Acts 1:4,5 – And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
This is the last conversation the Lord had with His followers before He ascended into heaven as a man and took His place on the throne of God at the Father’s right hand. This was the accomplishment of everything Jesus had intended to do when He became human. Notice the phrase Jesus used when He was describing the coming of the Holy Spirit upon all mankind, He called this the promise of the Father. This was a solemn promise the Father made to His Son, the redemption of fallen man. What does that mean? It means fallen man was enabled to enjoy the life and fellowship enjoyed by the Father and the Son. This life is characterized by the Holy Spirit, He is the very love of God expressed in a person. Man could now be filled with the Spirit and enter into this fellowship. The very nature of this union is spiritual. Now this brings us to another result of the work of the Lord in redemption, we share this fellowship of life, this spiritual union, with others who have received this gift. The Apostle John described this in the introduction to his first epistle. Check out what John said about this life of God we share with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
1 John 1:4,5 – “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.”
John said that this letter and his preaching were intended to bring whoever was thirsty into this fellowship with the Father and the Son as well as fellowship with every member of His body, the church. This is the life we see expressed in the book of Acts. They were praying in one accord, they were meeting in their private homes, breaking bread, helping one another financially, and continuing together in the apostle’s doctrine. Maybe something like this is about to happen again.
