The Beginning of Our Journey
God has been working within history for thousands of years. His redemptive plan has culminated in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. All of God’s promises in the Old Testament find their fulfillment in Jesus.
The book of Acts, which details the life of the early church, contains many long speeches which cover the historical timeline of God’s redemptive activity. Acts 3 is one of those speeches, given by Peter to a group of Israelites. Peter’s speech not only includes historical details, but also a right response to all of this information.
The right response to hearing about what God has done throughout history is to repent and believe in Jesus. When we learn of all that God has done for us, it’s only fitting that we should turn our lives back to Him.
Repentance is when we recognize the truth and we turn towards it. Usually it involves turning away from our own way of life and turning towards God’s way. Repentance is the beginning of our faith journey.
When we repent, God forgives us. We no longer live according to our past mistakes and offenses. Rather, God gives us a new life that is forgiven of those things.
This is why Peter says that times of refreshing follow repentance. Repentance leads to rebirth. We are made into a new creation. We are empowered to walk in the newness of life with God. After beginning this journey with Jesus, we continue it by the power of the Holy Spirit.
If you haven’t started that journey, begin today by repenting of your sins and turning back to God. He is faithful to forgive you. Pray for Him to guide your life. Continue to read about God’s ways in Scripture so you can grow in your knowledge of Him.
The Mission of God
All of our lives are spent on something.
Most people spend their days focused on growing a family, building a career, or amassing possessions. While none of those things are necessarily wrong, they can become distractions from our ultimate goal in life.
In the book of Acts, we see Paul’s transformation in Christ. As a result of meeting Jesus and being changed by His grace, Paul spends the rest of his life preaching the good news of Jesus.
For Paul, God’s grace and salvation were so great that nothing on this earth could compare to doing His work.
Paul said that nothing in his life mattered as much as telling others about God’s grace. His goal in life was to finish his own race well by faithfully accomplishing as much of the mission of God as possible:
"However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."
Acts 20:24 NIV
The mission of ...