He Shall Have Dominion

God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ”
(2Co 10:5). The rich reward of his redemptive labor is sovereign lordship
over all (Eph 1:19–23; Col 1:18; Php 2:9–10; 1Pe 3:21–22; Rev 1:5; 17:14;
19:16).
After triumphantly securing universal lordship, Christ sets in gear the
machinery he will employ in exercising his dominion. He entrusts his
kingdom’s extension to his Spirit-blessed people, whom he indwells and
leads: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” This fits well with
all that I note above: the Great Commission is world-encompassing. The
ascended Christ mandates an expanded church. Would he assert his
sovereign lordship so vigorously and command his disciples so
majestically were it not his intention that they fulfill his obligation?
With these words he does not merely send “forth his disciples into all
nations” (Jay Adams) to be a “witness” (Charles Feinberg), providing a
“testimony” that “calls for a decision” (Anthony Hoekema; cp. John
Nolland). Nor does he simply commission them “to proclaim a message
to the ends of the earth” (J. Dwight Pentecost) or “to preach the gospel
unto all nations” (Arie denHartog) or “to urge universal proclamation of
the gospel” (Herman Hoyt; cp. Pentecost) in order to draw “out a people
from among the peoples or nations of the world” (Thomas Ice). 23
According to the Commission’s clear words Christ commands his disciples
actually to “make disciples of all the nations.” As D. A. Hagner puts it:
“this connection between the authority of Jesus and the fulfilling of the
tasks now assigned to the disciples and those who come after them in
Matthew’s and every church is made plain in the connective oun,
‘therefore.’ Jesus’ authority (v 18) and his presence (v 20) will empower
his disciples to fulfill the commission he now gives them.” 24
The absolutely essential precondition to the postmillennial hope is
evangelism leading to the new birth. After all, “no one can see the
kingdom of God unless he is born again” (Jn 3:3b). Hence, Christ
commands our marking out people as his own through baptism (Mt
23. Adams, The Time Is at Hand, 44 (emph. mine). Charles Lee Feinberg, “The
Jew After the Rapture” in Feinberg, Prophecy and the Seventies, 182. Hoekema, The
Bible and the Future, 138. Nolland, Matthew, 1265. Pentecost, Thy Kingdom Come,
221. denHartog, “Hope and the Protestant Reformed Churches’ Mission Calling,”
166. Hoyt, “A Dispensational Premillennial Response,” in Clouse, Meaning of the
Millennium, 145. Pentecost, Thy Kingdom Come, 221. House and Ice, Dominion
Theology, 159.
24. Hagner, Matthew 14-28, 886.