We have all seen this sign at one time or another in our lives. A store changes hands, a hotel re-brands and changes it flag, even restaurants that get a new chef/owner – each of these events evokes a sign that let’s the public know that things have changed. Normally, the expectation is that things will not only be different – they will be better than before!
The reason that I bring this up is that today I attended church and the title of the sermon was “Under New Management.” The readings were from John 4 and Acts 1. The point of the message was that for those of us who accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, we have now turned our lives over to Him and our allegiance is to God. In other words, we no longer depend on ourselves to run our lives, but we live to serve our Savior, Jesus. When we make this commitment, we rise to a different, higher standard – the ultimate power of the universe and He controls our lives from our acceptance forward through all our days.
However, I think that there is more to this Good News. Yes, it’s true that we have accepted the leadership of a higher power – God, and having accepted the free gift of eternal life, we know that we will end up in heaven. Remember that for thousands of years, mankind was in communion with God the Father and we are introduced to Jesus as a baby in a manger in Bethlehem. Jesus, fully God yet fully human, made the transition of being above us to being in communion with us, side by side, during His earthly ministry. In other words, God revealed more of Himself to us through the appearance of Jesus on the earth.
This certainly speaks to our being under “new management.” But I think there is another layer to all of this. Today is Pentecost Sunday, 2025. Ten days ago, on May 29th, was Ascension Day. That’s the day that Jesus returned to the Father in heaven. He told his disciples that His Father would send another in the place of Jesus. We now know that Jesus was referring to the part of the Trinity that we refer to as the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost.
But the Holy Spirit didn’t make an appearance during the time that Jesus was here on earth. That first appearance happened on Pentecost, 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus, and the event that we celebrate today. In fact, the entrance of the Holy Spirit into the lives of believers happened on Pentecost, which also happens to be the first day of the Acts 2 church.
Jesus had announced in the book of Matthew that He would build His church. That church would be different from any ekklesia, or called out assembly, in history. Peter, one of the twelve, preached the first sermon that day at Pentecost and the new church was born.
So not only did we have God the Father above us, Jesus walking among us, (at least for a time), but now we were indwelt by the Holy Spirit as well. In other words, God actually residing in us. It seems to me that each part of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – has different attributes. Though all part of the Godhead, they have different ministries and I don’t know that we were beneficiaries of all the ministries of the Trinity until the arrival of the Holy Spirit.
It was at Pentecost that I believe we really experienced the final piece, the full power, of God. And I would submit that it was at this moment that believers were truly “under new management.” After all, the Holy Spirit intercedes and prays on our behalf when we are so confused or hurt or down that we don’t even know what to pray for. The Holy Spirit knows what we want to say and does it for us. It is the Holy Spirit who lives in our “naos”, the inner temple of the body and helps us to become more Christlike as we mature in our faith. The arrival of the Holy Spirit signaled the final piece in God’s desire to reveal more of Himself to us.
Our verse for tonight is from the book of Acts. It is the announcement of the arrival of the Holy Spirit and the beginning of Christ’s church. Peter preached the first sermon that day and we are told that thousands came to a belief in the Lord that day. Doctor Luke, the author of Acts, tells us, in Acts 2:1-4, “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”
My encouragement this evening is that, as 21st century Christians, we have the power of the Trinity, in all its glory, to guide us and help us through this life and into eternity. My prayer is that we will realize that each member of the Godhead has different attributes and we serve one God represented by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yes, indeed, we are “under new management!” Praise God. Have a great day in the Lord, grace and peace…