Acts 1:21-22 21 "(a)Therefore it is (b)necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us— 22 beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must (c)become a witness with us of His resurrection." Become a Witness to Jesus v.21 (a) Therefore- because Judas was the betrayer and is no longer with us and because scripture must be fulfilled saying “let another man take his office”, Ps 109:8, and because Jesus said the twelve apostles would judge the twelve tribes of Israel, Matt 19:28, Rev 21:14, we must pick a replacement for Judas. It wasn’t because Judas physically died that they needed to replace him. It was because he was the betrayer and left his office of authority, never again to gain it back, even in the world to come. v.21 (b) three criteria for the replacement of Judas:
v.22 (c) become a witness- γενέσθαι μάρτυρα, genesthai martyra- this isn’t referring to witnessing the resurrection of Jesus. It means that whoever they pick, will become a martyr for Jesus. The word witness is the Greek word μάρτυς, martyra. We get the English word martyr from this. A martyr, in the original term, doesn’t necessarily mean someone who dies. To be a martyr means you are a witness to Christ; someone willing to let their light shine before men to give glory to the Father, Matt 5:16. But since being a witness for Jesus usually results in death, Matt 5:11-12, the word martyr came to mean someone who died for Christ. Let your light shine and give glory to the Father It is our responsibility as Christians to give glory to the Father and praise the name of Jesus. The best way for us to glorify God is to be so satisfied in Him that when people look at our lives, all they see is Jesus. Don’t let the things of this world and earthly desires be your satisfaction. For one, the things of this world can’t even compare to the joy we have in Jesus, Rom 8:18, and two, God is not glorified when your desire is apart from Him. We need to be Christ-like, Christian. When the world sees our good works, these actions give glory to the Father. Jesus said “if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father”, Jn 14:9. We should take that example and show people who Jesus is through us. Can you say “if you have seen me, you have seen Jesus?” It sounds funny to say and I am by no means trying to say we can be Jesus, but our actions and our light can reflect who Jesus is. Jesus is the manifestation, the begotten of the Father, Jn 3:16, 1Jn 4:9. God is so magnificent and so awesome that there is no way for us to comprehend Him except we see Him thru Jesus. Jesus is the express image of the Father, the radiance of His glory, the exact representation of His nature, Heb 1:3, Col 1:15, so that we can comprehend God’s glory. The reason Jesus can say “if you have seen Me, you have the seen the Father”, is because He is one with Him; He in the Father and the Father in Him. Jesus didn’t do or say anything unless He first heard it from the Father, John 14:10-11, 24, 5:19,30, 8:26,28, 12:49-50. This is now the model we should have in our lives, to be like Christ. Everything we do or say should represent and give glory to the Father in the name of Jesus. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, we become a new creation and our spirit becomes one with the Father, Jn 17:20-21, 2Cor 5:17-21, but it is our responsibility to show who the Father is thru our works. It is not the works that saves us, but the works is the representation of our salvation in Him. 1Peter 2:24 says Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Because our sins have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus and we have been made the righteousness of God in Him, we now have a duty to mortify the deeds of our flesh, die to the desire for self-glory, die to the desire for worldly respect and the fear of man, die to the desire for an easy life, die to the desire for earthly wealth and finally we must die to the desire to save our earthly lives, Rom 8:13, Matt 10:39, 16:25. This is what being a witness to Jesus is. This is what we should strive for; to be someone so committed to Jesus; someone willing to give up everything we have; someone willing to testify of Jesus’ good work even unto death, Rev 12:11.
1 Comment
|
Zack RosiereArchives
April 2020
Categories |