A New Start

It’s New Year’s Day. Are you ready for a new start? We will make resolutions, begin new books, new diets, new exercise regimes, make new plans for our year to come. Maybe New Year’s resolutions aren’t as successful as we would like. But we all like the chance for a new start.

At the New Year, we also begin a new sermon series. As we apply what we learn from the book of Acts, we will have fresh wind blown into our sails by the Holy Spirit and we will grow in being a community on mission with Jesus.

To set the context for the rest of the series, we begin with the fact that God is all about new starts. His Spirit breathes new life into chaos and darkness and deadness. His word transforms wastelands into fruitful gardens. And He is forming a community of fruitful people who will partner with Him in transforming our world. To understand the beginning verses of Acts, we need to understand a pattern.

Creation

Genesis 1:1–3 (ESV)

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Then God transforms the dark wastes of our world into a beautiful garden. And He creates man in His image to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with the kingdom of God, the peace that comes wherever God reigns.

Here’s the pattern: Waters of Chaos and Death, Spirit of God, Word of God, Kingdom of God. At the beginning, the waters covering the earth are chaos and darkness. The Spirit hovers over those waters, and God speaks, and there is light. God commands humans to spread His kingdom.

But as we know, humans disobey and rebel against God’s rule. They are exiled from the garden, but God promises redemption and restoration. Generation after generation brings anticipation. Who is the obedient human being who will please God and restore humanity to the kingdom of God? Every generation fails. When things seem really dark...

Christ

Mark 1:9–11 (ESV)

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

We see the same pattern from creation with something new. This is a new start, a new creation, and it is happening with Jesus. Waters of death become waters of baptism. Baptism is a death to sin, but also a resurrection to new life. The pattern continues with the Spirit of God coming from the heavens, and God speaks again. So, next we should see the kingdom of God restored.

This is exactly what Jesus does,

Mark 1:14–15 (ESV)

Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark’s message is clear. No one has fulfilled obedience to the word of God, but now Jesus is the beloved Son with whom God the Father is well pleased. Jesus is the new human. He is establishing the kingdom of God. Redemption and restoration to new life are coming in and through Jesus Christ.

Jesus completed our understanding of baptism when He died on the cross for the sins of the world and was raised to new life. So, the message Christ’s followers preach is that redemption, restoration, and recreation in the kingdom of God are available through faith in Jesus Christ. This is where the book of Acts begins. This is where we learn who we are as Christians, and what God will do through us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Church

Luke begins this book by connecting the life of the community of Jesus followers to the mission and work of Christ.

Acts 1:1 (ESV)

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,

Acts 1:2 (ESV)

until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

We spent time a couple of years ago going through the second part of Luke’s gospel, the record of Jesus’ life and ministry. Now, as Luke starts his sequel, he wants us to know that everything we’re about to read about the life and ministry of the church is a continuation of Jesus’ doing and teaching.

But also, he connects us to the bigger gospel narrative of the Bible. We see the pattern of death to life in Christ. Christ, who is speaking God’s word through the Holy Spirit, and the words of the risen Christ are instructions about the kingdom of God.

Acts 1:3 (ESV)

He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

But what about the waters of chaos and death? These keep changing in our pattern. Jesus in His baptism entered the waters of death, but rose to new life. So, our baptism as believers is a union with His death on the cross and His resurrection. And the new dimension we enter is a baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:4–5 (ESV)

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said,

“you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

What’s the point? Luke is telling anyone reading his book, God the Father is recreating the world through Jesus Christ the Son who speaks for God. The Holy Spirit is present with power to give resurrection life in the kingdom of God to believers in Jesus. Humans have descended into the waters of chaos and death through sin. But a new baptism is coming. The Holy Spirit will unite the believer with Jesus Christ in His resurrection.

The church, as a community of recreated humans, is on a mission to expand the kingdom of God, continuing the works and words of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit. This is who we are.

So, here are some guiding questions for our journey through this book:

Have I experienced recreation in Christ? Many people in the gathered church understand the concepts of the gospel, but have not yet truly experienced recreation. Their lives have not been transformed into the resurrected life of Christ, filled with the power of God by the Holy Spirit.

Which brings us to the next guiding question: what is my relationship to the Holy Spirit? Our movement has been accused of worshiping a Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Scriptures, instead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Have I been baptized in the Holy Spirit? Has my life been submerged into the life-giving, transforming power of the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit brings order to chaos, light to darkness, and fruitfulness to wasted lives. Is there evidence in my life of these changes? I hope this series is a chance for the Holy Spirit to breathe a fresh wind into you.

Finally, is our church a community of recreated humans, filled with power from the Holy Spirit to expand the kingdom of God with the works and words of Jesus Christ? Our church could be a gathering that teaches orthodox theology and sings meaningful songs and takes care of one another and we could still miss our very essence.

This series through the book of Acts is an opportunity to invite God to recreate us. Maybe your life is in need of that recreation. Maybe your experience of church is in need of recreation. But it all starts with entering the recreation pattern through union with Jesus. Which brings us to communion.