God's Redemptive Plan...Continued from page 2

No literal portrait of Jesus exists either. But, we, his followers, greatly resemble him and stand in his place representing him to the world carrying his message that he died for our freedom.

The occupation. Jesus said, "You will be my witnesses." A witness, according to the dictionary, is one who has seen or heard something. It is one who is called upon to testify. A witness is someone who says I know this to be true. We don't witness about something we have received second- or third-hand. No court is interested in hearsay testimony. We witness out of our first-hand experience. A witness does not say, "I think so," a witness says, "I know so."

In Biblical times witnesses did more than live their lives for Christ, and share their life-saving stories, often the witnesses gave their very lives. The word for witness is martus from which the English word martyr is derived. The word became a Christian word. For a witness for Jesus Christ was one who, literally, would give his or her life. In sacrifice, and possibly, martyrdom, they would stand and die for Jesus. We know of the gospel today because of the men and women who have gone before us sacrificing their lives so the message would spread.

And, where does it spread?

The expansion. Jesus said, "You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." The witness was to operate in overextending series of concentric circles, first in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was where Jesus was publicly crucified as a criminal. In Jerusalem, Peter had denied Jesus, Judas had betrayed Jesus, and the other disciples were in hiding. These men had no political, social, or economic clout. Jesus, however, commanded them to begin in Jerusalem with the implication not to leave the city until they had succeeded there. It was a very difficult assignment.

Within weeks of Jesus' departure, however, the disciples were accused by the religious experts in Jerusalem of having fulfilled the Great Commission in that city. Speaking on behalf of the council of elders, the high priest told them, "You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching" (Acts 5:28, NIV). In a matter of weeks, the church went from the Upper Room to every living room in Jerusalem. It is estimated by scholars that during the first twenty-five years of the Jerusalem church, it grew from 120 people to over 100,000 people.

It would have been so easy for them to say we have enough in Jerusalem, why do we need to go to Judea. And definitely not Samaria, much less the rest of the world.

I remember several years ago when we lived in Indiana drying by a health club. They had a big sign out front: New Member Drive ? Price Reduced." That hit my button. So I joined the health club. Several weeks later, the owners put the same sign back up and when I drove into the parking lot and saw the sign my immediate thought us: "I don't want any more members. I may have to wait in line for the racquetball court, or wait for the shower. I'll not be able to the locker I like or park close to the building."

It dawned upon me that is the way human depravity works. We don't want anymore people because of the inconvenience it would cause us. What if those early disciples had said, "We've reached 100,000 in Jerusalem, that's enough." What if the apostles' said, "I'm not going to risk my life for the cause. The whole world can go to hell for all I care." What if the person who shared Christ with you had said, "I don't have time. It's too inconvenient for me to tell you about Jesus." Where would we be now?

We are here today because the disciples waited and the power of the Holy Spirit embodied their lives. They dared to take Jesus at his word. They didn't just talk about witnessing they were witnesses. They represented Jesus everywhere they went. They began where they were-Jerusalem, but in every expanding circles they told of the lifechanging power of Jesus throughout the Judea; then Samaria, the semi-Jewish state, would be a kind of bridge expanding out into the rest of the world; and finally their witness would travel to the fartherest reaches of the world.

You and I are believers today because a few disciples took Jesus at his word. They told people who in turn told other people who in turn told other people. And the word spread from generation to generation, from culture to culture, from century to century. And now we are responsible for telling others about the love of Jesus so the chain will not be broken. It's the only plan that Jesus has.

We can't grow weary. We can't forget. We must tell others about Jesus. Jesus has made no other plans.

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