The book of Acts is structured into seven literary units — as if describing waves of God's activity being released upon the earth. Each section ends with a summary statement referring to the growth of the church, such as the one we saw at the end of Acts chapter 2: 'And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.'

1. Acts 1:8 – 2:47... The first wave is seen as the birth of the church.
2. Acts 3:1 – 6:7... The gospel goes to mainstream Judaism centered in Jerusalem.
3. Acts 6:8 – 9:31... The gospel goes to fringe Judaism in Judea and Samaria.
4. Acts 9:32 – 12:25... The gospel goes out to the Gentiles in Syria.
5. Acts 13:1 – 16:5... The gospel goes to the Gentiles in Asia.
6. Acts 16:6 – 19:20... The gospel goes to the Gentiles in Europe.
7. Acts 19:21 – 28:31... The gospel goes to the ends of the earth as represented by the city of Rome.

In this devotion, we will be exploring the first wave where we see the birth of the church. Peter, in his first letter refers to event by making this incredible declaration: 1 Peter 2:9 ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.’

•          Peter, in his description of God’s newly formed church, calls us a nation—a holy nation! A people who now belong to God and are called to proclaim his glorious attributes and mighty deeds!
•          Once again, as we have seen repeatedly, we find a connection between what happened here and something that happened in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, Israel was first called a ‘holy nation’ in Exodus 19:6, just before receiving the Ten Commandments on the day of Pentecost on Mount Sinai.
•          If you remember, God, through Moses, led the children of Israel to Mount Sinai fifty days after being set free from Egypt to receive the Ten Commandments. This event—Moses going up on the mountain to receive the two tablets with God’s laws—happened On the day of Pentecost, exactly fifty days after Passover, when Israel was set free from Egyptian slavery.
•          In the New Testament, as we are going to see from the book of Acts, the disciples of Jesus were told to wait in Jerusalem for the coming of the Holy Spirit, which would happen on the day of Pentecost—fifty days after Passover when Jesus died—who would now write God’s laws on their hearts, establishing them as a nation set aside to God.
•          This was the fulfillment of a prophecy that Jeremiah gave concerning the new covenant that God was going to make with them, which Jesus accomplished on the cross.
•          This all takes place in the book of Acts. Now, to understand the purpose of the book of Acts, we must start with the realization that the book of Acts is the second part of a two-part work. The first part we know as the book of Luke.
•          Acts 1:1-3 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.
•          Acts 1:2 states that the book of Luke was about all that 'Jesus had begun to do and teach.' The obvious inference is that Acts now will be all about what Jesus will continue to do and teach.
•          From the day that Jesus was baptized in water, he was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish his mission here on the earth. Now we are going to see that the same Spirit is going to be poured out by Jesus upon his people—his church—to empower them to fulfill the ministry that Jesus had begun as the true Israel.
•          Luke endeavors to show that through Jesus' church, the gospel will advance through all the nations despite every conceivable barrier. Just as we witness the enemy warring against God's seed all the way through the Old Testament and then went on to try and stop Jesus from fulfilling his mission, we now witness Satan doing everything he can to stop the church from fulfilling its mission.
•          But Luke's testimony is clear: nothing can stop the purposes of God. God's kingdom will go forth unhindered throughout all the nations of the world because God has purposed it.
•          As proof of this idea, the Greek word 'Dei', most commonly translated as 'must' and defined as 'it is necessary', is used twenty-two times in Acts to denote the fact that what was occurring was happening because God was behind it.
•          In other words, the events of Acts take place as an act of divine necessity and scriptural fulfillment.
•          And these events happen in such a way that it felt like an explosion to the whole world. It's not by accident that the Greek word Luke used to describe the power of the Holy Spirit is the same word we get our word dynamite from—‘dunamis.’ In the book of Acts, we witness an explosion of God's purposes upon the earth as she gives birth to his church! In view of everything that happens in the New Testament, the birth of the church is the second biggest event in the New Testament!
•          It is the fulfillment of the revelation of the house of God first presented to us in Genesis at Bethel (Day 7), then elaborated at the forming of the Tabernacle of Moses, and then again at the revelation of Solomon's Temple, which found its ultimate fulfillment in the Christ child, and now gives way to God's new house—a new dwelling place and meeting place—you and me! The church! The new holy nation of God!

I.   Pre-Birth Preparations

•          Acts 1:4-9 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. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' So when they met together, they asked him, 'Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' He said to them: 'It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.' After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
•          From this conversation we can learn a number of things. For example, by the question that the disciples asked — 'Is this the time you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?' — we understand that the disciples still didn't fully comprehend what God was doing. They still saw the coming of God's kingdom as a single event.
•          But clearly, as Jesus ascended and said that he would return, it shows us that we are in a transition between the kingdom that is now and yet to come in its fullness. But this will soon change, as we are going to see through the writings of the apostles.
•          Another significant thing revealed here is that the next phase of God's plan is initiated, sustained, and completed by the third part of the Trinity — the Holy Spirit. Each disciple had to experience the dynamic, explosive power of God's Spirit in a personal way.
•          '... you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you...'
•          This experience will result in them going through a personal transformation — '... you will be...'
•          In other words, when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, it will change and transform them into something that they are not yet. They will be his witnesses. Thus, the Holy Spirit continues his Genesis role of creating something new.
•          And that something new is us — who are being transformed into being his witnesses. Thus, here we see the purpose of the change that people were about to go through. God's people were called to be a witness — but not just a witness of what they had seen, or a witness of the things they were taught — but 'my witnesses!'
•          They were to be Jesus' personal, intimate witnesses. When the Scriptures say 'my', it speaks of being possessive. They belong to him and testify of the here and now — that he is alive, active, and involved with the present.
•          They are not just testifying of the past but are declaring the reality of him now in the light of the past.
•          And lastly, we see the church's purpose and mission: “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The church is the only organization in the world that was created for others. The church exists for the world.
•          The church was never meant to be a fortress or an institution whose major concern was just for the welfare of its own people. Rather, the essence of the church is missional. It is to be outwardly focused and ever-expanding!
•          Jesus alluded to this in his discourse on the Mount of Olives, where he said: Matt 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

II.  Birth of a New Nation… the Church

•          Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
•          As we mentioned earlier, the feast of Pentecost happened 50 days after Passover. The feast of Pentecost celebrated the giving of the law of Moses brought down from Mount Sinai. In the New Testament, 50 days after Christ was offered as the Passover Lamb, the Holy Spirit fell on the day of Pentecost — now writing the law of God upon people's hearts!
•          First, the obvious — it’s significant that fire once again falls from heaven, just as it did in Moses' day when the Spirit of God fell upon the Tabernacle of Moses, and again when the Spirit of God fell upon Solomon's Temple.
•          Every time fire comes down, someone gets hit by the power of God!
•          Acts 2:5-9 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: 'Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?'
•          Notice — every nation or the gospel to language. This is a symbolic reversal of the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel, thus vindicating God's divide-to-reach strategy in Genesis 11.
•          It also indicates that the missionary purpose for which the Jewish people had been created was at hand — to reach the nations with the good news of God's kingdom.
•          As the text unfolds, it becomes clear that people did not understand what was going on, for they were accused of being drunk at nine in the morning.
•          Notice who stands up to address the crowd's confusion...
•          Acts 2:14 Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd.
•          What in the world happened to Peter to bring about such an amazing transformation from where, only 50 days ago, he denied his Lord three times? He got the fire of God — the very thing Jesus said would happen to them when the Holy Spirit fell upon them. They would be transformed and become his witnesses.
•          It's also important to notice what he proclaimed when he got up...
•          Acts 2:16-21... this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'
•          According to Peter, Pentecost represents a turning of the ages — the advent of the end times — the Greek word for 'last days'... which we have been in since then.
•          It is also significant that the pouring out of the 'spirit of prophecy' signifies that the revelatory communication that had been lost in the Garden of Eden was now being restored.

•          But the pouring out of God's Spirit was more than just the restoration of communication between his people and himself, because this communication is connected to the power of the Spirit, which releases boldness to those to whom God reveals himself.
•          For Peter gets up and gives an amazingly powerful sermon — where no punches are held back.
•          Acts 2:36 'Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.'
•          One can scarcely believe this is the same man who denied the Lord 50 days earlier. And along with the boldness of the Spirit also comes the conviction of the Spirit, as seen in the next verse...
•          Acts 2:37-41When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?' Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off — for all whom the Lord our God will call.' With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, 'Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.' Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
•          It is so fascinating how this story mirrors what happened in the Old Testament in so many significant ways. If you remember the Old Testament story, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai the first time with the Ten Commandments written on two tablets of stone, he found his people committing idolatry by worshiping a golden calf.
•          Moses was so angry that he threw down the tablets of stone, which precipitated a great earthquake in which 3,000 people died.
•          Now we have the fulfillment of that time — as the Spirit of God falls on Jerusalem, and 3,000 people get saved.
•          Evidence of this life-changing experience via the Holy Spirit becomes immediately obvious to everyone in Jerusalem...
•          Acts 2:42-47 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
•          Notice the seven earmarks of the work of the Holy Spirit in people's lives:
• 1.      Change of heart priorities — they were now devoting themselves to learning, and living in what is called fellowship, and intimacy with God through communion and prayer.
• 2.      The kingdom continued to be demonstrated through signs and wonders — just as it had been when Jesus was here.
• 3.      Unity.
• 4.      Freedom from materialism.
• 5.      Economic needs were shared by all.
• 6.      Continual expression of worship and praise.
• 7.      Numeric growth.

• III. Growth of this New Nation
•          The book of Acts chronicles the amazing growth of this new nation called the church... the new Israel of God.
•          Ephesians 2:11-18 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called 'uncircumcised' by those who call themselves 'the circumcision' (that done in the body by the hands of men)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
•          Here Paul clearly reveals to us that the purpose of Jesus coming was not just so we could be saved from our sins, but he came to create one new man.
•          Who is this new man that he is referring to? The bringing together of both Jews and Gentiles, a corporate man now made up of men and women of all ages and of all nationalities. This indeed was something new!
•          Thus, the purpose of the cross was not only the means by which our sins could be forgiven, but also to destroy the very wall of hostility between people — whether we are talking about Jews and Gentiles, or different races, or even male and female.
•          For Paul declares in his letter to the Colossians: Colossians 3:10-11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
•          All distinctions, all walls, all barriers between people have now been destroyed by the power of the cross, which allowed Paul to speak to the Gentiles of Ephesus:
•          Ephesians 2:19-22 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become one in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
•          This new society is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets — which, in context, speaks of the Old Testament and New Testament. For the Old Testament was written by the revelation of the prophets, and the New Testament by the revelation of the apostles.
•          This one new man now becomes the focus of God's heart and concern. He is committed to building up this new man by joining people who were never joined before. Not only are we being joined together, but we are being built together for the purpose of being the dwelling place of God — rising up to become God's holy temple.
•          The old temples of Israel are clearly obsolete and have been replaced by a new temple — you and me. Which is why it’s important to point out that the temple God is raising, is being built by us being joined together into a corporate temple.
•          This can be a challenge for those of us in America because we often think only in terms of being individuals — seeing only ourselves as God's temple. But clearly God's understanding of the temple is far bigger than just individuals. What he is building — and what he is going to use to reach the rest of the world — is the corporate body of Christ, which is his holy temple.
•          You see, it’s only through the corporate body of Christ that God will accomplish his purpose, as expounded throughout the book of Ephesians.
•          Ephesians 3:10-12 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
•          In other words, it’s part of God's purpose to reveal his plan through his corporate body — the church — to all the powers, principalities, and spiritual authorities in high places.
•          But not only does God want to reveal himself to spiritual powers, he also wants to reveal himself to the whole world through his church.
•          Ephesians 4:10-13 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe. It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
•          According to this, Jesus has given gifts to the church in the form of men and women serving in one of these five ministries. This implies that each of us is meant to embody the heart or essence of all five ministries within ourselves.
•          Meaning, we are all called, in a sense, to be pastoral — loving and caring for those around us. We are all called, in a sense, to be teachers — able to impart living knowledge of our loving God. We are all, in a sense, called to be prophetic — instruments that reveal the intimate heart and word of God to others. We are all called, in a sense, to be evangelistic — continually reaching out to those around us with the gospel of God.
•          And lastly, we are all called to be apostolic — which simply means to be sent. As disciples of Jesus, you and I are now being sent and commissioned by the Holy Spirit to bring the kingdom of God.
•          All these things coming together culminate in the church being equipped to carry out the ministry of Christ.
•          Which is why the very idea that only the pastor or the priest carries out the ministry of Christ is completely foreign to New Testament thinking. Pastors, teachers, evangelists, and prophets are all called to equip the church — in other words, we are called to be coaches on the sidelines, cheering you on as you step into what God has called you to do.
•          Which is why the idea that 80 percent of the work of the church is done by 20 percent of the people is an indication of spiritual sickness.
•          Without the body being the body — or the church being who and what God designed it to be — God's purposes will always be hindered.
•          Going back to our Ephesians four text, it's only as the church learns to minister and do the things Jesus did that it can be built up, until we reach unity in faith and in the experiential knowledge of Christ.
•          This is not saying that we will all be the same doctrinally. The word 'knowledge' here is the same word that Mary used after the angel told her she would be the mother of Jesus, and she replied, 'How can this be? I know no man.'
•          In other words, the sense of 'know' refers to experiential knowledge. We are all called to experience the living Christ intimately in our lives in such a way that we become his instruments of ministry to one another.
•          Only then will true unity of faith emerge — a unity built on us recognizing Jesus as the center of all things and all of us having a common experience of Jesus.
•          This, then, will result in us becoming a fully mature man — and, as Scripture says, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
•          Unfortunately, there are many traditions still today that communicate that the church will never mature or be a true witness of the character of Christ.
•          But the promise of Scripture is that somehow, some way, by God’s Spirit, he will have a witness upon the earth that is a fully mature expression of Jesus. Paul elaborates a little more on this as he addresses marriages in chapter 5 of Ephesians:
•          Ephesians 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
•          God is in the process of cleansing, washing, and transforming his church into a beautiful bride — without blemish, holy and blameless.
•          Which is why this little phrase gives us deeper insight into what it means to be fully mature in Christ, that we will be wholly set apart in heart and mind for God's purposes, free from the bondages of addictions and emotional pain. That in both heart, deed, and word, we will communicate who Jesus is.
•          The church will be God's instrument and model of the gospel of the kingdom of God. This means that as we draw closer to the end of this age, when Jesus returns, the enemy will intensify his attack against the church in an attempt to destroy its testimony. This is why Paul encourages us to prepare for spiritual battle!
•          Ephesians 6:11-14 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
•          Once again, let me remind you that this is a corporate word to the corporate church — not just to individuals.

In conclusion:

•          Hopefully, by now, you can begin to see the church through different eyes than the ones you may have grown up with. The church was never meant to be an institution, a fortress, or a rigid structure that tries to control people.
•          Instead, we should understand the church as a living, organic, growing entity that is literally changing the world around it. So much so, that when you catch a glimpse of what the church is truly meant to be, you will be amazed by the sheer possibility of all it can and should accomplish in society.