Tuesday, February 11, 2025
This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14
A Testimony to All Nations
Jesus is speaking with the disciples, answering some questions they have for him about the end times. They want to know how they can know when the end will come. Jesus’ answer is charge for all Christians at all times. It was for them that day and it is for us today.
Jesus simply answered that the end will only come when the Gospel has been proclaimed in all the world – to every tribe and nation and people group in the whole world. It is hard for us to believe in our modern world that there are still people groups who have never even heard the name of Jesus, but there are. Jesus modeled how we are to spread the Gospel when he was here on earth. As he left earth, he gave us clear instructions that we were to carry on what he had started. It begins where our feet are planted but ends at the ends of the earth when all have heard the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
If people do not know about the Gospel and what Jesus did for them on the cross, they cannot make the choice to follow Jesus and accept his gift of salvation and eternal life. We are getting closer every day to the day when Christ shall return. We should be very busy with the business of spreading the Gospel as much as we can. Time is of the essence and the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Jesus’ first coming as a baby and living on earth as a man was the first coming of the Kingdom. We work and we share the Gospel in the anticipation of his second coming. It is our job to share as a witness to what God has done in our own lives and to let others know they can have the same thing – salvation today and eternal life in the future.
Our lives, and the way we live life, our actions and reactions, all lay the groundwork for us to sow the seed of the Gospel. Living our lives in such a way as followers that glorifies God will be evident to others around us. We live out what we believe as a testimony of God’s power, grace, mercy, and salvation in our own lives and others see. They pay attention even if you don’t think they are.
The Gospel is shared many ways, but the most significant way is though word of mouth. Our testimony is more powerful than reading the words on paper. Our story of how the Gospel changed our lives speaks loudly to a person lost in sin and searching for a way out. Firsthand accounts of the transformative power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ holds weight as the stories are passed from person to person.
We have no way of knowing when we are close to reaching the ends of the earth. We have no way of knowing how long it will be or how close we are to the second coming of Jesus. But Jesus does not want us to know. Instead of only watching and waiting for his second coming, he wants us to be working to spread the Gospel as far and wide as we can. We are to be working while we wait.
When was the last time you shared the gospel with someone far from God? Will you ask God to place someone on your heart this week with whom you can share a witness for the Kingdom of God?
