Daily Devotions - Entries tagged "Acts 2"

Yesterday we noted the fact that so many of Jesus' parables revolved around the concept of growth, of bearing fruit, of a Kingdom multiplying, growing, and spreading. Yes, it is God's Kingdom, and He is working to bring all things together according to His plans and purposes. But the astonishing blessing and opportunity is that He has called and authorized Spirit-filled and Spirit-led disciples -- Jesus followers like us -- to lead the way!  

The reality, however, is that all too often we have reduced what it means to be a Christian to personal moral improvement, or personal spiritual growth. But a more complete picture of a maturing, growing disciple is someone who has not just caught this vision for himself or herself, but is doing whatever he or she can to draw others into the same process as well. Jesus' command was never to simply build ourselves up but to build the Kingdom out -- this is what he meant by "making disciples" in Matthew 28:18-20:

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

As we grow and mature as disciples, we see that Jesus modeled for us a life of training and growing up other believers in the faith. This is how the Church grows -- through the multiplication of faith. As Paul told Timothy, "And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others" (2 Timothy 2:2).  

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

What is a disciple? For the Church as we find it in Acts 2, becoming disciples of Jesus had a radical impact on their everyday lives. They looked at their possessions a whole new way, they saw other people differently. They met together every day, and devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and to the fellowship -- learning from those who had lived alongside Jesus Himself, who had heard and written down His teachings, and who had modeled their lives after His actions and His character.

In the same way, if we as believers today are committed followers -- disciples -- of Jesus, we will also be "devoted" to studying Jesus' life and His words, and seeking in all ways to become more like Him.

So if Jesus is the One on whom we are modeling our lives, what do we see Him doing? Jesus' primary task was dying on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin (Colossians 1; Philippians 2). Obviously we are not called to emulate that. He died once for all people, something that never needs to be repeated (as 1 Peter 3:18a says, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God"). But there was a lot more to Jesus' ministry than those final moments dying on the cross.

As we read about His life on earth in the Gospels, we see three years of modeling and teaching about how to worship God, explaining the heart of the law, and calling people to true holiness. Three years of modeling and teaching about an expansive and loving community that values all people and cares deeply for one another. Three years of modeling and teaching about God's grand Kingdom vision and His mission for the entire world; something He has called all of us to be involved with.

Ultimately what we see most clearly is a man preparing the way for the future of the Church. Jesus spent three years laying the groundwork for the next two thousand. He spent three years putting down foundations upon which He would later construct the most incredible and unlikely institution imaginable; the Church. Incredible because of its power to change the world. Unlikely because it is built on ordinary, unremarkable sinners like us.

Father,

Thank You for including me in Your Church and making me part of Your plan to rescue a lost and dying world -- not because I'm special or worthy, but because You loved me enough to send Jesus to save me from the penalty and the power of sin. Help me today, and in the days and weeks ahead, to grasp more of Your grand Kingdom vision, and to let it shape more and more of my hours and my days.

42They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The vision set for us at the beginning of the Book of Acts is a grand one. In these six short verses we catch a glimpse of an incredible community that is living in a way that seems completely foreign to most of us today. What we see is that from the very beginning, the Church was not a place but a people -- Spirit-transformed people devoting themselves to a radically different way of life. These were the first disciples.  

Disciples were not a new thing invented by Jesus. Many teachers and philosophers had disciples. By itself the word means student or follower. What makes the term unique for Christians is the person we follow; the One from whom we are learning. A follower of Jesus is different. Salvation brings about a complete change in the life of every believer. In biblical language, we have crossed from death to life, from darkness to light (Col. 1:9-14). In talking about this process with a man named Nicodemus, Jesus used the image of being "born again" (John 3).

While salvation gives us a fresh start, we begin this new life as spiritual babies. Having spent most of our lives following our own selfish desires, we now have to learn how to follow Jesus.