Escapees from your unbelieving generation through Jesus!!!!

“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.” (Acts 2:40-41)

We’re continuing our snapshot look at the birth of the New Testament church. In a way, you could call Pentecost the church’s grand opening. That’s the day the Holy Spirit came and filled the new believers, the day Peter fearlessly preached the truth about Jesus right out loud in public, the day 3,000 became Christians.

They responded to his pleading: “Save yourselves form this corrupt generation.” He was likely talking about the generation of Israelites responsible for rejecting Jesus as Messiah. But it would be fair to call every generation corrupt, I guess. Yours is, too. The majority of your peers have rejected Jesus and operate according to a system that is all about searching for meaning in pleasure, possessions, and status – and coming up short. Coming up doomed, in fact, to a hopeless eternity.

The only escape from that system, from that fate – from the path of your generation – is through faith in Jesus into the family of God. In other words, the church is collection of escapees freed from a failed worldview and finally headed in the only direction that makes any sense – toward our home with Christ. It’s not the easy way right now, but it’s easier when we all head that way together.

Are you an escapee? If so, who are you running with?

Think: If you’ve escaped a failed worldview (and hell) by putting your faith in Jesus instead of self (or anything else), are you doing anything to help anyone else make it over the wall? What could you do?

Pray: If you’re a Christian, thank God for helping you to escape from unbelief and into a relationship with him through faith in Christ. Thank him for all the others who have escaped since the day of Pentecost.

Do: Get all of your friends together and wear prison-style orange jumpsuits to church next week, explaining to everyone that you are escapees from your unbelieving generation. Okay, we both know you won’t really do that. But it’s fun to think about.