The knowledge of the glory of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas. This is a prophetic word that we see coming to fulfillment in our time.
From the beginning, the will of God was always to have fellowship with the ‘man’ he had created, but this plan was soon obstructed by the fall of man. Ever since, God has continued to build up his plan that would eventually culminate in the manifestation, death and rising of his son, in order to make a way for the rest of mankind to be accepted. (Hebrews 10:19)
His purposes are eternal and as such, he always finds new ways to make them come to fruition. The ways of God may change, but not his purposes.
“For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it?
And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?”
- Isaiah 14:27
He is intentional about everything he does, and not a word he speaks falls to the ground without being fulfilled. His words never return void, and his word is his integrity.
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:
It shall not return to me void, but shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”
- Isaiah 55:11
In the time after Jesus’ death and resurrection, we see a surge in the increase of the knowledge of the great God, the Almighty, being revealed to the sons of men.
Jesus made clear the plan of God for all they that would receive him; they would have the responsibility of telling others about this saving power. It could not be done by any other being or creation of God, but only through his own son, Jesus Christ.
In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus before his departure says:
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
And teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
No mincing words, no confusion here. Jesus says ‘therefore, go and make disciple’. Believers should see this command more from a point of love, and not compulsion.
We should think of this as our act of love to the lost world who continually mope in utter darkness:
“See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples…”
- Isaiah 60:2
The world is spiritually in a state of Genesis 1:2. The terrible darkness still beclouds the hearts of men. Men continue to do things they never knew they were capable of doing, because of the sin nature that resides in the flesh:
“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.”
- Romans 7:21
This is the sad fate of the world. A struggling race which struggles with things that it does not understand. But, where shall help come from?
This verse gives comfort to the world covered in blindness:
“And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.”
- Obadiah 1:21
This is hope for the lost. This verse is a foretelling of what was to come. The mount of Zion is associated with righteousness and the dwelling place of the Holy God, and inversely, the mount of Esau, is a place of sin and iniquity.
The saviours are a symbol of them that are saved and made righteous by the blood of Christ; the believers.
So, Jesus, knowing the power his blood holds, to sanctify and cleanse from every unrighteousness:
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
- 1 John 1:7
The greatest command that God has left man, is to love him above everything else, with every strength we have, and with everything we have. The second is just like the first as Jesus says. The second is that we love our neighbors; every man that we come across.
That’s why it’s not very wise for a believer not to be burdened about the lost souls all around the world. For the bible says:
”The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”
- Proverbs 11:30
Also,
“And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.”
- Daniel 12:3
Beyond the reward and any promise of glory that God gives, the love of God in our hearts should be enough to drive us to the point of persuasion where we make a firm decision to save every soul we come across.
As believers, we must be inventive enough to find new ways of reaching the lost with the gospel of Christ. The purposes of God do not change, and has never changed, and his purpose and intention is for all the world to be saved from eternal damnation if possible.
However, the methods to accomplish this might take turns periodically, but the message must never be compromised.
In the old times for example, Jesus and the early apostles had to go about either on foot, by an animal, or by ship which could take months to arrive their destinations.
Nowadays, we have cars, faster ships, trains, and airplanes. We get where we are going in hours to a few days. This is a great time to be alive. A great time to preach the gospel, because it’s easier to reach long distances in shorter time.
Another blessing which the church can effectively use to its advantage is the technological enhancements we continue to witness.
Now, a live broadcast can be followed per second by viewers. This is great!
We have social media and social networks that facilitate the speedy spread of broadcasts and information.
Thank God for televangelists and the millions who use social networks to continue to spread the word of God and the love of Christ.
This is a call to every believer, that we rise, we watch and we pray. The time is now.
Looking at the increasing wickedness as the Lord had foretold in Matthew 24, the pestilences like the present COVID-19 pandemic, famines all over the world, earthquakes, incessant killings for no just cause, especially to believers of Christ.
We must preach the gospel now, harder than ever.
While we are keeping our social distances, we must take advantage of everything around us in order to spread the message of Christ before the trumpet sounds.
We can create special social media accounts for outreaches. We can continue to post updates daily and encourage and draw people to Christ.
We can continue to organize virtual online conferences, I tell you the power of God respects no medium. We can have online evangelistic outreaches. It only takes the power of God to cause a change.
While many places are still locked down, online meetings for bible studies, prayer meetings and even Sunday services are a very good way to go. We meet online and edify one another; we must keep the fire burning. We must not neglect the gathering of believers, whether online or offline.
We can respect the social distancing directive and still preach the word.
Tracts are another good resource. Printing messages and starting evangelism on the go. It’s a good idea to use. I guess we could just go back to using the old methods as long as they are effective.
The social media and social networks are a great platform to utilise in our quest to reach the world. The world has gone digital, and we must also sustain the ability to follow the trends without losing the message.