The Reason God Left Us Here

You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
–Acts 1:8

If an unbeliever receives the knowledge of the one true God and responds by wanting to know more, you can be certain that God will send her further revelation of the truth of Jesus Christ.

A great example of that is found in Acts 8. The Ethiopian eunuch was a court official from Nubia who was traveling to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel. He was sitting in his chariot and reading the scroll of Isaiah because he wanted to know the real God. God saw this man who really wanted to know Him. Shouldn’t he be saved just because he had good intentions? It wasn’t enough; he needed to hear about Jesus. So what did God do? He miraculously sent Philip the Evangelist to him: “Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ And he said, ‘Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?’ And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. . . . Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached Jesus to him. As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?’ And Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God’” (vv. 30-31, 35-37). Isn’t that a miraculous story?

Every day I hear stories from people from all over the world who say, “I just happened to be in my car listening to the radio when I accidentally came upon your program.” Or, “I was flipping through television stations, and I accidentally came upon ‘Pathway to Victory.’ I listened to the message, and I trusted Christ as my Savior.” The older I get, the less I believe in accidents and coincidences. Whenever God sees somebody who really wants to know Him, He will make sure that person receives the knowledge of Jesus Christ, whether it’s through an internet connection, a television signal, or a radio broadcast, because God is more interested in that person’s salvation than you and I could ever be. Anyone who wants further knowledge of God will receive it.

God has not only ordained that people should be saved by trusting in Christ, but He has also ordained the means by which they hear the gospel. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus told His disciples, in essence, “The reason I’m leaving you here and not taking you to heaven with Me is so that you will go into all the world and preach the gospel.” In Acts 1:8, He reminded them, “You shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” The reason God left us here is to fulfill that mandate to take the gospel to everyone. Now, none of us by ourselves can do that. That’s why it’s essential that we band together as Christians to fulfill the mandate of Matthew 28 and the strategy of Acts 1:8.

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Today’s devotion is excerpted from “What about Those Who Have Never Heard about Jesus?” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2015.

Scripture quotations are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.