Clothed With Power - Luke 24.49 // How the World Is Put Back Together - Jeremiah Lepasana

We've been on a months-long journey exploring two questions: How has the world been pulled apart? And how is it brought back together? Scripture shows us that at the core of the unraveling is our alienation from God, which then ripples out into alienation from self, others, and even creation.

Into this brokenness, the God of the universe is actively restoring all things—and what’s more, he is inviting us to participate in that restoration. In a city overflowing with opportunity, what's often missing is a meaningful invitation, and Jesus offers one: “Let’s do something together.”

But then comes the tension: Why is this mission so impossible? Two words—All Nations. Jesus calls a small, unqualified group to world transformation, not just across countries, but across all ethnic groups. And he does this without giving them the credentials we’d expect.

If you were Jesus, building a world-shaping team, who would you pick? Jesus picks those who have nothing on paper:

• They were uneducated, common, “idiotes” (Acts 4:13).
  
  
• They had no formal training and a terrible track record—the ones who deserted him when he needed them most.
  
  
• And yet he chooses them. They had been with Jesus, and that’s what mattered.
• What about those of us who do have credentials? Jesus still uses us—but it might require more unlearning. Think of Paul, who had the pedigree, the passion, the track record. But God had to blind and prune him so he could learn that confidence for mission cannot come from natural advantage.

In Philippians 3, Paul reflects: “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss... that I may gain Christ.” He teaches us that resumes don’t move the needle in the kingdom—knowing Jesus and being filled with His power does.

So whether you feel inadequate or overqualified, the call is the same: divest your confidence in yourself, and place it fully in Christ. The way of the Kingdom is not the way of the world.

What did the disciples have that mattered? A promise. Luke 24:48–49 – “You are witnesses... stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

The metaphor of being “clothed” is deeply biblical. It shows up in Genesis 3 when God covers Adam and Eve in grace. It shows up in the Sermon on the Mount as a symbol of care and security. And now Jesus uses it to describe being covered in the Holy Spirit—our protection, identity, and confidence.

Acts 1:4, 8 echoes the same idea: wait for the promise from the Father, and you will receive power. The only thing that made the early church different was this: the power of the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

So deepen your yearning—not only for more training—but for a power outside of yourself. Because the only confidence we carry is this, the power of the living God, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, has clothed us.

Pray

• (Pray a whole-life invitation) Father, I confess that I often rely on my qualifications or feel paralyzed by my limitations. Today, I surrender both. Clothe me with the power of your Spirit. Let my confidence be rooted not in what I bring, but in the fact that I have been with Jesus. Make me your witness—not by strength, but by your Spirit. Amen.