Title: The Great Commandment and Great Command
Matthew 22:34-40, 28:19-20
These two commands summarize God's purpose for our lives. God did not create anything without purpose. At that time, the Jews were very entangled in the subdivision of the 613 Articles. In response, Jesus taught the comprehensive commands, love of God and love of neighbor.
First, “Love God with all your heart” (verse 37). This is the first part of the Ten Commandments, a summary of the commands to God. We were created for God's pleasure and our purpose is to love God through worship. Abraham built an altar to God wherever he moved, and the reason the three wise men from the East came to worship the baby Jesus was because he loved God.
Second, He said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (verse 39). We were created to serve, so our purpose is to serve. Our ministry is to serve believers in the body of Christ, and our mission is to serve unbelievers on this earth.
Third, He said, “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). We were born with a mission, so our purpose is to spread the message of God. My Father's will is that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. He said to expand the target of the gospel to Gentiles and to teach and train believers just as Jesus taught the twelve disciples. Peter Wagner said that evangelism is a spiritual struggle.
Fourth, baptize us in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As God's family, we must become one with the church through fellowship. When we are spiritually born into God's family and care for one another, we call fellowship. True fellowship is a commitment to one another as we are to Jesus.
Fifth, He said to teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. We are made to be like Christ, so our purpose is to grow in the Lord. We, the saints, must not stop at learning the words of Christ, but live according to the words. It is the mission of the church to accept the teachings of Christ as they are and to spread them to the world until the last days. We must remember that the three major works that Jesus did in this world were education, evangelism, and service (Matthew 4:23).