For all who are far off.. Acts 2
I’d love for you to be reading through the book of Acts with us this month. I won‘t be hard to work out where we are up to – the day of the month is the chapter in Acts 🙂
Today is Acts 2 and it’s the day of Pentecost and the birth of the Church, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, and the starting of home fellowships, and daily prayer, and fulfilled prophecy, and resurrection, and eternal Kingship of Jesus David’s greatest son and..
Well there‘s way too much here – to blog piece by piece but you really should read it!
Instead of giving a blow-by-blow account I wanted to focus on a tiny section just after Peter has explained to the gathered crowd that Jesus is indeed the long expected Messiah of Israel – and they have killed him! When they cry out, “what shall we do?” we hear his reply;
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:38–39 NIV11)
I loved the last line. This promise of forgiveness and in filling by the Holy Spirit is for Israel (“you and your children”), but it is also for, “all who are far off” – that’s the Gentiles – that is us..
God longs for those far away to be brought near through the death of His Son.
I’m sure there are those that you know and love who you would say are a million miles away from coming to church, let alone giving their lives to Jesus. And yet, they are precisely the ones that Jesus has come for. They are the ones that God is staying that the promise is for.
The hard hearted. The distant. The angry. The hurt. The bitter. The broken. Even.. the apathetic.
God loves them and our privilege is to pray for them. Our joy is to love them. Our responsiblity is to speak to them to hold out this Word of Life.
It’s God’s job to save them.
”Dear Heavenly Father, we love Your generosity. Firstly in giving us Your Only Son, and then in pouring out Your Holy Spirit to empower and transform those who are saved by faith. Lord Jesus, please help us to be prayerful, loving, and bold speakers. Save those who are far away just as you tell us your great promises intend. Amen.”
Grace and peace,
Stuart.
