Until the King Returns (Christmas): The message of Christmas is that Jesus Christ was born, and with him came the birth of hope, life, and peace. But why is the world still so broken? Did Christmas fail? No. Today, we live in the tension of the Age of Redemption. Jesus has come; he has established his church and given us the Holy Spirit and the gospel — but there will still be darkness until the return of our King. Recorded on Dec 29, 2024, on Acts 1:1-11 by Pastor David Parks.
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Sermon Transcript
We’ve been taking a little break from our Exodus series for Christmas. But fear not! We’ll jump back into Exodus next Sunday. During this Advent season, we’ve said that advent comes from the Latin for “arrival.” The ancient people of Israel had waited for generations for the coming of the promised Messianic King — a promise we believe was fulfilled in the incarnation and birth of Jesus Christ. But just as God’s people waited for the first advent of Christ, so today, we await the second advent in the return of Christ. In our little Christmas mini-series, Waiting for the King, we started last Sunday by focusing on the light of the promise of the first advent during a time of deep darkness. On Christmas Eve, we told the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus, a different kind of king. If you missed those sermons, you can always go back and watch or listen online if you’d like. Today, we’ll wrap up our Christmas series focusing on the hope of the promise of the second advent and the return of Christ our King. As we’ve seen, the light of the world has come. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. Unto us a child was born, a son was given. Jesus Christ was born, and with him came the birth of hope, life, and peace. But there’s a tension with Christmas: there’s still so much darkness. There’s still so much corruption, violence, and injustice in the world. There’s still cancer and car accidents and tragedies of all kinds. If Jesus was the great hope of the world, the Son of God who would save people from their sins, why is the world still so broken? Did Christmas fail? And for followers of Jesus, how can we keep our hope as we live in this tension? If you have your Bible/app, please open it to Acts 1:1.
Acts 1:1–3 (NIV), “1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” On Tuesday, we said that the book of Luke was the first of a two-part work in the Bible. Luke refers to that here when he mentions his “former book.” Acts is part two of this work. The book of Luke focuses on the life and ministry of Jesus — everything “until the day he was taken up to heaven,” as he says. Luke did a careful investigation into Christianity by interviewing eyewitnesses who were alive to hear and see what Jesus said and did. The book of Acts is all about what happened next. Luke dedicates both works to a man named Theophilus. We don’t know much about Theophilus, but he’s generally believed to be a patron or benefactor, funding Luke’s investigation. Now, money is never the point of ministry, but money enables ministry (like almost everything else in life). The Bible presents God as the one who ultimately provides for our needs in life and ministry. And sometimes God rains down bread from heaven (as he did during the Exodus). But usually, God provides through the hard work and generosity of his people, people like Theophilus. Anyways, Luke reports back on what he discovered in his investigation. He says that after his suffering — meaning, after the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for the sins of the world — Jesus appeared to eyewitnesses and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. The Apostle Paul said there were up to five hundred witnesses on one occasion. This is important because this means the resurrection wasn’t a story made up hundreds of years later. It was a historical event with hundreds of eyewitnesses. So, Jesus was with the disciples for forty days after his resurrection, and he also continued to teach them about the Kingdom of God. But in his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus had already accomplished everything we needed for salvation, didn’t he? What more did the disciples need?
Acts 1:4-5 (NIV), “4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” In the verses after our text for today, we know this occurred near Bethany on the Mount of Olives. And we know that Jesus had spent a lot of time there and had friends who lived there, including Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. I just love that the risen king of heaven and earth still wanted to share a meal with his friends. But here, in this familiar place with his friends around him, Jesus issues a command. After the resurrection, Jesus said that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to him by God the Father. Even though Jesus was a brother and a friend, he was also the King. When Jesus speaks, he doesn’t give suggestions or opinions as we might. His word has the weight of a command from the throne of heaven. And what did he say? Don’t leave Jerusalem until you are baptized with (lit. immersed in) the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist had said Jesus would do this. Other prophets had said the Spirit would be part of the final age of the earth. But to understand the significance of this, we have to step back and think about the one big story of the Bible. According to the Bible, all of human history might be separated into four ages (or we could say four chapters of the story): Creation, Fall, Redemption, and New Creation. The Age of Creation describes a Creator God who created a good and perfect world, a world teaming with life and light that was meant to be a place where heaven and earth were one. The Age of the Fall describes when sin entered into creation through the rebellion of the first human creatures. No longer was it a good and perfect world. Everything was affected to some degree by sin and death. The Age of the Fall led up to the first advent/arrival of Christ, who provided the sacrifice needed to make atonement for the sins of the world. He paid the price in our place. The Age of Redemption started that first Easter Sunday when Jesus defeated death. But it really got going on the day of Pentecost, the day when the Father and Son sent the Holy Spirit into the world to allow the very personal presence and power of God to dwell among his people in their spirit, leading and guiding them as they learn to follow the way of Jesus. The final age, the Age of New Creation, will begin with the second advent/arrival of Christ. When Jesus returns, the dead will be raised, and all will give an account of their lives to their maker. Those who believe in Jesus will dwell with him forever in the new heavens and the new earth, and those who don’t will be separated forever from him. Ok! With the resurrection of Jesus, we have the end of one age and the beginning of our current age. But Jesus commanded them not to leave Jerusalem. Don’t go anywhere. Until what? Until you receive the Holy Spirit. You need him. You need him to be your advocate, counselor, and strong helper. You need the Holy Spirit to be able to remember and discern the truth. You need him to remind you of your identity as a child of God when you’re feeling lost or weak. You need his spiritual gifts and the fruit he bears in your life. In the OT, during the Age of the Fall, only at certain times and places would someone be said to be filled with the Spirit of God, usually a prophet, priest, or king, and also usually only for a particular task. But then came Jesus. Jesus’ whole life was filled/empowered by the Spirit (something that Luke particularly emphasized in his work). This would continue and be magnified in the Age of Redemption because, after Pentecost, every believer would be filled with the Spirit! Not just the apostles, pastors, or other leaders. So now that the disciples had the risen Jesus, and they were about to receive the power and presence of God’s own Spirit, they were probably wondering what Jesus wanted to do next.
Acts 1:6-8 (NIV), “6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Ok! To be honest, I’m comforted by the fact that the disciples are still a little fuzzy on what Jesus was doing. Have you ever been confused by what God was doing? ME too! The disciples still seemed to think of the Kingdom of God in a physical or political sense. The question “Are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” probably means “Will you now set us free from the Roman Empire?” Now, this isn’t a bad question. God had raised up other warriors in the past — men like Joshua, Gideon, or David. But Jesus gently corrects them, saying the timing is not for them to know. If you read back through history, it seems almost every generation thought they were the generation that would be alive on the earth when Jesus returned. But here, Jesus clearly says we won’t know when he will return. It is not for us to know! But this doesn’t mean he wants us to sit around and wait for him to return. Jesus says that his disciples have a job to do. They will be his witnesses in Jerusalem, that is, in the city where they were at the time, and in all Judea, that is, in the region of Jerusalem and in Samaria, the region next door, and even to the ends of the earth. This is actually how Luke structured the rest of the book of Acts. Chapters 1-7 center on what happened in Jerusalem. In Chapter 8, the disciples are scattered throughout Judea and Samaria because of persecution. By the end of the book, we have Paul and others who have taken the gospel all over the Roman Empire, even to the ends of the earth. Within the first few centuries after the resurrection, Christianity had made it to China, India, and many places in Africa. But now that these first Christians understood their mission, in light of the death and resurrection of Jesus, what would happen to Jesus? Would he stay with them as their king or maybe more like a general in this campaign of the gospel?
Acts 1:9–11 (NIV), “9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” This is God’s word. So after the resurrection, where Jesus defeated the Satanic powers of sin and death, and after he spent forty days with his disciples and appeared to hundreds of eyewitnesses, he ascended back into heaven where he is currently seated at the right hand of God, in the place of absolute power and authority. Now, did he need to fly up into the clouds? Like, is heaven up above the sky or in space? No. We know that after the resurrection, Jesus could appear and disappear in this physical realm, just as the two angels suddenly appeared to the disciples to explain what had just happened. The physical ascension of Jesus was meant to be a picture of both the transcendence of Jesus and his eventual return. Jesus was not only raised from the dead; he was raised all the way up into heaven. He has been exalted to the highest place. But he has also promised to return, to set every wrong to right, to judge the wicked and the righteous, and to make all things new. But I love the angel’s question. Can you imagine watching Jesus ascend into heaven with all the wonder and maybe even a little fear that that would produce, and these angels are like, “Why do you stand here looking into the sky?” What? The disciples saw some crazy stuff being with Jesus, but I don’t think they had seen anything like this before from him. But the angels remind them or maybe reassure them of this fact: “This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” He’s coming back. Jesus had told them, “My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (Jn 14:2-3). Jesus would come back for his disciples. This hopeful belief in the second advent, the return of Christ and the age to come, is one of the things that fueled/empowered/sustained the followers of Jesus in their mission to the ends of the earth despite facing persecution and death in many places. This is a picture of the tension we feel to this day. We are living in the Age of Redemption, the age of the Holy Spirit, the Church, and the gospel being preached to the ends of the earth. Jesus has died and risen from the dead; he has given us the Holy Spirit; he has given us spiritual power, and he has given us the gospel of reconciliation with God. There is good news to share, and we have a job to do. But Jesus has not yet returned and this is the tension we so often feel. We have the light of the truth and the gospel, but we’re living in a world of darkness (and truthfully, sometimes we contribute to the mess of this world). Some of the people have seen a great light, but many still live in the gloom of deep darkness. But the ascension of Jesus and the promise of his return means there’s always hope in the darkness. Things might get very difficult. Relationships might become sadly broken. Businesses might fail. Our parents or other authorities might let us down. Financial hardship might arise. But we are never without hope. If Jesus came once, he will come again. Christmas didn’t fail. Jesus is patient in waiting to return, not wanting anyone to perish but for all to come to a saving faith in him. One day, Jesus will return. It’s not our business to know when, but it is very much our business to share the good news of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. So today, may we be a people who are bold witnesses of the goodness and faithfulness of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And may we be a church that never loses its hope until the day of Christ Jesus. But while we wait, and especially as we feel the tension of this age, let us cry out “Hosanna,” meaning “Lord, save us!” Or we might cry out “Maranatha!” which means “Come, quickly Lord!” as we wait once again for the return of our King. Let us pray.
