Living the Mission

Sometimes we forget the reason for the power. In order to walk in the power and authority we need to understand why God gave us this power in the first place. God didn’t give us this power so that we could gain fame or material things, He didn’t give it to us in order for us to live a comfortable, rich life. He gave us this power to help others. God passed the authority and power onto us for a distinct purpose and if we are not living this purpose then we will not see the power of God manifested in our lives. In Matthew 28:18 Jesus said:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, therefore go...”

The key word in this command is “go”. If we are not going out then there is no reason for us to walk in the authority of Jesus Christ, nor is there reason to walk in the power that comes with that authority. We see a similar command at the end of each Gospel and also at the beginning of Acts. In Matthew Jesus tells us to “go and make disciples” (28:18-20), in Mark He tells us to “go and preach the Gospel” (16:15), in Luke He tells us to preach the “repentance and remission of sins”, in John He sends us out just “as the Father has sent [Him]” (John 20:21) and finally, in Acts He sends us out as His “witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Each one of these passages shows us a slightly different aspect of our mission but there is one commonality; we must go! We must do something! Jesus’ last statement to His disciples before ascending to heaven was to send them out to bring His kingdom on this earth and He gave them the power and authority to fulfill this mission. If we are not living the mission which He commissioned us to live, then we have no need for the power and authority which He called us to walk in. Why should we expect to walk in a power that we don’t need? So the question we need to ask is how do we live out the mission that Jesus gave us?