Holy Ones of God

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

HOLY ONES OF GOD

Acts 2:22-28

22 "Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:

"'I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.'  

NIV

Listen to this, listen to me now, I have something very important, it is a matter of life and death. peter made sure he had the people's full attention because he was going to talk about Jesus, whom he knew was the Son of the Living God. Peter had been with Jesus and had seen the miracles, wonders, and signs that God performed through him. Peter also made it clear that it was the express purpose of God for Jesus to be arrested, handed over to the Romans, and crucified. We understand these words of Peter indicate that the people helped put Jesus to death by nailing him to the cross. Yet, we cannot help but think that Jesus was not killed by men, but went to the cross willingly, suffering the physical pain on purpose, and gave himself up for our lives. However, the greatest hope is in the fact that death could not hold Jesus, as God raised him from the dead. Jesus is the Holy One that David wrote about in the Psalm that Peter quoted. Jesus was not abandoned to the grave, and because Jesus was, or is, the first of the resurrection, we too will not be abandoned to the grave. Jesus promised those who follow him that even if we die, we will live. That is another aspect of following Jesus that we do not talk about as often as we should. We spend time considering how we follow Jesus in our daily lives, learning from Him, and trying to live up to the command to love our Lord God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, and to love others as we love ourselves. We try not to do certain things, lists we think are good to avoid, and try to do the good things, good deeds, serving God, as we try to follow Jesus. But we also follow Jesus to the grave, and follow him in the resurrection. The difference is that this part of following Jesus has nothing to do with our abilities, talents, or choice to follow. Our bodies will simply give up, at some point, without our choice in the matter. Death is because of sin, but through the power of God, we will be resurrected from the grave, for it is impossible for death to hold on to us. Jesus was the Holy One, but we have been told that because we are in Jesus, we are holy and pleasing in the sight of God, so in that sense, we are the holy people or holy ones of God. We should live as his holy ones.