The Church in Jerusalem was the Beginning of a Movement

The church in Jerusalem was the first church of the new covenant. As such it stands as an example to all the churches follow including today. That’s why Luke devotes so much attention to the beginning, the life and the mission of this one church.

The story begins with the call of Abram to be the Father of a people who would be a blessing to all the people’s of the earth. Since the fall of Adam and Eve the story of human history was the story of an unending cycle of sin, judgment and grace. In Abraham God chose a people who would bear witness to him among the nations. He chose Israel for the sake of the world. Repeatedly Israel failed in that calling but there was a chosen remnant within Israel who remained faithful and looked to the day when God would send a deliverer to his people and fulfil Israel’s calling to be a light to the nations.

That deliverer was Jesus, the second Adam, the true son of Abraham, the son of David, the Messiah. Through his life, death and victory Jesus fulfilled the destiny of Israel and called out of Israel a people for himself. The new Israel was made up by all those who turned back to God and put their faith in him as King and Saviour through his death and resurrection a restored Israel emerged who would receive the blessings of salvation and the mission to take the good news to all nations. For now the people of God will comprise both Jews and Gentiles.

When Jesus rose from the dead he restored his defeated and disillusioned band of disciples and over forty days, beginning with the Books of Moses and then the Psalms and the Prophets, the risen Lord showed them God’s plan that the Messiah must suffer and then rise again and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins much be proclaimed throughout the world until he returns. Then he promised them the gift of the Holy Spirit whose power would enable them to be his witnesses.

The birth of the church in Jerusalem is at the same time the birth of a movement. Jesus always intended that the church in Jerusalem would not remain alone. How could it and still fulfil his command to disciple the nations? Jesus is the true founder of the church in Jerusalem. It is his church, not the invention of his disciples. The foundation was laid when God called Abraham. This first church is a part of a great work of God which he planned before the world began. The source of its life is none other than the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. By his will this church was brought into being, its foundation is the living Word of God written in the Hebrew Scriptures. Its life and breath is the transforming presence of the Holy Spirit. Its mission begins in the holy city and continues to the ends of the earth.

The church in Jerusalem was the source of a missionary movement that has the whole world in its sights. Are we following its example?