Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Come Holy Spirit Renew the Creation

Jerin Thomas
St. John’s MTC, NY

12:“All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”


   

    As believers in Christ and studiers of the Bible, this is a question that many of us struggle to answer to this day  - what does the Pentecost mean? We all know that this is one of the most important events in Biblical history, but the Pentecost indicates that God is equipping His church with the power of the Holy Spirit so that He will be glorified among all nations.
 

 Two main facets of this passage are (a. ) that God’s plan includes all the nations and (b.) the goal of God’s plan is His glorification. We may wonder why Luke goes through the process of listing nations in verses 9 through 11 but the key is that in verse 5, it represents men from “every nation.” During this time, God’s plan is no longer to focus solely on Jews but rather to turn to all people. As John states in Revelation 5:9, Jesus procured for God with His blood “men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” The lesson for us as modern day Christians - although we have heard the good news about Christ, we have a responsibility to ensure that all people have heard the good news as well. 

    Leading up to the Pentecost, we know that Jews from all nations have heard of Christ’s miracles through His disciples (Verse 11). Soon, thousands will be converted through Peter’s preaching of the Gospel but the goal of this Gospel is the glory of God. In Revelation 5, John had a vision of all the nations worshipping God’s throne, which consequently must be our vision and aim as well. Today, the reason that mission activity trips exist is because “worship” in those areas does not, and these trips aim to expand God’s glory into these unchartered areas. Despite the miracle on Pentecost, not all will respond positively. This passage shows the opposition against the Gospel, an opposition that we must come to expect. However, we must have faith that our God will always claim victory and that one day, all will bow to our Lord and to His glory.
 

    There are two questions that we should ask ourseves in reference to this passage. 1. Are we compelled to ensure that all people glorify God through His gospel? 2. Are we constantly striving to be a witness of Christ to those who are  adrift and in the dark?

PRAYER

Dear Father, thank You for allowing us to hear Your good news and have the ability to worship our faith without persecution or suffering. Help us always to remember that our goal as Christians is beyond our strengthening individual beliefs, but rather to ensure that all in the world hear the good news of Your gospel. Amen.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
“We should be more concerned with reaching the lost than pampering the saved.” ― David McGee

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