Introduction
One of the things we have to see throughout the passage is how to overcome the greatest obstacle in our covenant journey. We are not just Christians, but we have the answer of Jesus and the path that God has prepared for us is our covenant journey, and we are not just walking it to reach heaven. In the scripture reading, Jesus returns to his hometown of Nazareth, and the people were shocked by Jesus’ words and miracles. Instead of seeing him as the Christ, they were shocked because they saw him as the son of the carpenter, and they were offended that he should try to teach them. Their greatest problem was disbelief, because the Holy Spirit has not reached their hearts. Even though the disciples saw Jesus’ death and resurrection first hand, they still had doubts. How are we able to come to the conclusion of Christ? Because of his great grace. In verse 6, Jesus marveled at the peoples’ disbelief. God has prepared an amazing journey for us to change the world, but the greatest obstacle that blocks our way is disbelief. Jesus tells us he has purchased us by his blood, set us free, and made us a new creation yet we still have disbelief. It is the spiritual cancer that destroys us inside, unseen to our eyes. God has given us everything yet we are stuck in disbelief, because we are not entirely trusting of Jesus.
Who am I? His people, his witnesses, his children. What path am I on? If we don’t know where we’re going, it’s frustrating and difficult, but God has prepared a clear path for us, but our disbelief blocks us. Let’s remember 3 things.
1. We are on the path of those who remained
As those who have the answer of Jesus Christ, who resolved our past present and future problems and is the solution to all of our problems, we know the end. God used the minority who held onto that mystery of Christ, his covenant. As we remain in the place God entrusted to us, we must remain connected with the power of God. Just like we have messaging platforms to connect with people 24/7, we are blessed with a means of staying connected with the throne of God 24/7, and we need to rightfully use it. The things we are imprinted with become the standard by which we make our decisions, but we are imprinted with so many things other than the gospel. We must make our imprint and our standard nothing but Jesus Christ. Then that imprint becomes the root and nature of our lives. We may misunderstand that we need to stay on this path, but no, it is God who leads us on this path.
2. We are on the path of pilgrims
We will not live here on earth forever. We are merely passing by. We are on the path of a pilgrim who is in the midst of a journey. The world is transient but the kingdom of God is eternal. Therefore, we need to think about the future. The goal of our church is to become the Antioch church of this age to block the disasters of the world. To save the world, God formed a team in the book of Acts. This is the answer God gave to us. We are one team in Christ to block the disasters of the world. To do so, we hold on to the covenant of Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”. We may seem overwhelmed by the world, but as we enjoy our covenant journey, God will lead the world to us, and us to the world.
3. We are on the path of conquerors
What are we conquering? Disbelief, our greatest roadblock. We overcome disbelief when we are connected to the power of the throne of God. Not just connected, but connected holding on to the covenant and our identity as one who remains as a pilgrim and conqueror. When our entire church is able to remain connected to the power of the throne of God, we become a masterpiece to save anyone who comes to our church. With our occupation as well, when we remain connected to the power of the throne of God, we can stand as witnesses.
Conclusion
We need to realize that a storm is coming and we must be prepared for the age of darkness we live in. We need to open our eyes to see how Satan works in our churches and in the world. We must spiritually prepare ourselves, and stake ourselves on the word of God, on his covenant. As we connect with the word of God, let’s restore the power of prayer in our lives. Jesus has crushed to disbelief so let’s hold on to this Jesus so he can restore our lives.