............................................................................
Jesus
Isn't Finished with Us Yet!
by Phil
Ware
Behind every act of power in Acts, we see Jesus at work,
guiding His followers and providing His strength for them to do what he asked
of them.
“Jesus also did many other things. If they
were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books
that would be written” (John 21:25 NLT).
When
John finished his gospel, and because John appears in our Bibles as the last of
the four gospel writers, we can mistakenly believe that the work of Jesus ended
when He ascended back to the Father’s side (Luke 24:50-53; John 1:18).
Jesus
has gone back to heaven, and until He comes back, it’s up to us to figure out
what we need to do to make life, relationships, and our world work.
Some of us even grew up with teaching that suggested that
it was up to us. ”Do your best to obey,
and if you are found faithful, you will inherit eternal life.”
However,
when Luke wrote his second volume about the work of Jesus, he intentionally
shattered the idea that we were on our own and that it was up to us.
Instead,
Luke powerfully declared in his opening verses that Jesus isn’t finished with
us yet. Notice his opening words:
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote
about all that Jesus began to do and to teach... (Acts 1:1).
Luke
reminds us that this is volume 2, his second “book” sent to Theophilus.
What’s more, when Luke wrote Acts, he was continuing the
story of what “Jesus began to do and to teach!”
Jesus
was still “doing” and “teaching” after His
ascension.
And, if
we listen to the opening verses of Acts (Acts 1:1-11), we realize that He is continuing His work through
mighty deeds and words that share the truth and He is doing this in several key
channels:
·
Through His apostles and disciples (Acts 1:8).
·
Through the Holy Spirit providing power,
direction, visions, prophetic truth, and strength to his followers (Acts 1:8).
·
Through heavenly messengers — what we often
call angels, but the word "angel" means “messenger” — or
"heavenly messenger" when used in a spiritual context (Acts 1:10).
·
Through the power of His name to do mighty
deeds and bring salvation to all people (Acts 2:38-39; 3:6; 4:8-12).
In fact,
behind every major turning point and every act of power, we see Jesus at work.
He guided His followers. He provided strength for them to do what he asked of
them.
The Lord
was the supreme actor behind every divine initiative and each work of grace.
Luke
wanted us to discover that far from being absent after His ascension, Jesus was
more powerfully present.
He had
promised His followers that they would do even greater things than He did. Luke
made sure in the book of Acts that we see that Jesus delivered on His promise (John 14:12).
But,
doesn’t the story of Jesus’ great power and guidance for His disciples end with
the death of the last apostle and the ending of the book of Acts?
Of
course not!
Notice
how Luke ends the book of Acts:
“For two whole years Paul stayed there in
his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the
kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ — with all boldness and
without hindrance!” (Acts 28:30-31).
Luke,
the most grammatical, articulate, and nuanced writer of the New Testament, ends
his second volume with an adverb — literally, “unhinderedly”!
He is
wanting us to know by this jarring ending that Jesus is still at work through His
people by the might of the Holy Spirit to empower them to do great things in
sharing His good news.
He wants
each generation who reads His story of the early church to know that we are
writing volume 3 of the Jesus’ story.
The Lord
Jesus isn't finished with us and His work through us.
Isn’t
that reading a lot into a few words, Phil?
Absolutely
not!
If Jesus
wasn’t finished with his work on earth when he ascended into heaven, why should
He be finished when Luke completed the book of Acts?
Why
would Jesus' involvement in His followers work on earth end when the last
apostle died? Notice what we often quote but fail to connect with our reality:
“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have
always obeyed — not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence... for
it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good
purpose” (Philippians 2:12-13).
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all
we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be
glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever
and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Of
course, this should not surprise us if we had listened to the Lord Jesus in His
ministry.
Look
carefully at the following promise Jesus gave us and notice especially those to
whom He gave his promise — the ones believing in Him!
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in
me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things
than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in
my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for
anything in my name, and I will do it” (John 14:12).
Jesus
isn’t finished with us yet! He is going to complete the work that He began on
earth through us (Philippians 1:6).
While we
live for Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, He will guide us and empower us
and never abandon us (Romans 8:32-39).
Dear
friend in Jesus, don’t let anyone delude you into thinking that Jesus left us
alone with the Bible to try to figure this discipleship and mission stuff out
on our own.
Far from
being abandoned, we are indwelled, empowered, led, and guided by the Holy
Spirit of the living Lord who is the head of His people, His church (Ephesians 4:13-16).
Jesus isn’t finished with us until He brings us all home
to Him in glory. Until then, he wants us to be writing volume 3 “about
all that Jesus began to do and to teach”!
“I thank my God every time I remember you.
In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your
partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of
this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until
the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:3-6).
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the
Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the
Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
We can
mistakenly believe that the
work of Jesus ended when he
ascended back to the Father's side!
work of Jesus ended when he
ascended back to the Father's side!
Phil Ware has authored 11 years of daily devotionals, including VerseoftheDay.com, read by 500,000 people a day. He works with churches in
transition with Interim
Ministry Partners and for the
past 21+ years, he has been editor and president of HEARTLIGHT Magazine, author
of VerseoftheDay.com, God's
Holy Fire (on the Holy
Spirit), and aYearwithJesus.com. Phil has also authored four
books, daily devotionals on each of the four gospels. (Visit the Author's
Website)
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