Acts 7:59-60 While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep. New International Version (NIV)
Yesterday I read about the brother of a man slain forgiving the one who killed him. How do we account for that kind of grace? When we read the scriptures together, good questions come to mind. What is the goal of our relationship with God? Is it to get to heaven when we die? What about while we are alive? Is the Gospel simply eternal fire insurance? The end of Stephen’s story shows us without a doubt that there is more to the Christian life than we might have thought.
We first hear about Stephen as the leader of the seven designated to solve the food distribution dilemma for the Hellenistic and Hebraic widows in the church in Jerusalem. When they accomplished the mission and the church continued to grow, Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, wisdom, faith, grace and power performed wonders and signs and became an apologist or defender of the gospel.
When he recounted the history of God’s work among the Jews, he concluded that the leaders who put him on trial were guilty of betraying and killing the Son of God. As he fell beneath their stones, Stephen saw Jesus stand at the right hand of the Father in honor of his sacrifice. They killed Jesus and then killed Stephen precisely because he was so much like Jesus. How do we know? As he died he responded so much like Jesus did asking Jesus to receive his spirit and then asking him not to hold the sin of his murder against his murderers. The goal of the Christian life is nothing less than conformity to Christ – to become so much like him that we do what he did.
Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote it this way,
I say móre: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God's eye what in God's eye he is —
Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men's faces.
Pray with me:
Heavenly Father, make us so much like Jesus that others see the unmistakable resemblance. Lord Jesus, let us live as you lived, die as you died and forgive as you forgave until all see who you really are in us. Through Christ our Lord, who prays for us at the right hand of the Father, we pray. Amen.
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan. Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download the app at readscripture.org. Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully,
Duane
Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved.
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