Proclaim Repentance

"Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

and He said to them, ‘thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer

and rise again from the deadthe third day;

and that repentance for forgiveness of sins

should be proclaimed to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem.’"

Luke 24:45-47

As we near our Lord’s ascension He is now sharing most important information with His disciples. The message is as important for us as it was for them. The responsibility and privilege of sharing the message of salvation to others applies to all Christians. It is interesting that Luke shares this charge with us here and begins with the same challenge in the book of acts. Acts 1:8 says "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."

Paul says in Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Paul was bold in sharing his faith and we can have that same boldness through the Holy Spirit’s ministry in our lives. We should also be patient, loving and kind as we tell others of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Some say they don’t know how to share the gospel. Try writing out your testimony of how you came to know the Lord Jesus as your Savior. You will find four basic elements of sharing your faith. First, we must recognize that we are sinners, separated from a relationship with God (Rom. 3:23). Then we learn that because of our sin we face eternal separation from God (Rom 6:23), but He gave His Son as a free gift to pay the price for our sins that we might have eternal live (Rom. 5:8). Finally there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. We simply must "confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead...for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation." (Rom.10:9-10).

Our realization of the eternal hope we have should cause us to have a great desire to share that hope with those whom God places in our path.

A Personal Explanation

"And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in the Scriptures."

Luke 24:27

Two of Jesus’ disciples were walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus grieving that the One who they thought would be their Savior had been killed. They had heard reliable reports that He had risen but really didn’t know what to believe. Jesus, in one of His appearances after His resurrection, approached them. But note that their eyes were supernaturally blinded so that they did not recognize Him. After allowing them to explain their current mindset, He began to explain the Scriptures to them. We should be reminded that, in this situation, the Scriptures just included the Old Testament because the New Testament had not been written yet.

A couple of thoughts come to my mind as I read this story. First, the Old Testament is an important and vital part of God’s Word. We should study it as diligently as we do the New Testament. It is important that we understand the Bible as a whole as God unfolds His plan for mankind.

The other is what a privilege these two disciples had as Jesus explained the Scriptures to them. Notice their later reaction "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us? (v. 32). It causes me to give God thanks that we have the entirety of Scripture preserved for us and we also have the Holy Spirit residing within us to give us understanding.

We must guard against allowing the Bible to become a dry textbook that we are required to study because we are Christians. We should approach it seeking to understand God’s will for our lives. Hebrews 4:12 tells us that "the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and intentions of the heart."

I pray that you will value God’s Word and love to spend time in it, because through the study of it you will learn God’s will for your life and the practical day to day guidance you need to fulfill His plan for you.

In The Presence Of Jesus

"And He said to him, "Truly I say to you,

today you shall be with Me in Paradise."

Luke 23:43

What a beautiful verse this is for the Christian. Just as Jesus assured the thief who expressed faith in Him that after their physical death they would be united in Paradise, we can be assured of the same thing. We know, as Christians that we have an eternal relationship with Jesus. Although our bodies may wear out physically, spiritually we are eternally secure in Him. That allows us to face death completely different than those who are not Christians.

I’m reminded of Psalm 116:15 which says "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His godly ones." God has a completely different view of physical death than we; an eternal perspective. Physical death brings us into an even closer relationship with Him. Recently when I reflected on the death of someone close to me I thought of what a wondrous day that must have been for the one that passed on into eternity. They began the development of a relationship with Jesus Christ that was much greater than they had ever experienced in their physical life. They must have reveled in the presence of their Savior in a way we cannot imagine.

It is natural for us to mourn the loss of a loved one when they die because there is a physical separation and we miss them greatly. Jesus realized how Mary and Martha mourned when their brother Lazarus died and He wept with them .(Luke 11:1-36)

The Christian, however, mourns differently than the non-Christian because we know our separation is temporary. We have a confidence and a tremendous peace that our loved ones have entered into an enhanced relationship with our Savior and one day we will join them for eternity. We will worship God in a way we have never experienced before because the presence of the old nature is no longer a part of us. We are in a completed relationship with Jesus Christ.

I’m sure you have or will experience the death of someone you love. Be assured that it is ok to mourn, but be comforted by the fact that those who know the Lord Jesus are with your Savior and one day you will be united with them.

Father Forgive Them

"Father forgive them"

Luke 23:33-34

"And when they came to the place called The Skull there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, "Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.""

As I reflect on the crucifixion as recorded in the Gospels I’m amazed at Jesus attitude revealed in the statement "Father forgive them". Jesus said this in His humanity as He had laid aside His eternal powers to become a man. Although He had the resources to completely change the course of history by escaping death, He refused to do so. Matthew 26:53 records Jesus at the time of His betrayal telling His disciples "Or do you think that I cannot appeal to My Father, and He will at once put at My disposal more than twelve legions (72,000) of angels." Jesus chose to be obedient to the point of death.

This statement also shows that there was no resentment, no anger, no lurking desire for punishment on those who were mistreating Him; only forgiveness. His only thought was to do what was best for our eternal good in a way that gave glory to the Father. Because of Jesus actions, the Father sees us completely and unquestionably forgiven through His blood.

That does not mean, however, that forgiveness is appropriated to every man or woman. This fact is revealed to us by the actions of the two criminals who were crucified with Jesus. Verse 39 tells us that one of the criminals hurled abuse at Him and demanded that Jesus physically rescue them. The other obviously had a change of heart as he observed Jesus in this crisis of the crucifixion and rebuked the first criminal. Jesus recognized this change of heart and assured him "today you shall be with Me in Paradise" (v. 43).

People are the same today. Some recognize Jesus as their Savior and some don’t. Those that do are instructed and exhorted in the Bible to tell others of their relationship in Christ and to live in a way that evidences that. I pray that your life will reveal the Savior to others.