I've been studying Jesus' conversation with his disciples in Acts 1, just before he left this earth. They ask Jesus if The Kingdom is going to be restored to Israel, since the suffering of the Messiah is done? That seems to be the order in OT prophesy. Jesus gives his followers a new responsibility and a gift to go along with the duty. The responsibility was to be witnesses of what they had seen and heard. The gift was a permanent presence of the Holy Spirit. This gift would provide the power, the ability to carry out the responsibility.
I have made evangelism so much more complicated than what Jesus sketches out. What have I personally seen and heard from Jesus? Jesus took a skinny, diminutive wall flower and gave him the power to talk to others about God. I have personally been placed at the right place at the right time with the right word for individuals. I have felt the presence of God so powerful it pasted me to the floor. I have watched some influence tenderize stubborn attitudes and encourage the fearful. Often this influence manifested after prayer to God through Jesus.
Folks can certainly argue about whether these effects are just "psychological" or "spiritual." Either explanation leans toward the supernatural by the way. How can you measure love in a test tube or as electrical impulses. Can you determine for sure which came first, the electricity or the feeling? What about when the electrode is not attached? What causes the electricity to arise then? Why are these feelings, which cripple at times, an evolutionary step forward?
I know, maybe they are not and will be dropped in another million years. Since neither you nor I have any idea what will be in a million years, my guess could be just as accurate as yours. My guess is that God will have put an end to this corrupted existence by then and brought about the next age, where folks previously corrupted by sin, like me, will be made new through trust in Jesus the God man. Don't you hope I'm right?
