Acts 1:8 (but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth). Cross referenced verses are: Act 2:1-4, Luke 24:48; John 15:27; Acts 8:1,5,14; Matt 28:19; Mark 16:15; Rom 10:18; and Col 1:23)
Jesus' ancestry is from the Jewish nation. God separated His people from everyone else for the sole purpose of brining the Messiah into the world. He went through a lot of stuff with these chosen people, even calling them obstinate. They were His people; they saw many signs and wonders, yet they still rebelled against Him. He continued to bring them back to Him; He continued to save them from themselves. He did all this to bring the Messiah into the world. Jesus must be a pretty important Guy, huh.
I happen to agree with that statement. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life for everyone. His ancestry is from the Jewish nation; however, He didn't come for just them. The latter part of verse 8 reminds us for whom He came...all of us!!! How awesome!
What does it mean when Jesus says they will be witnesses? Remember, His disciples had been with Jesus during His entire teaching time (the previous 3 or so years). They witnessed
all He had done. They saw His signs and wonders. They saw Him arrested, beaten, crucified, buried, risen, and now reappear after death. They were first hand witnesses. These weren't events handed down to them through the generations. They were there!! There's nothing better than first hand witnesses!!
Once they received the powers through the Holy Spirit, it would be their jobs to use those first hand witness accounts to further Jesus' message. Until then they were to remain in Jerusalem. Things would happen, as we will see, that facilitated the process of proclaiming Jesus to those outside Jerusalem. While these things are horrible, we will watch God use the bad for good (Rom 8:28), and we can be so thankful for these bad events because without the spread of Christianity outside Jerusalem, we wouldn't know salvation. It's not always easy to see through the bad, but those times could lead to even greater things for us. It's a reminder to always be thankful in the midst of every storm...something I struggle with on a constant basis.
Continuing in Acts chapter 1, let's discuss verse 6 (So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?). The cross referenced verse are Matt 17:11, Mark 9:12, Luke 17:20 and 19:11.
Jesus was with all His disciples, after telling them to stay in Jerusalem to await the baptism of God, and they asked about His kingdom. Israel believed that Jesus came to be an earthly ruler coming to take them out from under Roman rule. They were not grasping at all the fact that God's kingdom was going to be a spiritual one, that Jesus was going to be the Cornerstone of a new church. They hadn't yet realized what it meant for Jesus to have been killed on the cross then buried and resurrected. They hasn't yet realized that everything...everything...had now changed. It hadn't changed just for Israel and the Jews, but for every single person living and all who will live on the earth. Jesus' death on that cross still didn't quite make sense, so they still thought He had come to save them from the Romans.
In verse 7 (He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority) (cross references: Matt 24:36 and Mark 13:32), we see Jesus telling them it's none of your business right now. In the cross referenced verses, while Jesus was still alive, He tells them then that only the Father knows some timetables, that even the angels nor the Son know.
It's sometimes scary to realize that things are out of our control. It's hard to grasp the concept of God being our Creator and is working on our behalf, if we are right with Him through Jesus. It's equally scary, if not more so, to fathom an entity who is constantly working against us. Yet, we know satan is real and his sole desire is to kill and destroy (John 10:10a). God, Jesus, and the Bible have been proven. I know they are real. I know
what the Bible says is true. That makes satan real. God's simple rule for our lives...BE READY!! (Matt 24:44) That's it. Be ready for Christ's return. What does that mean? Simple really. It means we need to get right with God and live right for Him (believe, repent, confess, baptism). Don't fret over when. Don't watch the news and see "end times" stuff going on and worry if the end is near. Just be ready. Then enjoy the life God gave us. I know our finite minds cannot seem to grasp the eternal spiritual kingdom of God. Don't think we were meant to honestly. It's none of our business right now. Just get right and live right for God. He will take care of us, and all this not so good stuff going on right now...He will turn it into good, for God causes all things to work for good for those who love and obey Him (Rom 8:28). God's got this!!
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