Matthew 28: 18 – 20 “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.”

This is the voice of the risen Lord Jesus. At this point he was no longer the babe of Bethlehem, no longer the one who became flesh and walked among men; no longer the one who made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant who humbled himself and became obedient to death on a cross. (See Philippians 4) He spoke now as  the one who through his resurrection had taken back the authority he had with the Father in the beginning.

He gave this command to “go” and make him known to all nations just before he returned to heaven. He said we should do this “until the end of the age.” This was an affirmation that things will not remain the way we see them today. There will be an end. He had also taught his disciples earlier: “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John14: 2 – 3). He has gone as he said he would.

When will Jesus return?  He said: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matthew 24: 14, but do read the entire chapter). You and I have work to do and there is a sense of urgency.  To those who scoff and contend that the Lord’s return has been long delayed, the reason is: “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9).

As you have become a follower of Jesus, you have also been commissioned. You have to catch the vision that there is a time limit to the present state of affairs and many are lost because they know nothing about Jesus. We are living in what I call the parenthesis of grace. Right now anyone can call on the name of the Lord Jesus and be saved, but how can they do that if they do not know that God loves them and paid the price of his Son’s life to redeem them?

In the same way you learned that fact from someone and responded, you now share in the responsibility for getting that good news around the world. Begin at home and in your sphere of influence.