CLOUDED
by
EMOTION

The first recorded message from Jesus’ preaching is, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). After some time passed, Jesus told a crowd, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power” (Mark 9:1).

The kingdom was on its way, and when it arrived, it would come with power. The words power and promise are continually associated with the coming of the kingdom throughout the gospel accounts. After Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, we read:

Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:45–49

In a parallel passage, Jesus referred to this promise as the apostles’ upcoming baptism with the Holy Spirit, which would clothe them with power (see Acts 1:1–8). In Acts 2, that promise came true, and the Holy Spirit’s power was manifested in a way which it had never been before.

I’ve seen the movies and read the stories that teach about the danger of power in the wrong hands. In those stories, corrupt men receive power, or good men are corrupted by power, and things go horribly wrong. Then, the world falls into chaos, and it’s the hero’s job to strip that power away.

​But what happens when God’s true power is provided to faithful disciples of Jesus Christ? What did the apostles do with the power the Holy Spirit provided them in Acts 2?

But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words.” Acts 2:14

They preached the gospel! When the apostles began speaking in tongues to the thousands of assembled people, those people responded by saying, “we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God” (Acts 2:11). The mighty deeds of God include the chance for all of us to walk in newness of life through our own death, burial, and resurrection (see Romans 6:1–7).

Yes, there is danger of power falling into the wrong hands. But God knew, from before the foundation of the world, how He would bring about His kingdom—with power. When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles, they knew it was time to fulfill Jesus’ mission to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, and thereby planting the seed of the kingdom.

There is a power that God has placed into our lives that we can take to everyone today. Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).

Discussion Question: How should faithful disciples respond to Paul’s claim that the gospel is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes?

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Scripture quotations are taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation