The Briefing Note:
Lens 1: God’s Plan and Mandate (The Great Commission)

This Lens is Christianity’s ultimate Strategic Directive—the Great Commission. It’s not a suggestion; it’s a formal command from the Risen Christ, who claimed to have all authority in heaven and on earth. The Book of Acts is essentially the operational log showing exactly how this command was carried out. Before launching, Jesus spent 40 days offering proof of His Resurrection, providing infallible proofs. The Greek word used, tekmerion, was the "Gold Standard" in first-century courts, meaning the evidence was absolute and undeniable. This foundational proof transformed scared followers into authorized, fearless witnesses. The mission was a massive strategic shift. Historically, people came to God in Jerusalem ("Centripetal"). The Great Commission flipped this, commanding Christians to go out to the whole world ("Centrifugal"). This spread followed a geographic blueprint—Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth—and God even used persecution to force the expansion. He leveraged the Roman Empire’s roads and common language (Pax Romana), creating an "Information Superhighway" for the Gospel. This Great Commission is a "Heavenly Power of Attorney" where Apostles were given delegated authority (a munus, or public duty). The goal is not just conversion, but making disciples—a rigorous, long-term process. This entire global effort is managed by the Trinity: ordered by the Father, anchored in the Son, and executed by the Holy Spirit as the "Chief Operating Officer".

Note: “The 7 Lens of Examination” framework is a proprietary method of analysis created by the Acts 2020 Project.