SERIES
Acts: Empowered to Extend
2017-09-24T11:00:00-05:00
3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
What would we do if we had all the power in the world? That question can tease out the best of our generosity and the worst of our ambition. It feels like an exercise in imagination for us, but it wasn’t for Jesus. After His resurrection, He tells the disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18). He could look at sin and death and say, “I conquered that.” He could look at the world and say, “I own that.” Jesus Christ possesses an authority we can scarcely comprehend. Acts 1:6-11 reveals what the disciples think Jesus should do with that power…and what Jesus decides to do instead. The disciples are hoping for the immediate and full restoration of the kingdom to Israel. No matter how they understand these pregnant promises from the Old Testament, they know that Jesus has the power to fulfill them. Most likely, the disciples are hoping that Jesus will do the work, and they can just enjoy the show. But the one who possesses all the power in the world refuses to hang around and wield those powers for an adoring audience. When the disciples ask Jesus, “Will you?” He responds, “[No.] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses.”
Have we pondered the glory and the humility of Christ in His ascension? The glory of ascending to His throne; the humility of leaving behind His ministry on earth. The glory of reigning in heaven; the humility of sending the Spirit to indwell us on earth. The glory of His mission to gather a people from around the world; the humility of His plan to entrust us to be His witnesses. The glory of making all things new; the humility of inviting us to work toward this restoration. Left to ourselves, we would be overwhelmed by the need for restoration in our lives, our families, our neighborhoods, our city, and the world. But Acts 1 reminds us that Jesus is the risen, ascended King over every realm. He promises that the Holy Spirit will empower us to live as witnesses of His restorative reign. The social division, physical suffering, financial ruin, systemic evil, and other challenges that could paralyze us become opportunities to witness to the Gospel of the kingdom. As the church, we are called to move toward the world as Christ’s witnesses. Will we live close to Him so that we can hear His voice and share His story? Will we live close to people so that we can know their pain and bring them hope? How might our lives change if we believed that the one who had all the power in the world has empowered us to be His witnesses?