God's
purpose was moving on. He had begun with Israel. Their deliverance
from bondage in Egypt was a mighty demonstration of His saving power.
This was only the beginning. God was moving on to Jesus - "the Saviour
of the world" (John 4:42). In Jesus Christ, crucified for us, God was reaching out, in love, to "the whole world" (1 John 2:2).
The Gospel is not only for the Jews: "It is it is the power of God to
salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the
Greek" (Romans 1:16).
Jesus is calling us, His redeemed people - empowered by the Holy
Spirit - to take His message of salvation to the ends of the earth:
"You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and
you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8).
"I am filled with the power of the Lord's Spirit" (Micah 3:8). This is what makes true ministry of God's Word so different from 'prophecy' that doesn't come from the Lord. Without the power of the Lord, there can be no Word from the Lord. We need the Word, and we need the power. "Let's go to the mountain of the Lord ...He will teach us His ways so that we may live by them" (Micah 4:2). We are taught by the Lord so that we might live for Him. Teaching and living - they belong together. We do not learn from God's Word so that we can amass more head-knowledge. We pray for a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ - a life-changing knowledge that gives us the strength that we need to live for the glory of God.
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