In his book God Is Closer Than You Think, John Ortberg includes this story about the power of prayer.
When Kim was a young girl, her dad pulled the car off the road one day to help a woman change a flat tire. While he was lying under her car, another vehicle accidentally swerved to the shoulder, and in the collision the car was shoved onto his chest. His right thumb was torn off at the joint, five of his ribs were broken, and his left lung was pierced and began filling with blood. His wife, who is barely five-feet-tall, placed her hands on the bumper of the car and prayed, ‘In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,’ and lifted the car off his chest so he could be dragged out. (Some weeks later she found out that she broke a vertebra in the effort).
Kim’s father was in a state of shock as he was taken to the hospital. Doctors prepared him for emergency surgery. ‘His thumb won’t do him any good if he’s dead,’ one of them said. His survival was iffy.
Suddenly, Kim’s father’s skin changed from ashen to pink. He experienced a miraculous healing. He invited a surprised surgical team to join him in singing ‘Fairest Lord Jesus.’ They did not bother to hook him up to oxygen. He did not find out until later that this was the precise moment his father-in-law, who was a pastor, had his congregation start to pray for him.
Sometimes these stories come from not-very-credible sources, but in this case, the subject was James Loder, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary. His life was not only saved but changed. Until then, although he taught at a seminary, God had been mostly an abstract idea to him. Now Jesus became a living Presence. Kim writes that her father’s heart grew so tender that he became known at Princeton as ‘the weeping professor.’ He began to live from one moment to the next in a God-bathed, God-soaked, God-intoxicated world.[i]
All the arguments by society that denies God’s existence cannot explain away the power of an experience with the living God. Unfortunately, for many, Christianity is strictly theory rather than reality. It is critical that our faith does not rest solely on what is in our heads. An encounter with Christ will do more to move our emotions and wills than going though religious ceremonies. Biblical faith affects the total personality: our minds, our emotions, and our wills. It is life changing. Anything less is not the ‘real thing.’ Genuine spirituality, genuine biblical Christianity is not only believing the right things but also being and becoming the right kind of person because of what God has and is doing for you and through you.
Maybe we wonder after surrendering our lives to Jesus, where do we go from that point? Like the disciples after the first Easter, we, along with the original disciples, may be wondering, now what? How does the resurrection of Jesus Christ impact my life daily? If you turn to the epilogue or conclusion of Luke’s gospel, we discover some powerful truths that will transform your life if you and I will respond to them and let them guide our lives.
An epilogue is a conclusion that provides further comment, interpretation, or information at the end of a narrative. Without looking into the epilogue, the resurrection is a powerful moving story, but we may struggle to find significance for our daily lives. What difference does Jesus’ resurrection have on my daily life? How did this powerful reality of the resurrection impact the lives of the early followers of Jesus? How should it affect our lives? What are some of the things we can expect from God?
Far too often we, as believers, struggle beneath the pressures of daily life rather than ascend above them and engage in the principal aspect of life, namely fulfilling God’s plan for our lives. There is more to life than the daily grind of making a living.
Luke goes on to show us a glimpse on how Christ’s return from the dead should help us live life above the daily grind.There are three powerful realities that Jesus communicated with the first believers that transformed their lives. These same realities hold true for us today. These three realities that will transform our lives as we embrace them.
THE FIRST TRANSFORMING REALITY OF A RISEN SAVIOR IS WHEN WE ARE AWAKENED BY THE WORD OF GOD
Christians are people of the book; people who not only hold the Scriptures in high regard, but people who devotedly live out the precepts and principles found in the Bible.
A survey was conducted by a few years ago by the Institute for Biblical Research concerning the effects of reading the Bible upon a person’s life depending upon how many days a week they read it.
If a person just read the bible one day per week, it has almost no effect on their lives at all. If someone reads the Bible 2 or 3 days per week, it has a negligible effect. However, when people are reading the bible at least 4 days a week, that person is 228% more likely to share their faith, 407% more likely to memorize Scripture, 59% less likely to view pornography, and at least 30 % less likely to struggle with loneliness, depression, or anxiety. When the word and not the world becomes the majority of you week, your life will start to change.[ii]
We see some amazing examples of what happens in Scripture when people act upon God’s word. When the Israelites were commanded to cross the Jordan river, Joshua was told to send the priests carrying the ark across. As they touched the water, the water stopped, while they remained standing in the middle of what was once the course of the river, holding the ark of the presence. All the people crossed over. It was God’s presence that removed the obstacle of a flood stage river in order for them to reach Jericho. God commanded Joshua to have the priests march with the army around the city of Jericho. As they obeyed God’s instructions the wall collapsed and they were able to capture and destroy the city. Once again, God’s presence in their midst removed the obstacle that was before them. Do you have obstacles that lie before your path today? Hear the word of the Lord and obey it and God will address them in our lives.
We need to understand that the Scriptures point to Jesus and find their fulfillment in Him. After the resurrection, Jesus explained how His death and resurrection was a fulfillment of the Scriptures. Jesus lived a life to fulfill God’s word. Should our lives be any different? Notice what Jesus states in:
He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.[iii]
His ministry, His service, His death and ultimately His resurrection were all a fulfillment of Scriptures.
A. It is not enough to just know the Scriptures.
Even the devil knows the Scriptures. There is a lot of religion out there. We must be awakened by God to understand His word. Notice how Jesus opened their minds in order to understand the Scriptures. That’s what we need to pray for. It is not until God opens our minds that we get it. But the story doesn’t stop there. Notice that Jesus stated that the good news of His death and resurrection would be proclaimed resulting in repentance and the forgiveness of sins directed toward all people.
He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, And repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.[iv]
As we engage in experiencing and then communicating this message we are extending the ministry of Jesus in our lifetime. When we obey this mandate to share the good news about what Jesus has done for us, we become part of God’s eternal program.
B. Luke shows us the necessity of repentance as part of receiving the good news.
We must change our minds about where we stand with God. For most, God is neglected as much as He is rejected, but the end result is the same. God desires to be the central part of each of our lives.
Most people have a negative picture of what repentance is all about. Repentance is simply a change of mind. As we change our minds about God, as well as ourselves [we recognize that our way is not best] and if it is not just a once in a lifetime experience but occurs on a continual basis, our lives are changed. We will magnify God, we will grow a little humbler, and it will become a little easier to acknowledge when we are wrong.
We will begin to put a premium on repairing broken relationships with others, then things begin to happen as we witness God powerfully at work within us. As our perspective regarding God, others, and ourselves comes in line with God’s revealed will found in the Bible, our lives and relationships change. This is what God is looking for. What did Jesus say being a follower was all about? It is simply about loving God and people. How do you learn to revere God and walk humbly with men? Read the Word of God each and every day and then put it into practice.
Let me ask a question; are you at least reading the Word of God on a daily basis? Are you trying to hear His voice and respond in obedience to what He is showing you? You can’t just attend Sunday services and expect that you will be a vibrant, growing Christian. There are spiritual disciplines that we need to develop to replace the unholy habits that will draw us away from God and a victorious Christian life.
THE SECOND TRANSFORMING REALITY OF A RISEN SAVIOR IS THAT WE ARE EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD
Jesus told His early followers that there would be a power to help them live the life. Jesus knew they could not do what He was asking them, and us, all by ourselves. We need God’s presence to empower our lives.
I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.[v]
Luke here describes God, the Holy Spirit as a promise from the Father. He is described as a power from on high. Jesus talks about being clothed or dressed in the very presence of God. Luke continues his thought here from Luke 24:49 into Acts 1.
A. Luke describes the Holy Spirit as dynamic power that enables us to be effective witnesses.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.[vi]
A witness’ credibility is determined by his life. The validity of a witness’ words is determined by the life of the witness. It is equally true of each of us as witnesses to the good news in our own lives. To the degree that Christ is real to you, it will be real through you to others.
Too often in the church we put the cart before the horse. There is a pressure to have people share their faith. Friends, that’s all wrong. What we ought to be emphasizing is our relationship with Jesus. If that is what it ought to be (dynamic, exciting, and personally transforming), you will be an effective witness to others.
Let’s start with that. What does Luke mean by being filled with power from on high? There has been so much debate in the church regarding this. J. Oswald Sanders wrote a classic book on Christian leadership in which he describes what it means in a way that we can understand and will impact our lives.
To be filled with the Spirit means simply that the Christian voluntarily surrenders life and will to the Spirit. Through faith, the believer’s personality is filled, mastered, and controlled by the Spirit. The meaning of ‘filled’ is not ‘to pour into a passive container’ but to ‘take possession of the mind…’ When we invite the Spirit to fill us, the Spirit’s power grips our lives with this kind of strength and passion.
To be filled with the spirit is to be controlled by the Spirit. The Christian’s mind, emotions, will, and physical strength all become available for the Spirit to guide and use. Under the Spirit’s control, natural gifts are lifted to their highest power and set apart for holy purposes.
Through the work of the now not grieved and unhindered Spirit, all the fruits of the Spirit start to grow in the [believer’s] life. His witness is more winsome, service more steady, and testimony more powerful. All real Christian service is but the expression of the Spirit’s power through believers yielded to Him (John 7:37-39).[vii]
A.J. Gordon, one of the founders of Gordon Conwell Divinity School, relates what a spirit-filled person looks like.
He tells of being out walking and looking across a field at a house. There beside the house was what looked like a man pumping furiously at one of those hand pumps. As Gordon watched, the man continued to pump at a tremendous rate; he seemed absolutely tireless, pumping on and on, up and down, without ever slowing in the slightest, much less stopping.
Truly it was a remarkable sight, so Gordon started to walk toward it. As he got closer, he could see it was not a man at the pump, but a wooden figure painted to look like a man. The arm that was pumping so rapidly was hinged at the elbow and the hand was wired to the pump handle. The water was pouring forth, but not because the figure was pumping it. You see, it was an artisan well, and the water was pumping the man!
When you see a man who is at work for God and producing results, recognize that it is the Holy Spirit working through him, not the man’s efforts that are giving results. All he has to do—and all you have to do—is keep your hand on the handle.[viii]
That is why Jesus told His disciples it was critical that He leave and send another comforter, the Holy Spirit. We can only experience the reality of this life as we yield to the Spirit. He is the One who empowers us to do His work.
THE FINAL TRANSFORMING REALITY OF A RISEN SAVIOR IS THAT IS THAT WE ARE IMPASSIONED BY THE WILL OF GOD
God has a purpose for our lives. He has work for us to do.
A. Though He ascended into Heaven, He left us to continue the work here on earth in partnership with Him.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to communicate the message of God’s forgiveness and grace to others.
He told them, ‘This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, And repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’[ix]
1. First, He gathers us into communities of believers, in order for us to encourage one another in our worship and service towards Him.
We can’t make it on our own. God designed us to live in community to encourage each other to be His people. We are called to build each other up. It is a place where God’s love is expressed to each other.
2. We are a sent-out people. He commissions us to go into all the world with the good news.
We are here at this place and time in our world to disciple others. We are here to share in the glorious hope that each of us has been privileged to receive. How many others are desperately waiting, struggling under the grind of daily life, living without any purpose beyond themselves? Here, that cry of desperation is in the longings of the human heart in our current society. In an article written by Marty Kaplan, a former speechwriter for former Vice President Walter Mondale. He states:
Religion may offer a source of nostalgia, a sense of community, a consoling mythology, but without faith, without the experience of God, it is no protection from the crisis of spirit… This is the sadness at the heart of our secular lives. No one wants to live in a pointless, chaotic cosmos, but that is the one that science has given us, and that our culture has largely championed. We may yearn for the divine, but our feet are stuck in the moral relativism (or nihilism [meaning nothingness]) that such a culture breeds.[x]
B. People are seeking for authentic spirituality.
Many who do not know Christ are seeking for a vital, vibrant relationship with God. People are longing to know the God who controls the universe and everything in it. They are seeking people whose love is constant. The church has often been pushed to the periphery of society only because we have not experienced the dynamics of Christianity for ourselves.
We may wonder if just praying really makes a difference in our world. As we look at a world filled with activity, it seems that we are stuck waiting for God to do things. So often our prayers seem unanswered and so we give up. We assume that activity is what is needed, and yet when we pray, we are looking for God to work, and when we pray, great things begin to happen. Notice how John communicates the effectiveness of prayer in the book of Revelation.
The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.[xi]
How cynical we are of the power of God working through our lives, especially when it comes to prayer? It is one reason why we don’t pray more.
William Willimon tells of a man he knew who went to Russia in the late 1970’s, at the height of the Cold War. He was sent as a part of a delegation from the World Council of Churches to investigate and report on the state of the Christian church under an atheistic regime. The man was not impressed.
‘The church’ he told Willimon, ‘is just a bunch of little old ladies praying…’ Willimon told that story in the early nineties, when statues of Stalin and Lenin—the patron saints of atheistic Russia—lay toppled, ready to be crated for storage or quarried for stone.[xii]
The prayers described in Revelation are mixed with fire from the altar of God and hurled back to earth creating earth shattering results. This imaginary of powerful natural expressions reveals the profound power of prayer upon our world.
We must hear those words of Scripture again. We must wait on and for God to work, but to wait on God takes faith. Waiting is a verb, an action. While we wait on God, we continue to live out our lives in obedience to His word. Why do we need to wait on God? I’m reminded from the Psalmist that when we forget God, we rebel; when we forget, we don’t wait for His counsel. When we forget God, we are seized with the cravings of this world. We long for what only this life offers, and then we make that our aim. We cry out to God for what this life promises, and God often gives us what we desire, but it comes at a terrible price. When we ought to be full, we find ourselves empty. Rather than enriching us, they impoverish us. When we forget God we don’t value what God has provided for us, we grumble and complain and refuse to hear God’s voice. Ultimately, when we forget God, we suffer. But when we encounter Him, our lives are enriched and impassioned. It’s out of that empowering relationship that God’s work gets done through us.
When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven.[xiii]
Then they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
1. Notice that God is the One who leads us.
… He led them out.
Marvin Pate points out the significance of the way Luke describes this event:
Jesus then led His disciples out of Jerusalem as far as the village of Bethany. The word Luke uses of Jesus leading the disciples out of Jerusalem is exagein, the Septuagint term for Yahweh leading His people out of Egyptian bondage in the Exodus (Ex. 3:10; 6:6-8; Lev. 19:36).[xiv]
What a powerful allusion to the great deliverance we also experience. It is a picture of our own deliverance from sin’s bondage. We are now free to be filled and free to serve in the power of the Spirit of God.
If we take the imagery of the Israelites leaving slavery, God desired for them to come into the wilderness to worship Him, and from that worship experience to go in and do battle for their promised land. God does have something in mind for us as individuals, but it usually is tied to what He wants to do with us collectively as a community of faith.
2. He blessed them:
While He was blessing them, He left them. God is still blessing us.
3. They worshiped Him:
Luke starts his gospel in the temple and he ends it there. The temple is really the dwelling place of God. Now as New Testament believers we find the temple, or the dwelling place of God, within us individually and corporately. It begins and ends with man’s response to God’s presence: worship. Worship is accompanied by great joy. Worship involves attitude and actions. It is as Evelyn Underhill so succinctly put it: “Worship is the total adoring response of man to the one eternal God self-revealed in time.”[xv]
Why is it then that so many don’t experience the life that God has waiting for each of us? In Run with the Horses, Eugene Peterson tells how he saw a family of birds teaching their young to fly.
Three young swallows were perched on a dead branch that stretched out over a lake. One adult swallow got alongside the chicks and started shoving them out toward the end of the branch—pushing, pushing, pushing. The end one fell off. Somewhere between the branch and the water four feet below, the wings started working, and the fledgling was off on his own. Then the second one. The third was not to be bullied. At the last possible moment, his grip on the branch loosened just enough so that he swung downward, then tightened again with bulldog tenacity. The parent was without sentiment. He pecked at the desperately clinging talons until it was more painful for the poor chick to hang on than risk the insecurities of flying. The grip was released, and the inexperienced wings began pumping. The mature swallow knew what the chick did not—that it would fly—that there was no danger in making it do what it was perfectly designed to do.
Birds have feet and can walk. Birds have talons and can grasp a branch securely. They can walk; they can cling. But flying is their characteristic action, and not until they fly are they living at their best, gracefully and beautifully.[xvi]
What is it that we are made for? We are made to worship God. We are made to have an intimacy with God; an ability to open up and share our feelings with Him.
What destroys intimacy is a desire to be in control. To control others and to control circumstances. I don’t know about you, but I identify with that third little bird. I want to hang on to what I know, to be in control, not to allow myself to free fall. The problem is that we were meant to let go, and trust God. We were never meant to be in control. That is not our primary characteristic. We were designed by God to trust and to surrender control of our lives to Him. It is only as we do this very thing that God can take control of our lives and work mightily in and through us!
The three transforming realities that occur when we encounter the risen Savior in our lives: an awakened word, an empowered Spirit-filled life, and an impassioned will to do God’s will.
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[i] John Ortberg, God Is Closer Than You Think, (Zondervan, 2005), 24-25.
[ii] Josh Howerton, quoting from the Institute for Biblical Research.
[iii] Luke 24:44-45, The New International Version of the Bible, Zondervan, 2011.
[iv] Luke 24:46-47.
[v] Luke 24:49.
[vi] Acts 1:8.
[vii] J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1994), 81-82.
[viii] Michael Green, Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, (Grand Rapids, Baker Book House, 1989), 190.
[ix] Luke 24:46-47.
[x] Marty Kaplan, Seattle Post Intelligencer, April 1/97.
[xi] Revelation 8:4-5.
[xii] Mark Buchanan, Your God Is Too Safe, (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Press, 2001), 235.
[xiii] Luke 24:50-52.
[xiv] Marvin Pate, Luke: Moody Gospel Commentary, (Chicago: Moody Press, 1995), 481.
[xv] Evelyn Underhill, quoted in Warren Wiersbe, “Real Worship, (Nashville, TN: Oliver-Nelson, 1986), 21.
[xvi] Eugene Peterson, Run with the Horses: The Quest for Life at its Best, (InterVarsity Press, 1983).
