The Wise Design Of The Great Commission

Our Lord is exceptional. His attributes and actions inspire awe and compel worship. Not only that, but his attributes offer assurance of His actions. Just a few weeks ago, I considered with you the existence and effect of the Lord’s wisdom on the discipline of evangelism (click here to read that article). Because our God is perfect and authoritative, his wisdom is precise and compels action. Therefore, when the Lord says, “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mathew 28:19), not only is the follower of Christ inclined to take action, but He does so with confidence in the Lord’s wisdom.

God’s Wisdom on Display
The Great Commission is a product of God’s wisdom; not only is it divinely and sovereignly designed, but He designed it wisely. No doubt were it left to us, none of us would have envisioned this as a process for spreading the Lord’s message of salvation. From the core of a selfish heart, we would have devised a strategy that permitted us more authority and more control according to our way. Even with more honorable intentions, the plan we would have developed would be different, perhaps focusing on reaching more people or reducing the time commitment. Our method certainly would have been efficient.

Our Lord, though, is effective (and I might even suggest that simply by being effective, He is efficient). His wisdom means that the Great Commission is perfectly conceived, and so He brought it about in a way that would accomplish His will in the most perfect way. His wisdom also signifies that the Great Commission is precisely conceived. The Lord, who knows all things about all things, displays this omniscience in the establishment of His plan by doing so wisely. Because He is omniscient, the Lord knows how to reach every individual according to their need and His will; this allows Him to be precise in the way He works the Great Commission in each person’s life.

God’s Wisdom Established
Personally, as I examine the Lord’s call for His followers to participate in His commission, I see in it the exceptional nature of God. By its nature, God’s Great Commission points us back to the wisdom of God. In at least three ways, we see the wisdom of God here, including the following:

1. Proclaims Wisdom: First, the message of the Great Commission is a proclamation of the Lord’s wisdom. While it appears foolish and is a stumbling block, the presentation of the cross is a presentation of the Lord’s wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). At the center of this message is Christ because, without His work, there is no message of the cross and salvation. And who is Christ? Paul writes that Jesus is the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:30).
2. Presents Wisdom: The fact that Christ is known virtually worldwide (with some exceptions) illustrates the effectiveness of the Lord’s plan and, in doing so, affirms the wisdom of the Lord. Simply by advocating a process that is contrary to one of human inclination, the Lord displays His wisdom. Look upon the Great Commission’s design, and we will see the wisdom of the Lord.
3. Places Confidence in Wisdom: Finally, it causes individuals to place their confidence in the Lord’s wisdom. It goes without saying that those who respond to the Lord’s call, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ!” are literally trusting in the Lord’s wisdom because Christ is His wisdom. However, the option to trust in the Lord’s wisdom is not only available to the unbeliever. Believers have this opportunity as well. First, when we engage in His commission, it indicates we trust God’s construction of this particular ‘method.’ Even when we doubt the Great Commission or do not see the effectiveness, we continue because we trust God’s authority.

The implications of Christ’s directive in Matthew 28:18-20 are an expression of God’s eternal wisdom functioning in a terminal, foolish world.

Obviously, our perspective is limited. Therefore, from human observation, the Great Commission appears foolish, as though it is an unprofitable endeavor. Perhaps the fact that it appears irrational to humans is proof of the Lord’s wisdom. At the heart of it all is to see who the Lord is so that we respond accordingly. Not only then do believers trust in the sufficiency of the Lord’s wisdom when we make disciples, but a willing engagement in the process of making disciples demonstrates a trust that the Lord wisely designed it.