Wednesday, August 13, 2014
In my
first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything
Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up to
heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy
Spirit. During the forty days after he suffered and
died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in
many ways that he was actually alive. And
he talked to them about the Kingdom of God. Acts 1:1-3 (NLT)
Luke, who wrote the Gospel
that bears his name, was also the writer of Acts. It is the only written record of the first
thirty years of the early church (from the time of the resurrection to the
imprisonment of Paul in Rome). The theme
is God’s Kingdom on earth.
During the forty days after
His resurrection Jesus told his disciples a lot about the Kingdom of God. Much of what he shared with them was
instruction, or commandments about how they were to carry out His mission in
the days ahead.
What is the Kingdom? The Lord's Prayer tells us precisely,
"...Thy KINGDOM come, Thy WILL BE DONE in earth, as it is in heaven."[1] The Kingdom of God is extant wherever, and IN
whom-ever is doing His will.
Note, if you will, Luke
tells us that Jesus proved to the disciples in many ways that
he was alive – not just some ghost or vision.
That is a major stumbling-block for those who still have not accepted
the free gift of God's grace for salvation - "PROOF"! I have never met a skeptic who didn't say
"prove it". Yet, the
resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the most well-documented facts of
history. Jesus rose from the dead, and
walked the earth for forty days with and among many people. And, beloved, if the dead man never got up
and walked, we have no hope, and no joy, and certainly no business spending all
this time, energy and money on proclaiming a false kingdom.
But in First Corinthians
15:1-8 there are no less than eight specific people or groups to which Jesus
appeared after His resurrection. And
these were no midnight visions, no trances, or New Age séances. Jesus ate and drank with these people; they
felt the wounds in His flesh. He sat
with them in the light of day; He talked and taught and traveled with
them. This was no apparition, or
disembodied spirit. This was the living
Son of God, raised from the dead, announcing with His own presence that the
Kingdom of God was upon us!
And
this is the chief end of the book of Acts – to show the growth of the Kingdom
of God, starting at Jerusalem in a small band of 120 disciples, and spreading
to the uttermost parts of the world.
It
is still an unfinished story…the gospel is still being spread, and the kingdom
is still advancing.
The question every disciple of Jesus
Christ must ask is, what part am I playing in the advancement of the Kingdom of God?
For You, Today…
If you’ve asked
the question (honestly), you have also laid out your plan for today.
You will be
looking for opportunities, led by God’s Spirit, to open a pathway of service and
proclamation of the Kingdom wherever today’s work, tasks, or chores take you.
The Kingdom of
God; don’t leave home without it – in you!
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