Title The Dreaming Community/Acts 2:17-18
Content Word: Acts 2:17-18
1. The last days
When you hear the word ‘last days’, you imagine that the whole world will come to an end due to the judgment of water, such as a disaster caused by the explosion of a nuclear bomb or a huge flood, and only a few people are saved in their lifetime. However, “the last days” in the Bible means “the advent of a new age.” In other words, the last days in the Bible do not focus on the end of this world, but the end of one age and the beginning of a new one. After an era comes to an end, the last days, a new era that God has prepared and opened for us, will come. These last days are the times in which God laid down His life for us and prepared the way with all His heart. Therefore, the last days are not terrifying and frightening times, but rather a new era that God has given us purely as a blessing. The last days are the age in which we experience God's grace and blessings so broadly and deeply that cannot be compared with those of the past.
2. Characteristics of the last days: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh
Regarding the characteristics of the last days, verse 17 says, “In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” In times past, only very special people experienced God on very special occasions. For example, while not everyone could experience the true God, only Abraham in particular met God. Although there were many families in the world, God met only the descendants of Abraham such as Isaac and Jacob. How many people were there at the time of Moses? However, out of the multitude of people, the Spirit of God came upon Moses only. For others, God has not come.
However, a new era has finally dawned in which the Spirit of God comes upon all flesh. According to Acts 10:44-47, Gentiles who were considered people who had nothing to do with God, that is, Cornelius, who was not a Jew, but a Roman, and his family, experienced the Holy Spirit. In the last days, not only did the Spirit of God come upon the descendants of Abraham, but some unexpected people were electrocuted by the Spirit of God and became people of God.
In the last days, the Spirit of God will come upon all flesh (17). The Spirit of God comes upon the flesh, which is like dry bones, which seems to have nothing to do with God. It happened that people in Africa also received the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God came upon our nation, which has long been steeped in shamanism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Christianity, which was unfamiliar to us, came to this earth, and people began to receive the Spirit of God and became people who communicated with God. That is what God has done for our people.
3. I will prophesy, I will see visions, I will dream
First, the Spirit of God makes us dream of heaven.
It's not because reality is difficult or because it's too comfortable that you've lost your dream. It's not that life is hard and hard, so you can't dream. In fact, the soul cannot dream because it does not receive the Spirit of God.
As life goes on, you lose your vision, you lose your dreams. As we experience the realities of life, we gradually lose our dreams and visions. Life is hopeless when there is no dream to look at. So, when there is no dream, life gets drunk and flees decadence. When there is no dream to dream or a vision for tomorrow, people want to escape from alcohol and get drunk and go beyond reality. It is a struggle to overcome reality by borrowing alcohol because he does not have a dream to overcome reality. However, when the Spirit of God comes upon them, young people, young people in their prime, and elderly people alike will have a vision of heaven for tomorrow (17). When the Spirit of God comes upon us, we do not despair of today's reality, we do not settle for today's reality, and we speak, see, and proclaim dreams of tomorrow in which the reality of this earth will be changed to that of heaven (18).
We see reality and dream on this earth. But we must also see what God shows us in the Holy Spirit and dream of heaven. The Spirit of God comes upon us to dream our dreams that God desires for us, and we must see the dreams that God's will is on this earth, in our hearts, and in our communities, hold our dreams and proclaim our dreams. We must look at the vision God will accomplish among us and look at the work of restoration that He will perform among us. Without a vision from God, it is difficult to have faith that can overcome reality. You cannot have hope without the vision God gives you. God's vision gives us the faith to transcend reality. The Holy Spirit makes us dream of heaven.
Second, the Spirit of God transforms us into a community that dreams together.
In verses 17 and 18 of the text, not only one person dreams, but when the Holy Spirit comes on the community, the dream comes together. When the Holy Spirit comes on, young children, young people, and people of the same age can dream together, proclaim their dreams, and become a community that embraces the heavenly dream that leads toward the dream. The Holy Spirit makes it a community where we dream heavenly dreams together, prophesy heavenly things together, and proclaim heavenly things together. Although the early church was small in number, it was influential because it was a dream community that embraced the dream of heaven by the Spirit of God. They were precious because they were a dream community dreaming of the arrival of the Kingdom of God in the Roman Empire. Our church is also precious and important because it has the vision given by the Holy Spirit.
Third, the community of the Holy Spirit is a community that dedicates ourselves together for the dream of heaven.
The Holy Spirit community is a community dedicated to our lives because of the heavenly dream given to us. It is because of those people that 2000 years of church history progressed and the Korean church was born and grew. The church is a community that willingly devotes itself to the heavenly dream given by the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion:
We are God-given dreamers. No matter what we are or what our circumstances may be, we must use the spiritual imagination that the Holy Spirit pours upon us to transcend our reality to look and proclaim our heavenly dreams. In addition, we must become a community filled with the Holy Spirit who prays and dedicates ourselves to the heavenly dream we are dreaming together.