THERE IN THE MIDST
WITH CHRIST
There is a truth, to which we can hold fast—though we are called by Christ to live out His commission in our homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, and nations, Christ is already there in the midst.
We find evidence for this truth in our reading of Colossians 1 verses 15 through 20:
He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn over all creation.
For everything was created by him,
in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the 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 by him all things hold together.
He is also the head of the body, the church;
he is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have
first place in everything.
For God was pleased to have
all his fullness dwell in him,
and through him to reconcile
everything to himself,
whether things on earth
or things in heaven,
by making peace
through his blood,
shed on the cross.
In Colossians 1, we learn about the preemptive work of Christ that precedes any of our own efforts. This raises the level of urgency for Christ’s commission, in that Christ’s commission is not just Christ’s last earthly words to His disciples, rather Christ’s commission is rooted in the call of God for creation from the very beginning.
However, the intense urgency of Christ’s commission is not meant to send us inward to search and find a fast fix—rather, we are to see that the urgent need of man to be redeemed has been preemptively responded to by Christ, well in advance of time. This means that wherever we GO, Christ is already THERE. Therefore, the intense urgency we feel is actually the extreme pull of Christ’s invitation—it is the overwhelming call of Christ to join Him, there, in the midst.
In Matthew 28:19, Christ calls believers to
“…make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit…”
Within this verse there are three imperatives: [ 1 ] Make disciples; [ 2 ] of all nations; [ 3 ] baptizing them.
With the first imperative, the Greek word used here is mathēteuō (math-ayt-yoo'-o). It means “to make a disciple through teaching and instruction.”
Now, if we move too quickly we might easily assume that all we need to do is teach and preach the word and people will automatically become disciples. However, to better understand what Jesus is communicating by “make disciples” we must consider the only other times in the New Testament where this specific Greek word is used—Matthew 13:52, Matthew 27:57 and Acts 14:21.
In Matthew 13:52 it reads,
“Therefore,” he said to them, “every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures new and old.”
In Matthew 27:57 it reads,
“When it was evening, a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph came, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.”
In Acts 14:21 it reads,
“After they had preached the gospel in that town and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, to Iconium, and to Antioch…”
Each of these scriptures work in concert to clarify what Jesus means by “make disciples.”
In Acts 14:21, we see that members of the Church “preached the gospel” AND “made many disciples.” This tells us that although preaching the gospel works along with making many disciples, the two are NOT the same. As believers we are called to preach the gospel AND we are called to make many disciples.
In Matthew 27:57, Joseph of Arimathea became a “disciple of Jesus.” This tells us that [ 1 ] Jesus made disciples [ 2 ] if we do as Christ has done, disciple-making is always the result.
Lastly, in Matthew 13:52, Jesus distinguishes between one who might know or believe the word and those who are truly disciples of the word. According to Christ’s words, disciples are “like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom treasures of new and old.”
In other words, there is a versatility in their understanding of the Word such that a disciple is able to bring out whatever is necessary from the Word to expose the world to the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, the first imperative of Christ’s commission—MAKE DISCIPLES—requires us to not only preach and teach the gospel broadly, but to apply the gospel specifically, such that others know they are rescued from the “domain of darkness and transferred […] into the kingdom of the Son [Colossians 1:13].
The second imperative is that the making of disciples happens in “all nations.” Here the word used for nation refers to a multitude of individuals, which means that Christ calls believers to be concerned about individual people in all places.
Whether we are considering homes, workplaces, neighborhoods or nations, Jesus calls us to make disciples of individual people within all of these places.
As a result, the second imperative of Christ’s commission—make disciples OF ALL NATIONS—demands that any form of disciple-making must be concerned about every, single, person. This is because no place, and no person, is off limits to the gospel.
The third imperative is that as we make disciples we “baptize them.” Now, the act of baptism assumes there is a testimony of salvation. In other words, as believers submit to Christ, living as disciple-makers, people from all places begin to submit to Christ and, then, testify to His saving work. This is done through baptism and it is also done as we “proclaim His deeds among the peoples…[and] tell about all his wondrous works.” [Psalm 105:1-2] In baptism, we join with other believers to affirm what Christ has done.
We now see that built into the imperatives of Christ’s commission is the preemptive work of Christ. We cannot make disciples unless Christ has gone before us. We cannot make disciples, anywhere from homes to nations, unless Christ has already gone before us. And there is no baptism, for there is no testimony of Christ, unless Christ has already, preemptively, gone ahead of us.
Here, again, we return to the truth found in Colossians 1—the work of Christ precedes any efforts of our own. So, we “go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them…” because Christ is already there in the midst.