"Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
As I am looking into this part of Acts, I am confronted with my own confusion. Here is the reality; even when are sure that we know what God is doing, we could be way off. Here we are in Acts, Jesus is with his people after the resurrection and they are confident that he has come back to restore Israel as the military and political powerhouse of the world. This thought didn't come out of left field somewhere because you see it being done over and over again in the OT. However, although everything looked as if that was the case, they couldn't have been more wrong. That was not the plan at all.
So, now that we know what the plan is not, we have to figure what the plan actually is. Jesus tells his people 2 very important things here. These two things are the essence of the Christian mission. Often, we think of the mission of God is to be a sanctified Holy people who are reverent and intimate with Christ. Although that is part of the Kingdom, that is not the mission. Here are the 2 things that Christ tells his people.
1. You will spread my message to the entire world.
2. I will be with you the entire time through God the Holy Spirit.
Note the purpose of Jesus sending God the Holy Spirit. Often times we think that the Holy Spirit is here for us and to do a mighty work in us. However, if we believe Acts 1, than we see that the Holy Spirit is not given to us for us at all. The Holy Spirit is given to us for the world. The purpose of Jesus sending us the Holy Spirit is so that God will spread his Gospel through his people.
The primary way that Jesus equipped his people was the promise of the Holy Spirit. The result of the Holy Spirit coming on them was propelling them into mission. If you have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, you are a christian missionary. No questions asked!!
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