The evidence of the Holy Spirit being “poured out on all people” in Acts 2:17, would be “young men seeing visions” and old men “dreaming dreams,” both of which would be attached in some way to “the last days,” when the age of the Kingdom of God would begin.
At that time the Holy Spirit would fill the old and the young with dreams and visions of that Kingdom, inspiring in their lives the evidence that it was already happening. In the old folk it would create a lifetime of following Jesus’ teachings, which form the foundation of the Kingdom of God and how the whole world will be living for eternity. It’s why the Holy Spirit inspired them to live that way, so that clear evidence of what the Kingdom of God is based on, and the effect it has on people, can be seen in their lives. And isn’t that what we older folk dream of and live for too?
But what about the young? They can’t depend on a lifetime of living by Jesus’ teachings as evidence of the Kingdom of God already in operation on the planet. But what the Holy Spirit does in them instead is give them a vision of the world as it could be, and they want to gear their lives to that.
Which is a great gift the Holy Spirit has given us as a human race, because isn’t it the young we all depend on so strongly to take the fight to evil? In wartime, for instance, it’s always the young who are on the front lines. They’re the ones with the energy – and the heart to put their lives on the line. It is extraordinary how young people – with everything to live for in life – will give themselves to serving the needs of others, and even giving up life itself.
And what makes it even more extraordinary is that they may not attend any church, or profess any religious bent, or even mention God, but they have a good moral compass, they’re capable, confident, wise, good living people who love to serve, work hard, and they are honest and respectful in all their dealings – and aren’t they grand people to be around too?
Their glory (as John puts it in 1 John 2:14) is their strength, which either consciously or unconsciously has come from “the word of God living in them,” where the Holy Spirit is inspiring them for all our sakes to make our world liveable, and prove to us all that, no matter what age we are or what stage of our Christianity we’re at, we really do have “Power over the devil’s world”….(next blog)
Buck To Basics 