Daily Reading for Saturday, Feb. 23: Sharing
“7 He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”” Acts 1:7-8 NAS
In this passage, Jesus was sharing some parting thoughts with his disciples before He was taken to heaven. The disciples were still of the mindset that Jesus was going to restore the natural kingdom of Israel; they had not gotten the revelation that they were the chosen instruments to bring the salvation message of eternal life not only to the nation of Israel but to all the world. They were hoping for Israel to be empowered to overthrow the Roman government; Jesus countered with the promise of power to overthrow the kingdom of darkness. That is precisely what happens every time someone comes to the Lord. The kingdom of darkness that has been set up in the human heart is overthrown by the kingdom of light. Or, to be more accurate, the kingdom of light regains its rightful place in the heart of man. Just as Israel was promised an everlasting peace when Messiah came, so to are we promised an everlasting peace when Messiah comes into our lives. We are given the peace that passes all understanding.
Jesus said that we would be witnesses throughout the earth. It is interesting that the Greek word for witnesses can also be translated as the word “Martyr.” But it is entirely appropriate when we understand that the Holy Spirit comes to empower us to lay down our lives, our agendas, and our desires, so that we can be a new creation with a new nature—one that is in God just the like the Son is in the Father. (John 14:20) And this new nature compels us to share the good news with all the inhabitants of the earth—for we have been given the power to do so.
Finally, this verse tells us something very simple. That we are the witnesses. The word translated shall is the future present perfect form of the verb “to be.” In other words, it can be translated to say that “you will be my witnesses.” This is how God sees us. Not what we hope to be, but how we truly are. If this is how God sees us, we need to see ourselves this way too, sharing His love and His good news.
In this passage, Jesus was sharing some parting thoughts with his disciples before He was taken to heaven. The disciples were still of the mindset that Jesus was going to restore the natural kingdom of Israel; they had not gotten the revelation that they were the chosen instruments to bring the salvation message of eternal life not only to the nation of Israel but to all the world. They were hoping for Israel to be empowered to overthrow the Roman government; Jesus countered with the promise of power to overthrow the kingdom of darkness. That is precisely what happens every time someone comes to the Lord. The kingdom of darkness that has been set up in the human heart is overthrown by the kingdom of light. Or, to be more accurate, the kingdom of light regains its rightful place in the heart of man. Just as Israel was promised an everlasting peace when Messiah came, so to are we promised an everlasting peace when Messiah comes into our lives. We are given the peace that passes all understanding.
Jesus said that we would be witnesses throughout the earth. It is interesting that the Greek word for witnesses can also be translated as the word “Martyr.” But it is entirely appropriate when we understand that the Holy Spirit comes to empower us to lay down our lives, our agendas, and our desires, so that we can be a new creation with a new nature—one that is in God just the like the Son is in the Father. (John 14:20) And this new nature compels us to share the good news with all the inhabitants of the earth—for we have been given the power to do so.
Finally, this verse tells us something very simple. That we are the witnesses. The word translated shall is the future present perfect form of the verb “to be.” In other words, it can be translated to say that “you will be my witnesses.” This is how God sees us. Not what we hope to be, but how we truly are. If this is how God sees us, we need to see ourselves this way too, sharing His love and His good news.
Labels: Christianity, core values, missional, sharing devotion
posted by Jennifer Rang at
12:01 AM
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