Exodus 3:7-12 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” He said, “But I will be with you, and this shall be the sign for you, that I have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
Continuing Pastor Kyle message he tells us that the second common element in the Divine calling of Believers is that every calling has a commission. The Lord heard the cries of the Israelites and (in His timing) answered them. In the same way, God hears our cries, petitions and prayers to Him today also and plans our deliverance. Psalm 34:17 says, “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.” Moses’ calling was immediately followed by His commissioning to deliver God’s people from slavery in Egypt. Per John 1: 12-13, Christians are also God people today, so as children of God and citizens of Heaven, what is our calling and commission today?
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This passage, a commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ, lays out the vision of God for every Christian and Christian church for all time forward. We do not need to go find some “big plan” for our life; we need to step into the calling and commission that Jesus has already laid out in “the Great Commission” here. There will be some Christians who are gifted and commissioned to other additional callings in the world by the Lord, but they are secondary callings, as this Great Commission is foundational for all Believers. The first side of Jesus’ Great Commission is to “go and make disciples of all”. This is more than the evangelistic action of sharing your faith as it says in 1 Peter 3:15, “in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” and sharing your redemption and personal relationship with Jesus story. It also includes living a righteous and godly life that causes people who do not know God to wonder what is inside you and finding compassionate and caring ways to share the Gospel of salvation that cause that “born again” change so that they may find and experience Christ’s redemption and transformation.
The second part of the Great Commission is teaching them to observe all that I have commanded us. There are two side of this portion also, because if we are going to teach them all that Jesus has commanded, then we need to be learning and understanding, apply and living them out those commands ourselves first. You cannot teach people what you do not know, or lead people where you have not been. So, every step of obedience that we take is a small step towards living out the “Great Commission” and living out our calling as a Christian each and every day. This is the calling and commission for every Christian, period; they are our marching orders on this side of Heaven from the Lord.
Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on "our calling from God" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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