“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 have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20).
“So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed” (Mark 16:19-20).
The gospel writers, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, made sure to include Jesus’ final instructions just before He ascended to sit at the Father’s right hand. It’s clear from Scripture that Jesus came with a mission in mind. After calling Zacchaeus to salvation, He tells us plainly, “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
All of history led up to the events of His death, burial, and resurrection, and just before He returned to His glorious, rightful place in heaven, He passed the baton to His followers to bear witness that the mission of salvation has been accomplished.
This is our Great Commission from our Lord Jesus Christ: to take the gospel to the world.
As we read the different accounts of Jesus’ last few days on earth, we are given a picture of the sovereignty of God, and how believing in His sovereignty will impact our success in carrying out the mission He has entrusted to us.
Psalm 103:19 tells us “the Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all.” The Hebrew word “sovereignty” is malḵûṯ, translated “kingdom” in the King James Version. It refers to royal power, dominion, or reign. It is the picture of a king’s authority over all under His reign – the people, places, and possessions that belong to Him. God is the ultimate authority, the Most High God, the Creator of all. When we speak of His sovereignty, we are proclaiming that everything that exists does so at His will and is under His authority and providential care.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17).
God’s sovereignty affects not only our view of our origin, but our daily existence. God is not an impersonal Creator who set the world in motion and then stepped back to let it work itself out. He is omniscient – all-knowing – therefore, He created fully cognizant that sin would enter His perfect creation and spoil things. Before the first ray of light was spoken into being, the Father, Son and Spirit saw how the plan of redemption and salvation would be necessary.
God not only saw how the world would unfold, but He also designed it. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, and is intimately, personally involved and active in carrying out His sovereign plans, not just for the world in general, but for every individual created (Revelation 1:8, 21:6, 22:13). “The Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts” (1 Chronicles 28:9).
“O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thoughts from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high, I cannot attain to it” (Psalm 139:1-6).
Not only does God know all about us, He actively directs our steps, even when we are unaware that His sovereignty is working in our lives. He is intimately involved in this relationship He has created between God and man.
“The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps” (Proverbs 16:9).
In His sovereignty, God has granted man a measure of free will. A.W. Tozer says that only a truly sovereign God could offer His creation free will, otherwise, He would be a fearful “god” with little power or authority.
God grants knowledge and light and revelation but gives us a choice in how we respond (Romans 1). Entrusting our lives to the sovereignty of God brings blessing and abundant, eternal life that He longs for us to enjoy. Rejecting His sovereign authority in this life will lead to pain and loss, and ultimately, eternal destruction separated from God forever.
Believing and walking in God’s sovereignty allows us to confidently say along with Paul, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
So, how does this understanding of sovereignty impact the mission Jesus gave us to be His witnesses to the world? Here are just three ways.
If you or I were sent to a foreign country as an ambassador of our own nation, our words and actions would have far more impact and influence than if we simply traveled as a tourist. We would not simply speak for ourselves, but for the country that we represent. Our position and responsibilities as an ambassador would give us a great measure of freedom and authority. We would be “foreign diplomats,” answering to the laws of our own sovereign that we represent.
Jesus told the disciples, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” Then as He tells them to go, He adds, “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:18-20). We do not speak the gospel in our own authority, but with the authority of the Most High God, Creator and sustainer of the world. This gives us confidence to speak, knowing we are ambassadors for the King of Kings. We carry out the mission with the full weight of Jesus’ authority behind us, as citizens of His kingdom. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). By faith in the Son of God, we have been transferred to His kingdom (Colossians 1:13), and we are commissioned as His ambassadors.
“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
As Jesus prepared His disciples for the mission, He spoke much about the role the Holy Spirit would play in their success. The night before He was arrested, He encouraged them with the promise that even though they would not have access to walk and talk with Him after He returned to the Father, He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell them.
The Holy Spirit is God, and because He is God, He is sovereign. He knows the thoughts of God and communicates to every believer by His presence in them. Jesus promised that the sovereign Creator would not only direct the circumstances that affects us, but would be in us, speaking and prompting and empowering our words with the power of God.
“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you. … But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” (Acts 16:7, 13).
Jesus did what He promised. The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, and empowered and released His followers to carry out the mission. Now, at the moment of salvation, we, too are given this gift, as the sovereign Holy Spirit comes to take up residence in every believer (2 Corinthians 1:22; Ephesians 1:13; 1 Corinthians 6:19). We speak the gospel with the power of His words.
“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words” (1 Corinthians 2:12-13).
Throughout the book of Acts, as we watch the apostles and disciples of Jesus carry out the mission He gave them, we see God’s hand over and over in personal, intentional ways. He sends Peter to the Jews and Paul to the Gentiles. He sends Philip down a desert road for an encounter with an Ethiopian eunuch. He arranges for Lydia to meet Paul by the river. He gives a vision to Peter and directs his steps to preach the words of salvation to Cornelius. He stops Paul from going to Asia and sends him instead to Macedonia. Remember Esther in the Old Testament? “For such a time as this” God’s sovereign plans placed her in the palace, a place of influence.
Time after time, God works out His sovereign plans to call individuals to salvation, using His faithful followers to accomplish the mission, right where they live. In fact, Scripture tells us that God is sovereign over where we are born, where we live, and where we die – all for the purpose of bringing souls to encounter salvation in Jesus.
“And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:26-28a).
Are you a disciple of Jesus?
Then obey the words of your commander and King, Jesus. Go with confidence, with the sovereign authority of Jesus, the sovereign power of the Holy Spirit, walking in the sovereign plans of the Father to carry out the Great Commission He has given us.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Alessandro Biascioli
Author Sheila Alewine is a pastor’s wife, mother, and grandmother of five. She and her husband lead Around The Corner Ministries, which serves to equip Christ-followers to share the gospel where they live, work and play. She has written seven devotionals including Just Pray: God’s Not Done With You Yet, Grace & Glory: 50 Days in the Purpose & Plan of God, and her newest one, Give Me A Faith Like That, as well as Going Around The Corner, a Bible study for small groups who desire to reach their communities for Christ. Their ministry also offers disciple-making resources like One-To-One Disciple-Making in partnership with Multiplication Ministries. Sheila has a passion for God’s Word and shares what God is teaching her on her blog, The Way of The Word. Connect with her on her blog, Facebook, and Instagram.