“Then He said to them, You must now preach the Good News to the whole world, to all creation. The one who believes and is immersed will be delivered/saved.” (Mark 16:15-16 ONM)
The topic scripture has always been titled “The Great Commission.” This was the instructions Jesus gave right before His ascension to heaven.
The Oxford dictionary defines commission as: an instruction, command, or duty to a person or group of people. It also states that a commission is to act as an informer for a task, employment, job, mission, undertaking, duty, charge, responsibility and marching orders. In the commission, the order and authorization given to a person or organization is to engage, contract, charge, employ, hire, recruit, retain, appoint, enlist, book, and sign up. To sum it up, both parties, person or organization, are ordered and authorized to produce.
The main thing that Jesus commissioned was for us to preach the Gospel; which is the Good News. The crux of the problem we are experiencing now, in many instances, the Good News no longer seems to be the main thing. We now have healing ministries, prophetic ministries, deliverance ministries, prosperity ministries, etc.., which are not the main thing. After Jesus commissioned us to preach the Good News, there is a period after the statement. He then stated that all the signs and wonders would be evidence of the believer fulfilling His commission. “And those going out preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word through signs following after” (Mark 16:20 ONM). Jesus said in Mark 16:17-18 that signs would follow those who believe. Every sign that He mentioned are the gifts of the Spirit. Paul also lists the spiritual gifts given by the Holy Spirit, in which we exercised them in our ministry of the Gospel. The gifts of the Spirit are symbols of the believers of Christ, the risen and glorified Head. They are the spiritual enablement for a specific service as we engage in our Good News commission. Jesus had to address the seventy whom He had sent out, when they came back jumping up and down about the demons that they had casted out. He let them know that the power and authority which had enabled them, was His power and authority (Luke 10:17-20). “Notwithstanding, in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you, but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20). Jesus then responded to them to keep the main thing the main thing; eternal life. One of the greatest example of signs and wonders following a believer would be Evangelists Billy Graham and Oral Roberts. When they preached the Gospel and salvation in crusades and tent meetings, many miracles, healings and deliverances happened. They kept the main thing the main thing; Jesus Christ the Savior.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of the Heavens, but the one who does the will of My Father, the One in the heavens. Many will say to Me in that Day, ‘Lord, Lord!’ Did we not prophesy in Your name? And we cast out demons in Your name, and we did many miracles n Your name?” And then I will declare to them that “I never knew you; you working without Torah (Teaching) must continually depart from Me” (Luke 7:21-23 ONM). So Jesus is still letting us know it’s still not the empowered gifts that He is looking for but our completed commission of preaching the Good News. That word “knew” in this passage means intimacy. So in order to spread the Gospel we have to have a relationship with the One we are declaring. So in the end Jesus will be looking for those who have kept the main thing the main thing.
From Genesis to Revelation the main thing has always been the Good News of Jesus Christ; the Messiah our Savior. So let’s keep The Main Thing the Main Thing!
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