Page 5 - In His Image

Introduction

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“ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven
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and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
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the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that 1
have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age”
Matt 28:19-20

One of the words that define the body of Christ today is "evangelical." We hear
so much about evangelizing the world, and rightfully so. Many of our churches have
evangelical outreaches, teach courses in evangelizing and stress the life changing
importance of the born-again experience. All true, worthy of time and energy and
biblically sound.

What I have noticed and heard repeatedly however is the belief within the church
that the "Great Commission" is a call to evangelize. A call to go and preach the
gospel with the intent of making converts. This is certainly a part of what the Holy
Spirit revealed through the Great Commission (Matt 28:19), but certainly not the
entire message. The Great Commission goes MUCH further than just evangelizing
as we have come to know that word. Verse 19 declares "go therefore and make disciples
of all nations..." It does not say go and make converts, nor believers, but "disciples."

For the sake of clarity, let me take a moment and define "evangelist." Webster
defines evangelize this way "to preach the gospel to; to convert to Christianity."
Strong's defines evangelist (euaggelistes/yoo-ang-ghelis-tace - 2099) as follows...
"a bringer of good tidings, the name given to the NT heralds of salvation through
Christ who are not apostles."

Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words states...
euangelistes, "a messenger of good;" a "preacher of the gospel;" "to proclaim glad
tidings," and euangelion, "good news, gospel." Missionaries are "evangelists," as being
essentially preachers of the gospel.

Evangelism encompasses the message, the methods, and the goal. The message is
the Good News that "Jesus Christ died for our sins, and was raised from the dead
according to the Scriptures, and that as the reigning Lord now offers the forgive-

In His Image III