Last week we began to consider the first sentence of “The Great Commission”: “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (see Matthew 28:18). This is probably much more than we can even comprehend in this life. Even so, it is the foundation upon which the rest of the mandate is based, so we should seek to not only understand it, but to let it be a guiding principle of our lives. As we begin to comprehend this, we begin to understand the Apostle Paul’s statement in Romans 8:38-39:

          For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 

          nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

          Compared to the expanse of the universe, the entire earth hardly qualifies as a speck of dust floating around in it. However, this little planet has been given infinite value and purpose because God came to the earth to redeem man and the earth. That would be enough for infinite value to be given to the earth. We determine the value of any commodity by what someone is willing to pay for it, and the Father valued the earth enough to pay the ultimate price that could ever be paid—His own Son. This will be a marvel of the entire creation for all of eternity, but it gets even better!

          The Lord has promised that He is going to make His abode on earth among men. It seems too wonderful to be true, but it is true. We have been given a down payment of this promise by the Holy Spirit coming to live in those who trust in Him for their atonement through the cross. It is hard not to wonder as King David did in Psalm 8:3-4:

                         When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast
                 ordained; What is man, that Thou are mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visited him? (KJV)

          When we now consider the expanse of the heavens, with the physical universe being estimated to be almost twelve billion light years across, an almost incomprehensible expanse, yet He loves us so much He is coming to live here with us. This is something we will likely marvel at for eternity, but He does love us enough to even make His abode on earth among men.

          Here’s another thought to stretch the height and length and breadth and depth of His love for us—as big as the physical universe is, it is but a “shadow” of the heavenly realm. This means it has as much substance compared to the spiritual realm as our shadow does to us! The kingdom of heaven is more glorious and bigger than we could ever conceive. Yet God is going to dwell on the earth among men.

          We serve a God much bigger than our little minds can even comprehend. It is easy for Him to even number the hair on the heads of every person. We are told that He knows our thoughts. He upholds the universe with the word of His power, yet He is personal with each one of us. He loves each one and wants a very personal relationship with each of us. It does seem too good to be true, and it is so wonderful that very few ever get their heads wrapped around it enough to really pursue this relationship with God.

          When we begin to comprehend how big God is we understand why Jesus marveled at human unbelief. When Moses parted the Red Sea, the angels were bored! They had seen God spread out the heavens like a tent curtain, so they were not that impressed with little feats like this on our little planet. Now think about how “all authority in heaven and on earth” has been given to Jesus. Do you think that He can take care of our little stuff?

          Then He promises us that if we will quit worrying about our own stuff and devote ourselves to seeking His kingdom first, He will take care of everything that concerns us. He knows we are like rats in a hole when we are consumed with our own lives so we cannot look up and see His kingdom. When we see His kingdom, His authority, and all that we have been given in it, we will feel very foolish about being caught up in ourselves and our own tiny world as so many are.

          This is the truth that “The Great Commission” begins with—all authority has been given to our King. It is awesome, and it never stops getting more awesome. It is the greatest of all privileges to be given this mandate to be His disciples and to help make others into His disciples. Let us resolve to treat it with the honor that it deserves and give ourselves to doing everything we can to see it fulfilled.