17 September | Youth
«That you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.» Luke 1:4
Throughout my ministry, I have sought to challenge young people to be a living generation: loved in Heaven, feared in Hell, known on Earth. I adopted this phrase as my slogan. A well-known evangelical pastor spoke it, and I considered it very appropriate to translate my mission as a youth pastor.
In my ministry efforts, living generation is a movement that invites young people to rise up. For this to happen, it is necessary for each person to have their own experience with God. One cannot witness about Jesus without knowing Him personally by faith.
This happened to the evangelist Luke. The other authors of the gospels had lived with Christ, but Luke had not. However, this did not stop him from knowing the Lord or testifying about Him. Luke went to the field and collected all the information he found about Jesus. He was guided by the Holy Spirit in this process and produced one of the most beautiful portraits of the life of Jesus that we have access to. Under divine inspiration, Luke revealed beautiful and essential aspects of Jesus' ministry. He is the author of two books of the Bible: the gospel that bears his name and the book of Acts.
Luke wrote the first volume to tell the story of how God sent His Son to Earth. The author portrayed Jesus in His long walks, in His memorable speeches and unequivocal expressions of love, with emphasis on the cross.
Luke's gospel concludes with the ascension of the Lord. It is exactly from this point that he begins the book of Acts. The gospel speaks of the origin of the church; Acts presents how it grew. The thread that unites the two volumes is the divinity of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. In the ascension, Jesus sits at the right hand of God, and the Holy Spirit descends to Earth to continue the work of salvation.
The book of Acts is the beginning of the history of the church, but it is incomplete. The story is still happening. It is an unfinished story! The last chapter of Acts needs to be written. When this happens, Jesus will come. I believe this will happen in our time. To do this, a living generation needs to rise up.