More than two thousand years ago, Jesus appeared in the scene of human history, He lived 33 years of holy, harmless, undefiled and sinless life. His miraculous birth, substitutionary death, and bodily resurrection are the most important events in human history. God became a man. He died on the cross and was raised from the dead to save people from sin and to give eternal life to all who receive Him. The result was a spiritual evolution that changed the first-century world and dramatically altered the course of history.
Jesus of Nazareth, the greatest person who ever lived, has caused the most changes for good in the entire history of mankind through changing of lives of hundreds of millions of men and women. Historian Philip Schaff said, “Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon. Without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all the philosopher and scholars combined. Without the eloquence of schools, He spoke words of life such as were never spoken neither before nor after, and produced efforts which lied beyond the reach of orator or poet. Without writing a single line, He has set more pen in motions and furnished themes for more sermons, or orations, discussions, works of art, learned volumes and sweet song of praise than the whole army of great people of the ancient and modern time. Born in manager, crucified as a malefactor, He controls the destinies of the civilized world and rules a spiritual empire that encircles the globe.”
Jesus having accomplished the work of salvation for humankind gave the Disciples the command of the great commission. He said: “I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. Therefore go and make disciples in all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then teach those new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this- that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” Later on the Mountain of Olives, our Lord gave His final word to His disciples and to us before He ascended to the Father. He said: “And ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you; and ye shall be intense me, both Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Shortly, after Jesus gave the great commission, God the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, transformed and empowered the lives of the same disciples who during His trial and crucifixion, had denied our Lord and for the most part had deserted Him. Following Pentecost, they went out boldly and courageous, willing to risk their lives to proclaim the message of God’s love and forgiveness in Christ. In fact, all of the disciples died as Martyrs preaching the gospel, except for John which died in exile on the Isle of Patmos after he survived being burned in the pot of oil for the testimony of his faith. With dogged determination, fervent zeal, resilient spirit, unalloyed loyalty, uncommon consecration and a great relentless and sacrificial effort, the early apostles carried out the task of the great commission. By their hands, the gospel went far, and great success was recorded.
White missionaries were moved by the sacrificial effort of our Lord Jesus and of his disciples and traveled to far away Africa, not knowing our language or culture. They came not necessarily out of convenience. Others who could not come sent their money not necessarily out of plenty built schools, hospital, constructed roads, adopted children and made very remarkable achievements. The white missionaries risk their lives to bring Christ to us. Today we are benefiting immensely from the sacrificial labor of these great heroes of faith. Though they are dead yet they are speaking clearly to us by the enduring fruits of their labours. Up to date, great men and women of God are still actively engaged in sending the message of the gospel of Christ to the remaining unreached places of other earth.
All these years of relentless missionary efforts, Gospel Crusade Campaigns and the intercessions of many committed Christian, still the task of taking the gospel of the kingdom to the unreached people and places is yet to finish. There are still lands where other Lords beside Christ still hold their unhindered sway; where forces that defied the Saviour still defy Him till today; with none to heed the cry of the people for life, and love and light. If we think otherwise, it only reflects our ignorance and lack of information concerning the unfinished task. There are many tribes, people, nations, and languages yet to be reached with the gospel of the kingdom of God. If any man disagrees with this sober reality, it is simply due to short-sightedness or blindness to the matter of the gospel.
“Jesus saith unto them, my neat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work, say not ye, there are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto yo
u, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4:34, 35). What Jesus said then is still very applicable today, His disciples could not see the fields that are ripped for harvest, and Jesus attributed this to their short-sightedness. Therefore He said unto them, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields.” As if to say that you have been looking down too much on your immediate environment- your home, your local church, your Local government, and you just need to lift up your heads and look beyond your congregation and what you call an achievement. Lift up your head, and then look at the field yet unreached. Note, looking is different from seeing, when you see and you don’t look, you miss the details and the basis. But when you look, you will have a clearer view of the state of the object you are looking at. Looking implies paying attention, focusing on a particular thing in order to get the details, and it is until you look intently that you see clearly and perfectly. So Jesus said, lift up your head and look up to the fields, and see the fields that are ripe enough for harvest. Now lift up your head and look at the many villages in your state and local government. Are they all reached with the gospel? How many true Christians can we find in those places? What are they worshiping as God? Many of those villages are still neck deep in idolatry and vain religion. Yet we have many churches around but negligent and apathetic to the state of the harvest. The church is busy celebrating the anniversary for many years of existence without any thorough commitment to the great commission. Please tell me, what is worth-celebrating if a church cannot boast of a single new convert in a whole year? This is not the picture of the early church. The early church was not a stagnant, redundant church; the Bible records that the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. It is also rather unfortunate that the churches that were once committed have reached a plateau state of no improvement, glorying in the shadow of past success while there remaineth much more land to be possessed. Oswald J. Smith said, “Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist.” This is the main reason and the primary purpose while the church is here- the evangelization of the whole world, starting from our Jerusalem. “Lift up of your heads and look,” Jesus said, and you will see the challenge of the unfinished task of the church.
u, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4:34, 35). What Jesus said then is still very applicable today, His disciples could not see the fields that are ripped for harvest, and Jesus attributed this to their short-sightedness. Therefore He said unto them, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields.” As if to say that you have been looking down too much on your immediate environment- your home, your local church, your Local government, and you just need to lift up your heads and look beyond your congregation and what you call an achievement. Lift up your head, and then look at the field yet unreached. Note, looking is different from seeing, when you see and you don’t look, you miss the details and the basis. But when you look, you will have a clearer view of the state of the object you are looking at. Looking implies paying attention, focusing on a particular thing in order to get the details, and it is until you look intently that you see clearly and perfectly. So Jesus said, lift up your head and look up to the fields, and see the fields that are ripe enough for harvest. Now lift up your head and look at the many villages in your state and local government. Are they all reached with the gospel? How many true Christians can we find in those places? What are they worshiping as God? Many of those villages are still neck deep in idolatry and vain religion. Yet we have many churches around but negligent and apathetic to the state of the harvest. The church is busy celebrating the anniversary for many years of existence without any thorough commitment to the great commission. Please tell me, what is worth-celebrating if a church cannot boast of a single new convert in a whole year? This is not the picture of the early church. The early church was not a stagnant, redundant church; the Bible records that the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. It is also rather unfortunate that the churches that were once committed have reached a plateau state of no improvement, glorying in the shadow of past success while there remaineth much more land to be possessed. Oswald J. Smith said, “Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist.” This is the main reason and the primary purpose while the church is here- the evangelization of the whole world, starting from our Jerusalem. “Lift up of your heads and look,” Jesus said, and you will see the challenge of the unfinished task of the church.
We must also look beyond our local environment unto the land beyond. Jesus says we shall be witnesses unto Him both in Jerusalem and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
To be continued…