-8).
Finishing this task is the “sign”
of the “end” since the end of this age will not come until the completion
of the Church’s mission. It is not optional but pivotal to the consummation of
all things and the redemption of humanity.
The fact that the “end”
has not arrived is indisputable evidence that our mission remains unfinished. Jesus
will not return until his message has reached the furthest corners of the Earth,
“as a testimony.” Therefore, all who wait anxiously for his “appearance”
must, above all else, preach the Gospel!
[PDF Copy]
SEE ALSO:
- Voice in the Wilderness - (The Kingdom of God arrived in the ministry of Jesus, commencing with his baptism in the Jordan River by John the Baptist – Mark 1:1-3)
- The Kingdom Herald - (After his baptism, the Spirit drove Jesus to the wilderness to be tested by the Devil. But he overcame and succeeded where Israel failed)