Euangelion

The Business of Souls.

In the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, there was an earnestness that characterized his approach to the things that he did. If you consider the gospel narratives of Mark and John, you are left in no doubt as to his motivation and means.

In the gospel according to John, you find verses like:

I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.

John 9:4 (KJV)

Such necessity. Such compulsion. Such sense of responsibility. Why was he this serious? what accounts for such earnestness? There are a host of reasons. I will advance two:

Firstly, it was the work of He that sent him. It was the work of the Father. Just as David told the priest, saying “the work of the King requires haste”, there is an urgency about it. There is no room for procrastination, no space for ambiguity and vacillation. There is a work for God that we all must do.

Secondly, what is the nature of this work? It is the Business of Souls. There is a dimension of the work that our Lord did, culminating in the reality of the cross. In John 17: 4, Jesus prayed:

“..I glorified You on the earth by accomplishing the work which You have given Me to do…”

And in John 19:30, we find:

Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

However, there is layer of work downstream to this that he has called us to do. In Matthew 28:18-20, we have what the evangelical church calls the Great commission, which Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians called the ‘Ministry of Reconciliation’ (2Cor 5:18-19). This work carries great significance because it brings men in contact with the accomplished plan of God in Redemption.

The price for men has been paid on the cross.

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

Rev 5:9 (KJV)

The word ‘redeemed’ is from the Greek word, Agorazo, which means to go the market and make a purchase. This is the business of souls; the buying of men out of the grip and penalty of Sin regardless of socio-demo-eco-geographical peculiarities, and restoring them into the king-priest family and calling of the believer. This is Evangelism. This is Discipleship.

Every believer, therefore, has a basic mandate of joining in the family business, proclaiming to men that the price for their freedom and restoration has been paid in full already, and they need not spend any more time as captives of the power of darkness.

The price for the souls of men has been paid in full, let’s go and bring them in, shall we?