The resources God has given us to live a thriving life are His Word, Spirit, and People.
Read God’s Word:
Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21
Act 3: God’s New Covenant People
Scene 3: Christ’s Deliverance of His People: God’s Work through the Death, Resurrection, and Enthronement of His King
Background Information: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20-21
Historians have long debated what causes nations to rise and to fall. There are many human factors for sure, but the ultimate reason for the rise or the fall of any nation is that it’s part of God’s purposes for humanity.
He makes nations great, then destroys them; he enlarges nations, then leads them away.
Job 12:23
Israel was made a nation in order to know God personally and to make God known to the nations. On the whole, the Israelites failed to obey God as his people, and therefore they failed in their larger mission to the world. Other nations oppressed them, took them into exile, and (during the time of Jesus) ruled over them in a kind of tense peace. This peace would not last but would end in terrible bloodshed as Rome sacked Jerusalem in AD 70. Then Rome would eventually become fragmented, and nation after nation would jockey for supremacy on the world scene. In all this mess, God was and is at work to accomplish his purposes. At the center of his purpose is the Lord Jesus Christ. After his resurrection, Jesus appeared to two confused and unknown disciples and showed them that, from start to finish, the Old Testament was about him. We should understand that this means that all of human history is about him. The Lord of the cosmos, the Lord of the nations, has all authority in heaven and earth. From his place of authority, he gave his new people, the church, the mission to know him and to make him known to the nations. We call this the great commission. A commission is a command, or a duty, given by an authority to a person or group of people. Everyone lives with some idea of a life purpose. Some lose all sense of purpose and therefore lose all hope and meaning in life. We are designed by God to live with purpose every bit as much as we are designed to live on food and water. Every purpose we might devise to devote our lives to must be a subset of the larger purpose of God in our lives. It is good to work jobs, to engage politics, to raise families, and to impact the world for the common good, but it is essential that we make Christ known in all of this. At the core of our lives is the great commission. At the core of that commission is making disciples. A disciple is a follower, a learner, and a person who is committed to obedience to his or her Master. Whatever else God has called you to as a part of his sovereign plan for your life, he has called you to know him personally and to make him known to others. Do not let the greatest mission of your life become submerged under lesser ones.
Pray:
Praise God for…
Thank God for…
Confess your sins to God
With the holidays just around the corner, begin asking God for gospel opportunities with friends, family, and co-workers.
Ask God for… (what else concerns you?)
Reflect:
Write down one passage of scripture that stood out to you today.
Write down why this passage stood out to you.
Engage Community:
Text or call someone now and tell them…
– What you are praying for.
– What stood out from God’s word today.