"The Great Recommission"
"In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of you. They will come from distant lands when they hear of your great name and your strong hand and your powerful arm. And when they pray toward this Temple, then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what they ask of you. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do. They, too, will know that this Temple I have built honors your name. (2 Chronicles 6:32, 33 NLT)
We all know Matthew 28, the great commission. Jesus instructs his disciples to go & multiply themselves. He commands them to go & make more disciples. They are to go to all the nations. But is this the first time we see this commission? Or is Matthew 28 the great recommission?
In Genesis 12, God calls Abram to leave his home & go to a place where he will show him. "The Lord had said to Abram, 'Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you'."
All the families of the earth will be blessed through you. This is God's promise to him. This has always been God's heart, to bless the nations; not just one man's family but all the families of the earth. And we then see God begin the process of accomplishing what he promised. He brings a promised son, Isaac who has sons, Jacob & Esau. Jacob has a son named Judah, that would have a descendant named David, who would have a son named Solomon. And it is Solomon that echoes these words in 2 Chronicles 6. "In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear you, just as your own people Israel do." So God's plan is clearly being revealed & accomplished. Even the building of the temple was not just for Israel, but so that the nations could come to fear & know God.
Flash forward to Jesus with his disciples, giving them the same message that has always been on God's heart, "Go to the nations." The only difference is Solomon said they would come, Jesus told his disciples to go.
It's important that we keep this theme before us as we read through the Bible, for this is the main theme. God is reconciling people to himself from every tribe, tongue, & nation & they will stand before his throne eternally, giving him the praise he deserves.
And God has called us, Christians living in 2012 to be about the same work that was given to Abraham, Solomon, & the disciples. We have been commissioned to go & be a blessing to the nations. Go & make disciples. Go & share the gospel. Go & expand the kingdom.
Go.
Go!
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