The Great Omission

If you have been a Christian long enough, you would have heard about 'The Great Commission'. These are the words Jesus spoke to his disciples after He rose from the dead:

MARK 11 - 15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. 17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.[e] 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won't hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”

These were Jesus last words before he left. Matthew 28:16 - 20 also has the same thing. Jesus was speaking to all Christians when He gave this commission ... all Christians ... baby Christians, mature Christians, fishermen, pastors, preachers, teachers, prophets ... every one who considers themselves a follower of Christ. Preaching the Good News to the world didn't require any special calling ... if you consider yourself a Christian (someone who believes) then it applies to you. Just to drive this point home, here are some more scriptures even from the Old Testament confirming this:

Psalm 96:2 "Sing to the Lord; praise his name. Each day proclaim the good news he saves."

1 Chronicles 16:23 "Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Each day proclaim the good news that he saves."

Psalm 40:10 "I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power. I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness."

Acts 8:4 "But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went."

So we have established that *all Christians* are supposed to tell the world about the Good News ... but that is not all. Jesus didn't just say that we should preach the Good News. He said that if we preached and believed, certain signs would follow us. If you keep on reading in Acts 8, you will see that Philip was pulled out as an example of someone who believed and was sharing the Good News. The signs followed him! It is quite interesting that when Jesus was on earth, God deemed it necessary to confirm the Good News He preached with signs and wonders. You will agree that Jesus was the greatest person who ever lived. Every single word from His mouth was from His Father and He made no mistakes. If even Jesus needed signs then what makes us think that we can share the Good News without them?

There is one other way to look at this instruction Jesus gave. This is what he said:

Matthew 10:7-8 "7Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. 8Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!"

If you are a Christian and you aren't announcing the Good News, healing the sick, raising the dead, curing those with leprosy and casting out demons, you are not giving as freely as you have received. You are, in other words, keeping it all to yourself ... there are some words to describe when a person keeps everything to themselves ... you figure them out.

And what is the Good News? The Good News is that Jesus Christ who was God came to earth to live, die and rise again. He did this so that we all our sins would be forgiven, so that we could receive the Holy Spirit, so that we would become intimate best friends with God, so that we would be freed from demonic oppression, so that we would be healed from all our diseases, so that all our material needs would be met in Him, so that we would go to be with the Lord after we leave this earth, so that we could FREELY GIVE all these things that we had received.

Fellow Christians, most of us have turned the Great Commission into the Great Omission i.e. without Christ and Miracles. There wouldn't have been an Acts book in the Bible if those believers had done that. My charge to us now is simply this:

Let us simply do what Jesus asked us to if we claim to be his followers. Let us stop waiting for some special calling, anointing, revival and simply share the Good News that Jesus saves ... from sin, hell, disease, demons, poverty ... If we do that, I tell you, Jesus will confirm it with signs and wonders and the Father will be glorified.

Let us put the Christ and Miracle back in the great ComMission!

 
Blessings and Regards,
George Armah