“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that we are part of the lineage of Abraham in giving us the promise that you made with Abraham. We are those who have received the gift of Your Holy Spirit, whom You covenanted, would be poured. We praise You for Your wonderful ways. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 2:38-40 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (39) For the promise is to you and to your children*, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (40) And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
The Lord God made the covenant with Abraham. Genesis 17:7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you.
His covenant with Abraham and His descendants, who are all those who come to God by faith in Jesus Christ, is that He will be God to us. This is by the gift of His Holy Spirit, whom He would pour on us.
The Lord’s longing is that we, as people of faith in God through the Lord Jesus, would walk in His fear. This is how we would raise the banner of Christ, over the enemy, each in our generations.
Isaiah 59:19-21 So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him. (20) “The Redeemer will come to Zion, And to those who turn from transgression in Jacob,” Says the LORD. (21) “As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore.”
Peter and John connected the Jews with the covenant blessing of God to Abraham, which was now for their generation to receive and appropriate.
Acts 3:24-26 Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. (25) You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ (26) To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
The people had forgotten their heritage. They were living a life of drudgery. This connection with God’s plan for generations makes us realize that we are part of an ongoing work of God that transcends generations.
We must be faithful in our times and we must execute our part in raising our generations for God since we are part of an ongoing work of God that crosses generations.
Hebrews 11:39-40 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, (40) God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
The kind of outpouring of His Holy Spirit that we see happening in our times was not experienced by those of previous generations. They, those of previous generations, obtained a good testimony but did not receive the promise. Therefore, as we receive and embrace the promise of His Holy Spirit, we are completing the work of God in the lives of our forefathers.
How did Abraham live in his generation? Hebrews 11:9-10 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; (10) for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Abraham’s life was a life of faith in God for He was looking for an eternal habitation with God. So, all his life was built on his eyes being focused on the eternal and not the temporal. This is the life of faith, which we have received as a part of the covenant blessing of God to Abraham. We live not by what we see but by what we do not see.
II Corinthians 4:17-18 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, (18) while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
Since our life is based on the eternal, we live in obedience to God. Hebrews 12:28-29 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. (29) For our God is a consuming fire.
This is what our generations inherit from us, which is a life of faith in God.