On three separate occasions in scripture, we find God’s intention to enter into a covenant relationship with humanity. He tied the authority, responsibility, and capacity for multiplication in each of those covenant relationships. When God entered into a covenant relationship with Adam, He commanded him to “be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28 NKJV).
The second covenant relationship was with Abraham and his descendants, where God gave this promise:
“14…Lift your eyes now from the place where you are – northward, southward, eastward, westward: 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if you could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered.” (Genesis 13:14-16 NKJV – See also Genesis 12:1-3, 15:5-6, 17:1-8 & 22:15-18.)
The final covenant relationship established in scripture is with the church – the body of Christ. In the final covenant, God commanded his people to “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” As a result, we find recorded in Acts 2:47 that “the Lord added to the church daily” and in Acts 5:14, “And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,”
The bottom line is this–if we are in covenant relationship with Jesus through the new birth experience, then, like Adam, Abraham and the New Testament church, we too possess the authority, the responsibility, and capacity for multiplication. One of the critical markers of those in covenant relationship with Jesus is being a disciple that makes disciples that makes disciples.
Here are four keys to being a multiplying disciple of Jesus:
Live every day on mission where you live, work, and play.
Learn to identify discipleable people through spiritual conversations.
Be intentional about making disciples that are dependent on His Word and His Spirit.
Instruct new disciples that his/her primary calling is to be a disciple-maker.