Did the Great Commission Originate with Jesus?

Did the Great Commission originate with Jesus? We all know that Jesus gets quoted as the author of the Great Commission when we look at the famous “Great Commission” passage in Matthew 28:18-20, which says,

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Is this the first time that we see this idea propagated in the Bible? If so, does that mean that God the Father had a different idea and plan for the world when he created it back in Genesis 1? Did Jesus change the Father’s plan? Your initial reaction to these questions should be a hardy “No, of course Jesus didn’t change the Father’s plans!” So let’s take a look all the way back to the creation account in Genesis 1 and see God’s first recorded words to mankind (before telling them they couldn’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). Genesis 1:28 says,

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

God actually repeats these words to Noah and his family once they exit the ark in Genesis 9:7. Anytime words and ideas are repeated in the Bible, we ought to pay attention because they are important and the Lord means for us to understand them. So what does God mean by saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth”? Is he saying that he wants Adam and Eve to fill the earth with people, regardless of what their lives look like? No, the Lord had just said in Genesis 1:27 that he made man in his image, meaning man has value given to him by God that seems to be over and above the rest of creation…his love for us is unique and special. We also see in the first two chapters of Genesis, God’s intention for a relationship with mankind on this earth. And as we look at the rest of the Bible, there is no mistaking that God cares very much about what the lives of people are to look like. His intention is for mankind to know him, to love him, to walk faithfully with him, to worship him, and to make him known to others. It has been this way from the beginning.