Passing the Torch
If we believe in the Trinity and if we hold to the equal oneness of the 3 persons of the Trinity, then it should impact how we view the transition from Jesus' direct authority and leadership on earth to the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Jesus doesn't send in the B Team to take over, yet there seems to be a perspective in certain evangelical circles that the Holy Spirit is marginally less powerful than Jesus was. We'd never say it of course. We'd fight to the doctrinal death to refute such a claim, but make no mistake, we think and act as if it were true.
We place all our eggs in the Jesus basket and dismiss the prominence of what follows his ascension. We question Paul and the course of early church expansion in Acts. And in large part this flows out of our misunderstanding (or misremembering) of the equality of the persons of the Trinity.
God the Father sets in motion the redemptive plan. God the Son initiates it through the incarnation, life, death, resurrection and ascension. God the Holy Spirit continues it through the missional movement of Acts and beyond.
We need to stop looking at Acts as a sequel or post-Jesus left turn and realize that it's exactly what Jesus intended to follow his time on earth physically. If the Holy Spirit comes after Jesus and teaches the followers of Jesus what they need to learn, then everything the Holy Spirit directs should be viewed as having the exact same authority as if Jesus himself were speaking it (after all, they are ONE).
What if we read Acts and replaced every reference to "Holy Spirit" with "Jesus"? How would this change our perspective? Would we pay closer attention to how the church was planted and established in the first century? Would we be more inclined to look for principles?
When we reduce Acts to merely an historical summary, we miss the power and authority of the mission Christ leaves his followers.
Created about 2 years ago
