Acts 2 and the last days

I began a Bible reading plan courtesy of YouVersion (http://www.youversion.com). YouVersion is a website/smart phone application that has a numerous amount of Bible translations and also contributions by users on selected texts. It is a great tool, and I really recommend taking a look at it and signing up. It is completely free. I just began an 83 day reading plan that takes me through the New Testament Epistles and Acts. I am really enjoying it so far.

Today I read Acts 2 and something stood out to me about Peter's retelling of Joel's prophesy. It says this:

¹⁷"'And in the last days it shall be, God declares,that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
and your young men shall see visions,
and your old men shall dream dreams;
¹⁸even on my male servants and female servants
in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
¹⁹And I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
²⁰the sun shall be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood,
before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
²¹And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.' (Acts 2:17-21)

What stood out to me was that at the coming of the Holy Spirit to the church a significant prophesy from the Old Testament was fulfilled. However, in vintage Jesus fashion, it didn't happen like everybody thought it would happen. The above prophesy was preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost as if it had all come to pass at that moment, meaning that verses 17 and 18, which had just immediately occurred, were soon to be followed by verses 19 through 21...the second coming of Christ and restoration of all things. As Peter preached this message at Pentecost, he believed that the end was very imminent. In fact, most of the New Testament church believed that Jesus was going to come back very imminently. For example the church at Thessalonica had quit their jobs and sold most of their things and were sitting in the pubs with paper bags over there head like in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy waiting for Jesus to come back. Paul later corrected them by telling them not to that and to keep living life. He was still a believer in Jesus' imminent return though. The interesting thing with this collection of scriptures in Acts 2 for a 21st century reader like myself is that the bridge between verses 18 and 19 still hasn't been bridged yet...

What I would say is that, even though that gap in the text still exists, Jesus' return is still imminent, and as Christians, we must live accordingly. The entire 21st century world does not live in this imminence. In fact, most Christians do not live like it either. We as Christians must realize that the end is near, and I'm not saying that we go nuts and sell everything and quit our jobs and put paper bags on our heads, but here are a few things that come to mind for living in expectation:

1) Live life: I once heard someone say, "Live like Jesus is coming back today, plan like he's coming back in 100 years". I find a lot of wisdom in this statement.

2) Live out your purpose: Realizing that the reason we are still alive is to fulfill God's purposes is important. If you are a Christian, then you are alive to bring healing to the world. If you aren't a Christian, become one because there is healing here. The reason Jesus hasn't come back yet is because he is waiting for more people to experience salvation (2 Peter 3:9)

3) Realize other people are more important than you

4) Serve God and people

5) Seek the will of God instead of your own for the future. I think this is why Jesus got so upset over people's planning. There is a lot of pride in it if it's not rooted in the will of God.

6) Find urgency in introducing people to the real Jesus: Many non-Christians have no idea why we do this thing. I think there is a reason for that: they don't know the real Jesus, they only know the severely skewed, heretical, Discovery Channel Jesus. There is a real Jesus who really cares about people and wants to heal them.

7) Practice repentance, daily: Grace is wonderful, and I don't think there is a day that goes by that we don't need it. Don't think that a day goes by that God doesn't want to give it either. Peter's sermon is climaxed by his call for repentance, so let's realize that we need it and act accordingly.

8) Take the bag off your head do something: This wraps up the last seven in that we as Christian commit terrible sins of omission by simply DOING NOTHING. We don't expect Jesus to come back, and we do nothing. It's a double wammy. Let's flip this. Let us expect Jesus and do something about it. Acts 2 recounts the giving of the Holy Spirit. We've been given power, so let's use it and make a difference for the King. Jesus is coming back, and even if it seems like he never will, that's okay, because he said it would be like that. He's coming like a thief in the night, so maybe if today is a day that seems like he could never return, it could be a great day for him to bust into the house. Let's live.

...oh yeah...one more thing...