Acts 2:1-13 (NIV)
Read by: Tammy Eckhart
From the beginning of the world, the Creator has longed to share his power. He made humans to be his image bearers—to care for creation, to cultivate and create—to make something of the world with Him. But from the almost-beginning, humans wanted to be God rather than bear God’s image. They wanted to define for themselves what was good and what was bad.
And this led to disaster. Rather than human space (the world) and God’s space (heaven) overlapping and interlocking like it did in the Garden, humans were exiled from the Garden and therefore disconnected from God’s presence, but also from His wisdom and His power, to be the kinds of humans they were made to be.
But God would not abandon us. He bound himself to humanity by making a covenant with a family, a nation who will live under God's wisdom and power and bring the blessing of the Garden to the whole world. But this family is a mess and it ends up in captivity. God liberates them from Egypt, and brings them out into the wilderness. And there He makes a covenant with them, has them construct a dwelling for Him so that he can be with them, and the Spirit of God descents on that dwelling like a pillar and fills the Temple. Finally God and humans are back together and they have a way to live under God’s wisdom and power. But that doesn’t really work out….
The same kinds of failure lead Israel through generations of turmoil, into another exile and once again separate from God and in need of His Spirit to come and dwell not just in a temple, but in their very hearts. This is the only thing that will get humans back on track—for God to dwell inside them.
----------REFLECT----------
1. The Holy Spirit transforms humans into the dwelling place of God... What’s your initial reaction to that reality?
2. In this passage God chooses to take up residence in a group of people who were outside the traditional structures of influence and power, and the Spirit causes them to proclaim the wonders of God in the native languages of the people who were gathered. The Spirit could have used people already in positions of religious authority and probably could have gotten away with making them all speak Greek... What does this passage reveal about God’s desires?
3. One of the harsh realities in this passage is that sometimes when the Holy Spirit moves in God’s people, many won’t recognize him. They might say instead, we’re crazy… or drunk. How willing do you think your heart is to bear criticism from others for doing the thing that the Spirit leads you to do? Ask the LORD for courage to be used by him today.
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Bible Project: Acts 1-12 Overview >>
InterVarsity Press Selections: Acts >>
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