In the Afrikaans speaking churches, observing "Pinkster" (Pentecost) Week is a much loved tradition and re-calibrates the hearts of many of the faithful.
With this next series, we'll be doing an ePentecost week, but we won't wait until Monday to start - we'll jump in as of tomorrow and count-down the 10 days from Ascension to Pentecost Sunday... (Today's dev is a kind of Prologue)
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But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. Acts2:24
Our verse is part of the sermon Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost (which is where we are headed) but it takes us back to the significant event that made it all possible: the Resurrection.
There can be no underestimating the critical importance of the resurrection. Peter uses a very interesting Greek phrase when he talks about the "agony of death." Literally he says that God freed Jesus from the "birth pains/pangs" of death.
This implies that Peter saw the crucifixion and death of Jesus as a "labour" that would bring about the wonderful birth of our salvation and the birth of the church.
It is also interesting to note that this word is used only 3 other times in the NT in Matthew Mark and Thessalonians where the word describes the labour pains of the world as it awaits Jesus triumphant second coming.
So there are three "births" that are important to us.
1. Our physical birth
2. Our rebirth as sons and daughters of God, made possible by Jesus death and the pouring out of His Spirit to form the church.
3. The birth of the new heavens and earth when Jesus comes again.
So crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension and Pentecost are all part of the glorious rebirth of the believer.
But Peter reminds us that the resurrection is critically important: If Jesus truly is the Son of God, then it would be IMPOSSIBLE for death to hold Him. To deny the resurrection is to deny the deity of Christ. If we follow Peter's argument in the rest of Acts 2, the resurrection leads to Jesus ascending to God's right hand signifying His completed work and His authority to send the Holy Spirit.
We'll explore these wonderful truths over the next 10 days!!!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
