And Stephen said: ...

Acts 7:1-4, And the high priest said, “Are these things so?” And Stephen said: “Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’ Then he went out from the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran. And after his father died, God removed him from there into this land in which you are now living...”

Stephen boldly begins his testimony of the history of God’s working out His promise in the garden, that He would bless all nations through His seed, and that Jesus is the total fulfillment of His promise. He was accused of destroying the customs that Moses delivered to them, yet all of this was to point the way to Jesus. Jesus said that He came not to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them. We can give thanks from this side of the cross that the old covenant has been replaced by the new; that the perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross has put an end to the need for anything more. In Christ we are justified before a Holy God and by His Spirit we have His new life within us!

Give us this same boldness as Stephen to be Your witnesses.

ESV Lectionary