GO MAKE ME SOME COPIES

Following His crucifixion (Mt. 27:27-66), His burial in a borrowed tomb (Jn. 19:38-42), and His resurrection (Mk. 16:1-11), Jesus ascended into heaven (Acts 1:8-11), and He is now seated at His Father's right hand (1 Pet. 3:22).  Note these facts are being testified to by Matthew, John, Mark, Luke, and Peter.  In addition, the Apostle Paul wrote of the Lord's death, burial, and resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4, and he added that the resurrected Son of God was seen alive by over five hundred people, most of whom were still alive at the time of his writing (1 Cor. 15:5-8)!

There you have it:  The Gospel!  The message of good news!  We are sinners (He died for our sins - 1 Cor. 15:3).  Witnesses saw Him buried, and they saw Him being risen from the dead.  Paul wrote that these few facts have the very power of God within them, to save lost souls (Rom. 1:16)!  He also wrote that our salvation is a free gift - we just have to believe it and accept it (Eph. 2:8-9). 

I have found that those who realize what Jesus has done for them, ALWAYS want to show their gratitude to Him!  They hunger to know what He desires of them, in order to please Him.  Of course, by the time someone has come to believe and trust in Jesus, he or she knows that He wants us to love our Father (Mt. 22:37), and also to love humanity (neighbors AND enemies - Mt. 5:43-44).  But, in what has become known as the "Great Commission," He wants His disciples to share the Gospel, to baptize those who are repentant (have had a change of heart), and to teach them His will, His commandments ("whatsoever I have commanded you")!  In other words, His desire is for us to be like Him, to obey Him, and for us to train those who accept Christ, to do the same!  Look closely at the wording in Matthew 28:16-20. 

"Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.  And when they saw Him, they worshipped Him: but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth.  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen" (Mt. 28:16-20).

Though we are not saved by good works, we certainly are expected to do them!