“’The Father sets those dates,’ He replied, ‘and they are not for you to know. But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”
- Acts 1:7-8
This is a unique post in that it both closes and starts a new series. Today we close our series that goes through the covenants of God, and then we start going through a chapter of Acts a week to understand the early church!
In the beginning, we saw the beauty of God’s original intentions, that all creation would be good and experience His presence. But Satan fell and took humanity with Him, convincing Adam to reject God. This removed Adam and Eve from God’s presence, and the world spiraled out of control toward wickedness. Noah came along and God hit the re-creation button since there was no way humanity would ever come back to Him. There, God promised never to destroy the earth with water again. Overtime comes Abraham and God decides to establish him as a father and as a nation, this established a clear people of God, while also foreshadowing the promised Son, who would save the world. Next came Moses and the establishment of Israel as a free nation set apart to be servants of the world while being holy representatives of God. Things get rocky and God sets up one last Old Testament covenant with David who becomes the archetype of the future King, Jesus Christ. Jesus comes, fulfills many aspects of the covenants and other promises, atones for our initial rebellion by His death, and now we have been raised a new in Him.
If we left it at that, we have a beautiful story leading us from the garden of Eden to the garden of Gethsemane. As beautiful as that would be, it would not establish the church in itself, nor explain the importance of the church being faithful to God alone. Christ needed to establish one last covenant to guide His followers.
Post-Resurrection:
After Jesus was raised from the dead, He appeared to numerous followers. To the couple devout women, and the remaining 11 disciples, plus around 100 other people. He continued to teach to them, and given there are not accounts of public miracles, Jesus most likely kept these appearances fairly private. In these appearances Jesus prepared His followers for what is to come, preparing them to be apostles, to encounter persecution, and to seek the Kingdom of God.
Out above verses in Acts are the last few moments and words of Jesus’ earthly appearances. Since then, Jesus has merely appeared in dreams and visions, but with the disciples, Jesus made sure His last few moments would give them the direction and charge that they all need. In a sense, this is their commissioning service and blessing of Jesus for their lives to come. Jesus tells them not to worry about His return or other details that are only up to God the Father to make, but rather to focus our attention on others. In this, Jesus is turning His disciples into apostles.
Evangelistic Power:
Jesus tells all these followers of His to not be worried about the dates and times that the Father plans to send His Son again. The Kingdom of God will be fully established when Christ returns to the earth but knowing when should not be our concern. Instead, we are merely tasked to cling to the Hope of His return, that the Kingdom of God will be manifested. In a sense, that is trusting in the everlasting covenant of God back with Creation. For in that Kingdom, God’s presence will have caught up all those who believe, love, and obey God. When all this is to happen is not our concern, nor should we be actively looking for signs of its nearness, lest we forget the true purpose of the church is not a conspiracy but of evangelism.
God, through the Son, is promising the presence of the Holy Spirit to be with the believers. The Holy Spirit is the sole source of power for the believer. It’s not a power to manipulate, it not a power to have authority over others, it is only a power that helps sustain the believer through the hardships of life. The power from the Holy Spirit helps us to live more faithfully to God, more loving to our neighbors, and bolder in our actions/decisions. Reliance on the Holy Spirit, or better said, attentiveness to the Holy Spirit allows the believer to better discern what it means to look like Christ while persisting in their humility.
Like all the other covenants, this promise of the Holy Spirit drives us to do something. In this case, we are charged to evangelize, to share with the world the man named Jesus, the one we call our Lord and Savior! For the newly commissioned apostles, there was a particular order to this. First in Jerusalem, then in Judea and Samaria, then the rest of the world! Jerusalem would be their starting point, their local context of ministry, and the birthplace of the church. In the next couple of weeks, we will see their fruit of ministry in Jerusalem. Then they move out and around the area sharing the Gospel, coming to a point they minister in Samaria, a region Judea was in regular conflict with, and they accepted the Gospel like wildfire in a dry field! Further, they would go to the ends of the earth. Some south into Africa, others north into Eurasian tribes, still others east toward Pakistan and India, and most traveling throughout Roman-controlled Europe. This is the phase we are still in and will continue until the return of Christ.
When Christ does return, all those who believe in Him, which only God can be the judge of, will be caught up in His presence, forever, with all the Christians still alive and all those who have passed away. All resting and living in the eternal presence of the Triune God.
Final Blessing:
This is why we need to walk On Beautiful Feet, that everyone we encounter may come to know Christ. That they hear about the Kingdom, they hear about the true intentions of God. They can come to know who God is and what God is all about, restoring those who believe to Himself, that many may rest and dwell in His presence. Now may we go to the ends of the earth with the Gospel of Peace and Salvation.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breath, and every heartbeat of your journey.
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