“The greatest among you will be your servant……..l“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as you are!” Matthew 23:11, 13, 15 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/mat.23.13.CSB
The Great Commission is the mission of every Christian. In Christ, all Christians are made priests of God, commanded to make disciples of all people through the teaching of obedience to everything Jesus commanded, even as we model obedience to these commands ourselves. How is this work to be done? Religion has often been used by men to control and manipulate others. Power is the pursuit of many men. God calls His people to service and humility. As He left heaven, where He is King of kings and Lord of lords, to come to earth as a servant to seek and save the lost, He expects His disciples to likewise deny themselves, crucify their natural desires, and follow Him in seeking and saving the lost while laying down their lives in service to win them to Him. The message of God’s love is grace and mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the message of forgiveness of sins through the death of Christ and the appropriation of God’s required righteousness through faith in Christ, Whose righteousness is attributed to all those who seek Him for pardon and redemption. We do not add law or any requirements to becoming reconciled to God nor in keeping our relationship with God as fully adopted sons and daughters through faith in the work of Christ accomplished for humanity. The ministry of God’s people is a service ministry of helping people come to know Jesus as Savior and grow in loving obedience to Him as Lord, reminding everyone that His burden is easy. His load is light because He loves us and has given Himself for us, accomplishing all that God requires of us to live with Him forever.
