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By: Henry Weststeyn
You may listen to this devotion in audio form via podcast here.
The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”
- Acts 8:29
There is no shortage of imagery and symbolism in the Bible. Everywhere God provides us with imagery, adding clarity to the more complex aspects of the gospel story and our relationship with Him and the rest of His creation. The most obvious examples are the parables that Jesus taught. They give His listeners a more clear picture of who He is, what He came to do, and what His Father’s kingdom is like. Jesus’ “I am” statements are also great examples. I see in today’s account of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch a subtle image of how God works in our salvation.
One of the primary beliefs held by Reformed Christians is that God “initiates” our salvation, both collectively and individually. He put the plan in place to reunite Himself with us, His creation, immediately after Adam and Eve’s fall from grace. This is the gospel for all believers. But we also hold that God is the initiator of salvation for each of us, individually. We are too sinful, by our very nature, to decide to repent and believe entirely on our own. How do we know this? The Bible tells us with Jesus’ own words in John 6:44:
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day”
Other passages add support to this belief. For example, Luke 19:10 tells us that Jesus came “to seek and to save” what was lost. Also, the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin indicate that God, through Jesus, takes an active first step in drawing His children back to Him. The sheep and the coin didn’t just wander back on their own, nor do we.
This brings us to the imagery in the account of Philip’s meeting with the Ethiopian eunuch. Just prior to this event, earlier in Chapter 8, we find Philip evangelizing in Samaria, which is north of Jerusalem. The Ethiopian, a Jewish proselyte, or a “gentile God-fearer” as some would say, had been in Jerusalem to worship. He was returning to his home country on the desert road leading from Jerusalem, southwest, to Gaza. So, when God sent Philip to his meeting with the Ethiopian, it was not just a random encounter along the way. God was sending Philip in “pursuit” of the Ethiopian. God, using his servant Philip, elected to “draw in” this man who had knowledge of the Jewish scriptures but no understanding of the gospel of Jesus. This is a wonderful image of how God initiates an individual’s salvation.
I, like many others of you, have close friends or relatives who are not walking with God. It’s a painful situation that leads one to God’s word to find hope and comfort. That hope is found in knowing that God actively pursues those who are lost. A few years ago I altered the way I held my son up in prayer. While I still pray that he turns from his present life apart from God, I realize he will never do this on his own. But my more fervent petition now is that God would never cease to pursue him, that His Spirit would be a constant presence, and one day tap him on the shoulder and say, “my child, it’s time”. Because, as Christians, we know hope for the lost is found nowhere else but in God’s grace. We can join with Peter’s confident words in John 6:68:
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”