What Is the Great Commission? — Understanding the Church Core Mission

# What Is the Great Commission? -- Understanding the Church's Core Mission

Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He gathered His disciples and gave them what has become known as the Great Commission. It is the final and foundational mission statement of the Christian church -- and nearly two thousand years later, it remains the clearest answer to the question: what is the church for?

Here is what Jesus actually said, what each part means, and what it means for you.

## The Text

"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'" (Matthew 28:18-20)

This is the Great Commission. Forty words in English. The entire mission of the church in a single paragraph.

## "All Authority Has Been Given to Me"

The Commission begins not with a command but with a claim -- the most audacious claim in human history. Jesus is asserting that He has been given universal authority. Not regional authority. Not spiritual authority alongside secular authority. All authority. In heaven and on earth.

This matters because the Commission that follows flows from this authority. Jesus does not say "go because it would be nice" or "go because the world needs help." He says "go because I am Lord of everything, and this is what the Lord of everything is doing in the world."

The authority claim is also the source of the Commission's confidence. The church does not go into the world hoping to make a difference -- it goes on behalf of the One who has already been declared Lord of creation.

## "Go and Make Disciples"

The actual command is "make disciples." The word "go" in the original Greek is a participle -- "as you go" or "going." The main verb -- the imperative, the command -- is "make disciples."

Evangelism without discipleship is incomplete. The Great Commission is not simply about getting people to pray a prayer or raise a hand -- it is about making disciples: people who follow Jesus, learn from Jesus, and increasingly live as Jesus lived.

A disciple is an apprentice. In the first century, a disciple attached himself to a rabbi and learned not just the rabbi's teaching but his whole way of life -- how he prayed, how he ate, how he treated people, how he observed the Torah. To be a disciple of Jesus is to be in that kind of relationship: learning from Him, following His teaching, becoming like Him.

## "Of All Nations"

The scope of the Commission is the entire world. The Greek word is "ethnos" -- peoples, ethnic groups, nations. Every people group. Every language. Every culture.

This is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 -- that through Abraham, all the families of the earth would be blessed. The Great Commission is the mechanism of that blessing. The Gospel is not a Western religion or an American religion or a first-century Jewish religion. It is a message for all peoples in all times and all places.

## "Baptizing Them in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit"

Baptism is the initiation rite of discipleship. It publicly marks the beginning of the disciple's identity as a follower of Jesus. At First Baptist Church of Fenton, we practice believer's baptism -- baptism of those who have personally professed faith in Christ -- by immersion, following the pattern of the New Testament.

The Trinitarian formula -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- is significant. It establishes the identity of the God into whose community the new disciple is being baptized. This is not three gods; it is the one God as He has revealed Himself.

## "Teaching Them to Obey Everything I Have Commanded You"

Discipleship is not just conversion -- it is formation. The Commission includes ongoing teaching that results in changed behavior. "Obey" is the goal, not merely "know." The test of effective teaching is not whether people can recite truths but whether those truths have changed the way they live.

This is why FBC Fenton is committed to expositional preaching -- working through whole books of the Bible, teaching everything Jesus has commanded, not just the comfortable or popular portions. It is why we have small groups, Bible studies, and discipleship relationships. The goal is not attendance -- it is transformation.

## "And Surely I Am With You Always, to the Very End of the Age"

The Commission ends with a promise that frames everything else: Jesus will be present with His people as they carry out this mission until He returns. This is not a vague comforting sentiment -- it is a direct promise tied to the specific task of making disciples.

This promise does not make the mission easy. It makes it possible.

## What Does This Mean for You?

The Great Commission is not given only to professional missionaries and pastors. It is given to every follower of Jesus. "Go" -- as you go, in your daily life, in your neighborhood, in your workplace, in your family. Make disciples.

This does not mean you need to be a trained evangelist or a confident public speaker. It means you live in a way that reflects the reality of the Gospel, you are willing to talk about what Jesus means to you, and you invest in the spiritual growth of the people around you.

At First Baptist Church of Fenton, the Great Commission is not a slogan -- it is the reason we exist. Every sermon, every small group, every missions partnership, every children's program, every outreach event is an expression of this mandate: make disciples of all nations.

If you want to be part of a church that takes this seriously, we would love to have you. Join us any Sunday at 10:30 AM at 860 N. Leroy Street, Fenton, Michigan, or reach us at (810) 629-9427.