SERIES
Acts: Empowered to Extend
2017-10-29T11:00:00-05:00
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.
8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
14 The LORD God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this,
cursed are you above all livestock
and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat
all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”
16 To the woman he said,
“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.”
20 The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.
22 Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
Let’s talk about circumcision. This is perhaps not the introductory sentence one might expect for a reflection on Acts 2. Circumcision is nowhere mentioned in chapter 2 or anywhere close. The first time it’s referenced is Acts 7:8 during Stephen’s history lesson from the Old Testament. That’s because it was an Old Testament idea. Circumcision was an act that represented the sign and seal of God’s covenant with Abraham. It marked the Israelites—literally—and set them apart as God’s people.
One of the clearest, sweetest pictures for understanding circumcision comes from C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. One day, after wandering from the group, Eustace (the obnoxious cousin of the Pevensie siblings, Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy) found himself transformed into a dragon due to his own greed getting the best of him. As a dragon, he underwent deep personal transformation, softening greatly despite his ongoing sufferings. After days of pain, Aslan, the great lion, approached him and called, “Follow me.” Leading Eustace to a pool, he commanded him to “undress.” Confused at first, he remembered that reptiles can shed layers, so he began to peel at his skin. Layer after layer, his efforts were ultimately futile. Finally, Aslan responded, "You will have to let me undress you." Eustace complied. Later on, he would describe the experience of Aslan clawing deep into his calloused skin: "The very first tear he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart. And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I’ve ever felt."
He then described how he felt once Aslan completed his work: "And there was I smooth and soft as a peeled switch and smaller than I had been. Then he caught hold of me – I didn’t like that much for I was very tender underneath now that I’d no skin on — and threw me into the water."
Circumcision. God commanded the Israelites to perform a bloody, painful act as a sign of His covenant with them. But His real desire? That they might circumcise their hearts, not just their bodies (Deuteronomy 10:12-21; Romans 2:25-29). He longed for them to cut away all that was not of Him. But what we learn from history is that the Israelites, like Eustace, were no match for the layers of sin and brokenness around their hearts. The Israelites could not circumcise their own hearts. Only by the Spirit could their delicate, tender hearts be dislodged from their calloused encasements.
While circumcision may not be mentioned in Acts 2, it’s there. It’s the reaction of the people to Peter’s sermon. Verse 37 says they were “cut to the heart.” They were changed. When they inquired about next steps, Peter told them to be circumcised? No. Baptized; the sign and seal of the New Covenant; an outward sign representing an inward reality.
We have been cleansed! God always has and always will desire inward transformation.
What is your response to the Gospel? Have you been cut to the heart? Have you been “thrown into the water?”