The Lord Jesus gave a promise to His disciples just before He left the earth to sit at the right hand of God the Father. This promise should radically change the way we think about, feel towards, and do what He has commanded all of us to do for the rest of our lives.
Jesus promised the disciples: "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."(Matthew 28:20)
Christ's promise is of course, in effect. We read in the book of Acts that the Holy Spirit was working powerfully with and among the disciples who were joyfully and faithfully doing what Christ has commanded them to do:
"Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.'" (Matthew 28:18-19)
An all-encouraging promise
The Lord Jesus gave that command to all who followed Him because He was given all authority to do so. He was able to demonstrate to the disciples that God was working to bring all men to Himself, while utterly destroying all the works of the devil. In fulfilling the requirements of the law, overcoming the world and defeating sin and death, Christ was given all authority and dominion over the earth, so "that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord." It is with this same authority that He has commanded all Christ-followers to preach the gospel throughout the world, accompanied by signs and wonders in His name. (see Mark 16)
Yet, despite the power that Christ has, many Christians face hardships in doing the great commission. Jesus' disciples themselves needed Christ's very encouraging promises to push them to have faith in Him and do what He said.
Think about it. The disciples saw how Christ healed the sick and raised the dead. They saw how He fed the multitudes. They saw how He cast demons out of those who were possessed. They saw Him walk on water. They saw His nail-pierced hands and feet, and His physical body alive and eating after being raised from the dead. They saw Him ascend into heaven, and while they stared into the sky like it was impossible for Christ to fly, an angel told them to get on their feet because He will soon return again. Still, Christ promised what we should consider an all-encouraging promise, urging us to trust Him at all times as we obey all His commands.
All you need
Jesus' promise assures us that we can just focus on doing what He wants us to do without worrying about things we cannot do. He said He will be with us, and we can be sure of that. The disciples themselves experienced the fulfilment of Christ's promise – as seen in the book of Acts – and if God remains the same yesterday, today and forever, we can be assured that Christ will be with us just as He said.
