Good Morning All!
Acts 1:1; “In the first book, O Theophilus,
I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,”
Are you a starter? Do you have a lot of
projects started? Do you like to start projects and then get someone else to
finish them? It is kind of interesting that some of the world’s greatest
masterpieces are unfinished. Franz
Shubert has the “Unfinished Symphony”; Charles Dickens has “The Mystery of
Edwin Drood”; these are just two of the lists of unfinished projects. Of course, these projects went uncompleted by
accident not by design. Our verse speaks
of a project that is unfinished by design.
The Book of Acts is the second book of the
bible that speaks of Jesus beginning. The Book of Mark starts with “The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Now Acts starts with “with all that Jesus
began to do and teach.” Both speak of Jesus
beginning his ministry. We see where Jesus is starting but we never see where
He finishes it. As you look through the Bible, you never see or read of Jesus
finishing his ministry. He finishes the sacrifice on the cross “It is finished”
yet in three days he rises again and keeps on ministering to his disciples.
The Gospel of Jesus began and what Jesus
began to do and to teach, yet neither of these ends. We see a start, but we do
not see an end. The Bible ends, doesn’t
it? Why doesn’t it tell us that the Gospel of Jesus and what he did and taught
ever got finished? It almost sounds like it is not finished. That is because it is not.
What Jesus began doing, he continues to do
through the Church by the Holy Spirit. The message of the Bible is not some
past event or ancient history; it is the start of your life story, and it is
the start of my life story. It is in the
Bible where God tells us of his love for us; it is where God shows us his love
for us by the offering up of his son. The Bible is where God brings us into His
story, the story of restoring, reclaiming, and redeeming his creation, of
reclaiming you and me. The message of the Bible is today, and it is
tomorrow. It is God’s life refreshing
message of hope and salvation. It is God telling you that you matter; you are
his redeemed child. Jesus began this ministry and will not finish it until he
returns again.
This means that we, as Christians, live
in a state of “already but not yet.” We
are already saved; our name is already in the Book of life, but we are not
there yet. Jesus has begun this good
work in you and will see it completed in his day and time. Our life with him has just started and our
time to serve with him has just started. It has only begun. The old has passed
away and the new is here just not all of it. We live in the time of grace. We
live in the time of God’s grace not yet perfected, not yet completed. We are
given the time and the task of continuing the ministry of Jesus until he
returns. Jesus has begun this work, continues it through us until He finishes
it when He returns. God’s story of salvation continues through you and through
me. It is our hope and our salvation.
Dear Father, you choose
to wait for the completion of Jesus’ ministry. Move us to use this time to brig
others into your kingdom. Let them see in us the wonders of your love and grace.
Keep us strong by living in the message of hope that you give us. In Jesus’
precious name we pray, amen
God’s Peace,
Pastor Bret
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