As Jesus gave his disciples their final instructions for carrying out his mission on earth, he left them with this promise: “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). But what does it mean that Christ is with us, and what does this promise mean for the success of the Great Commission?
When we think of Christ being with us, it’s easy to imagine his presence outside us. We might imagine him being with us like a loving family member who comes alongside and comforts us when we’re sad. Or we might think of him being with us like a supportive friend who encourages or strengthens us in our weakness. But Christ isn’t merely with us—he’s in us.
The promise of Christ’s presence with his disciples to the end of the age isn’t just his commitment to comfort, support, or even strengthen us. These words aren’t meant merely to motivate or inspire. Instead, they demonstrate that Christ is active within us, animating our witness. And this amazing promise is what guarantees that Christ’s mission will be accomplished in all the world.
Christ in Us
Deeper insight into the mystery of how Christ is with us requires the unfolding revelation of the New Testament. Before the disciples pursued their mission, Jesus commanded them to wait for the indwelling Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4). The Spirit’s coming marked the beginning of a new age, but it also made the believer’s union with God’s Son a reality (Rom. 8:9–10). Jesus’s promise to be with his disciples was realized in a way no one could’ve imagined: Christ was with them and in them by his Spirit.
Thus, when Ananias lied to the apostle Peter, he was charged with lying to the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3). Later, when Paul was persecuting believers, we’re told he was persecuting the Lord Jesus (9:4–5). This is what Jesus meant when he said, “Whoever receives you receives me” (Matt. 10:40). It’s not just that believers represent Christ but that Christ is truly in us and we are in him (John 14:20). The Spirit-filled church is Christ’s body on earth.
When Christ lives in believers by the Spirit (Gal. 2:20), he doesn’t destroy their personhood (Col. 1:29). Rather, he transforms them by their union with him (2 Cor. 3:18). This reality establishes the primary identification for Christ’s disciples. By far, the most common moniker used by New Testament writers to refer to Christians is based on this union with Christ. We aren’t merely Christians, brothers, saints, or believers but those who are “in Christ.”
Fulfilling the Scriptures
When Jesus appeared to the two disciples on their way to Emmaus, he gently rebuked them for their lack of attention to the Scriptures: “Everything written about me . . . must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). By summarizing all that was written, Jesus highlighted three pivotal events that were prophesied: the Messiah’s substitutionary death, his victorious and vindicating resurrection, and the global proclamation of repentance in his name for the forgiveness of sins.
We aren’t merely Christians, brothers, saints, or believers but those who are ‘in Christ.’
By that time, the first two had already been fulfilled. Jesus had marched to his destiny in Jerusalem with a driving fierceness (Mark 10:32). As he explained repeatedly, he’d come to fulfill the Scriptures (Matt. 5:17–18), including the fact that he must suffer (Matt. 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22; 17:25). More than a dozen times, events in Jesus’s life clearly fulfilled what was foretold. Our Lord pursued with somber focus the accomplishment of these first two events: his substitutionary sacrifice and victorious resurrection.
Now, only one remains. And we should expect he’ll persist with no less determination the accomplishment of the third event that was written: global gospel proclamation. According to the Great Commission, Jesus isn’t just along for the ride. He isn’t merely at our side, comforting us when we’re weak. No, Jesus is leading us and driving us from within. The Son of God is fulfilling this pivotal third leg of his mission by acting through the church.
We see this in Acts where Luke records the continuation of Christ’s activity (Acts 1:1). Paul teaches this truth in his speech to King Agrippa, explaining that “the Christ must suffer and . . . by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles” (26:23). Paul repeats the threefold mission of the Messiah, making it clear that Christ himself will accomplish it.
Proclaiming the Gospel
Christ’s union with believers by the Spirit has this driving purpose: the global proclamation of the gospel. Like all else foretold in the Scriptures, we can be confident of its fulfillment.
So what does it mean that Christ is with us to the end of the age? It means the accomplishment of global evangelism is as inevitable as the death and resurrection of our Lord. It will happen (Matt. 24:14). Yes, the nations will resist this; Jesus foretold it. Yet we’re more than conquerors through Christ who loved us (Rom. 8:37). Jesus Christ is working in his people to accomplish the last leg of what was written.
Jesus isn’t just along for the ride. He isn’t merely at our side, comforting us when we’re weak. No, Jesus is leading us and driving us from within.
It means Christ’s presence with the church has a missions trajectory. He’s living in us and compelling us onward with all his characteristic commitment to fulfill the smallest stroke of the Scriptures. There are many important things Christians can do, but Christ puts emphasis on the mission of proclaiming his saving work to all nations. Missions is the alignment of our activity with Christ’s work in the world.
The Lord Jesus isn’t waiting on us to decide whether to be involved in his mission. Rather, by his Spirit, he’s animating us forward in a work of global proclamation that he’ll accomplish through us. Compelled by his love, we join the One who lives in us—that we might no longer live for ourselves but for his sake (2 Cor. 5:15).
The Gospel Coalition