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THE BOOK OF ACTS – WHAT NOW?

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CHAPTER 1

WHAT NOW?

“Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day He said goodbye to the apostles, the ones He had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. After His death He presented Himself alive in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, He talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:1-3 (NIV).

It is fitting that we continue the story of Jesus as Luke did to his friend, Theophilus. We are indebted to him for his meticulous record. Without it we would never know the sequel to the Jesus-story and how the first disciples took on the Roman Empire and, through the promised Holy Spirit, so securely planted the message of the truth about Jesus that it infiltrated the known world of their day and still continues to change lives through their writings.

Luke made sure that Theophilus understood that Jesus spent forty days with His disciples after the resurrection, tying up all the loose ends so that they would know exactly what to preach and teach after He left them. His theme was the kingdom of God.  There was no doubt that He was alive and that He would continue to be fully involved with them as they carried out His instructions and lived out His life in a hostile environment.

Unlike so much of current preaching and teaching which ignores the bigger picture and makes the gospel all about us, He put His life and death into the perspective of God’s realm and rule in the lives of people. It was not about them. It was about Him, His purpose for coming and their on-going mission to proclaim Him to the world.

He would have warned them that their task was a dangerous one. Like Him they would have to face the hostility of the Jewish leaders who had put Him to death as well as the Caesars whose claims demanded the worship and allegiance that was due Him alone.

These arrogant Roman emperors, in particular Caesar Augustus, “believed that he was god incarnate on earth, the prince of peace who had come to restore all of creation…His priests offered sacrifices and incense to rid people of their guilt. One of his popular slogans was “There is no other name under heaven by which men can be saved than that of Caesar.” Another phrase they used was “Caesar is Lord.” Throughout the Roman Empire, the Caesars called on people to worship them as the divine saviours of humankind…” (Rob Bell, Velvet Elvis, Zondervan 2005, page 162)

The implications are obvious. Into this world came the “Jesus movement” in a remote corner of the empire that was giving them no end of trouble. These people claimed that their leader was a rabbi, that He had announced the arrival of the kingdom of God, that He had been executed by the Roman authorities for treason, and that His followers claimed that He was alive. Now they were claiming that He, not Caesar, is Lord!

Their opposition would be ruthless ad relentless but the message had to go out. The apostles had to know it, be convinced of it, believe it and proclaim it no matter what the consequences. This was the final mission of Jesus before He returned to the Father. For forty days He instructed them until He was sure that they were ready to take on the world!

 

What You Do Is What You Are

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WHAT YOU DO IS WHAT YOU ARE

“The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21.

What a list of horrible things people indulge in! But these are only the tip of the iceberg. They are symptoms of something much deeper and much worse. People are not sinners because they do these things; people do these things because they are sinners. Long before any of these symptoms ever come to the surface, the heart is already rotten to the core.

The sinful human behaviour Paul listed here touches and defiles every part of us – body, soul and spirit. However, in the end all sin is against God, not matter who else we may infect on our mad dash towards self-destruction. King David was aware of this when his adultery with Bathsheba was exposed.

“Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” Psalm 51:4.

That unbelievers do these things is bad enough, but that believers also engage in this kind of behaviour with the mistaken idea that God will forgive them, is tragic because they have failed to realise that what they do exposes their hearts.

“Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. But you know that He appeared so that He might take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him. Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does right is righteous, just as He is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” 1 John 3:4-8.

Paul’s distress over the Galatians’ acceptance of the Judaizers’ false teaching went much deeper than that they believed they had to be circumcised and keep the law. He knew that to do that was to fall back into the clutches of their old sinful nature which had killed them when they were born because they were born in sin. This time they would ever escape the ravages of sin because they would be denying the work of Jesus and undoing their faith in Him forever.

“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to public disgrace.” Hebrews 6:4-6.

This is not about falling into occasional sin. This is about changing the foundation upon which your faith is based. It is either based on what you can do or on what Jesus has done. It cannot be both. Those who fall into temptation have an advocate with God who pleads their case for them.

“My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-3.

Those who choose to trust in their own works to satisfy God’s righteousness, who step out of grace into works, have no way back. Hence Paul’s warning. “Don’t do it because, if you do, you will have forfeited your standing in grace forever.” It’s as serious as that!

Why would people want to do that? Is it because, in the end, they choose to walk the way of unrighteousness so that they can indulge in their fleshly lusts?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.