“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
...when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
—Job 38:4a, 7
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
—John 17:24
[Jesus] said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
—Acts 1:7-8
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
—Revelation 22:16
The world likes the idea of power: the power to come roaring around the corner, tires squealing, just in the nick of time; the power to turn all heads and make the bad guys freeze or slink away just by walking into a room; the power to dominate.
The apostles who gathered in Jerusalem after the resurrection were still struggling. They hadn't yet laid aside the baggage of the assumptions that surrounded them—the assumption that the Lord's Messiah would come to restore some imagined past geopolitical greatness. And, of course, they would be quite willing to have positions of power at His right hand and His left hand. They hadn't yet comprehended that the kingdom, of which Jesus had been speaking for the forty days since His resurrection, was far greater than they had imagined.
And when Jesus told them that they would “receive power”, it wasn't for glory or ability to dominate people who opposed them. It was the power to align to His purpose, which was the purpose of the Father. It was the power to declare with John that “we have seen His glory.”
It was the power to become children, and to bring others to adoption as children, of a Father who was before the birth in Bethlehem, before the kings in Jerusalem and Samaria, before the Law given through Moses, before Abraham had any hope of children.
It was the power to witness for the One who was before and from the beginning.
From the Beginning (part 4)
The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the peoples see his glory.
—Psalm 97:5-6
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
...when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
—Job 38:4a, 7
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.”
—John 17:24
[Jesus] said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
—Acts 1:7-8
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”
—Revelation 22:16
The world likes the idea of power: the power to come roaring around the corner, tires squealing, just in the nick of time; the power to turn all heads and make the bad guys freeze or slink away just by walking into a room; the power to dominate.
The apostles who gathered in Jerusalem after the resurrection were still struggling. They hadn't yet laid aside the baggage of the assumptions that surrounded them—the assumption that the Lord's Messiah would come to restore some imagined past geopolitical greatness. And, of course, they would be quite willing to have positions of power at His right hand and His left hand. They hadn't yet comprehended that the kingdom, of which Jesus had been speaking for the forty days since His resurrection, was far greater than they had imagined.
And when Jesus told them that they would “receive power”, it wasn't for glory or ability to dominate people who opposed them. It was the power to align to His purpose, which was the purpose of the Father. It was the power to declare with John that “we have seen His glory.”
It was the power to become children, and to bring others to adoption as children, of a Father who was before the birth in Bethlehem, before the kings in Jerusalem and Samaria, before the Law given through Moses, before Abraham had any hope of children.
It was the power to witness for the One who was before and from the beginning.