Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. (Matthew 28:19-20)
Perhaps the most often quoted verse of Scripture, John 3:16 clearly states that the whole world is the object of God’s love. Though Jesus was sent first to the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24; Romans 1:16), it was so Israel might be readied to fulfill her role of being a “light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6).
From the beginning, “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.” (Isaiah 42: 1 – 7)
When Israel failed to fulfill her role, Christ called out a people to take the Good News of God’s love into all the world. In His last days on earth, He commissioned His apostles to go into the world and make disciples by baptizing and teaching everything He had taught them during His time on earth. The Church in every generation has inherited that Great Commission as a responsibility to be carried out until Christ’s return.
The world today is hungry for good news. And there is no better news than “God so loved the world.” Look for a way to share that message today.
The Gospel is not a secret to be hidden away but a story to be shouted from the roof tops.
- ALAN MURPHY
