Today's verse is part of Christ's speech to Paul on the road to Damascus after the blinding light has driven Paul and his fellow travelers to fall on their faces. In Acts 26, Paul is relaying the information to King Agrippa as part of his defense. Oswald refers to this as "the grandest condensation of the propaganda of a disciple of Jesus Christ in the whole of the New Testament," by which I think he means a clear, concise summation of the call to evangelize:
"Arise, stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; delivering you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me," Acts 27:16-18. Oswald specifically refers to the bold type, v. 18.
I quoted all three verses because I find the first one extremely instructive, as well. My job is to be a witness to the things I have seen -- the ways God has worked in my life and the ways I have observed him at work in others -- and to the things in which he appears to me -- what he shows me in my personal time with him. My job is to be a storyteller -- to tell the story of my walk with Jesus.
Then God sends us to people or sends people to us in order that
- their eyes and ears may be open to the truth
- they may turn from darkness to light, from sin to salvation
- they may turn from a tyrannous slave driver to a loving Father
- they may receive forgiveness and join the fellowship of the children of God and all that entails.
Barbara
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