GO: FLEX YOUR STORY POWER

Jesus’ Passion for People

Our heavenly Father has always had a passion for people. His main reason for creating human beings was so that we could freely enjoy fellowship and life with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God gave the first humans, Adam and Eve, certain instructions. They had a choice. They could trust God and not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, remaining in perfect fellowship with their Creator. Or they could disobey and experience death and separation from Him.

Sadly, Adam and Eve both chose disobedience. When they committed this first sin, they broke their intimacy with God and severed themselves from the life for which they were created.
God could have easily destroyed everything, calling it quits right then and there. Instead, He chose to press on, providing an alternative plan so that Adam and Eve and all their descendants could have the opportunity to be reconciled to Him.

As we move through biblical history, we run into Abram (whose name was later changed to Abraham). In Genesis 12:1–3, we discover God blessing Abram, and then, through Abram, all the families of the earth would be blessed. This was the heavenly Father’s program, signaling His intense desire to reach people! He was going to establish a nation of people, the Jews, through Abram. They would live such set- apart, blessed lives that all the people of the world would marvel at their ways, be drawn to their God, and be reconnected to the One who created them in love!

God our Father was so passionate about reaching people that He created a new nation to serve as a light of blessing to the world. Unfortunately, the Jewish people repeatedly stumbled and fell, failing to follow this plan. Still, God would not be deterred. In His perfect wisdom, the Father waited for the perfect time (“the fullness of time”) in the history of creation to send His ultimate “weapon”—Jesus, His Son—to pay the penalty for human sin that began with Adam and Eve.

Jesus came to make it possible for anyone to be forgiven of their sins and be adopted into God’s family. Through Jesus’ life, crucifixion, resurrection, and enthronement in heaven, the way was made for the Holy Spirit to be poured out, empowering Jesus’ followers to become missionaries who would share the Good News everywhere. In one of His post-resurrection teachings, Jesus assured His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth (Acts 1:8).” In all these things—in creation, His invitation to Abram, the gift of Jesus, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and the sending of His sons and daughters out into the world—our Father’s passion for people is evident. As He persistently and lovingly reached you and me, so He wants to work in you and me to reach others.

At the end of our Lord’s time on earth, He left His disciples with one final command: to carry on His mission to reach others with the gospel. Both Matthew and Mark record what is called the Great Commission. Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20).
He said to them, “GO!” We need to follow His instruction, have His passion for people, and GO to tell others our story of how Jesus changed our lives. That is His way, and it should be ours as His disciples.

This Blog article is an excerpt from my book, GO: Your Story Power, available in paperback and Kindle editions from Amazon.