Peter and Cornelius - Part 4
The Truth about Jesus Christ
Acts 10v36-43
2nd April 2011
As we saw last time, Peter, in obedience to God, had gone beyond his previous understanding by preaching in a Gentile home for the first time. This is the transcript of his talk:
Acts 10v36-43
"I now realise how true it is that God does not show favouritism
but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.
You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who
is Lord of all.
You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached -
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and
healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.
We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging
him on a tree,
but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen.
He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen - by us who ate and drank with
him after he rose from the dead.
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the
living and the dead.
All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his
name."
When Peter confessed that he now understood that God doesn't prefer one nation over another, but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right, he started to preach the gospel - the good news - to his Gentile audience. He called it "the good news of peace through Jesus Christ".
The word "gospel" or the phrase "the good news" occurs 114 times in the New Testament, It's usually called "the good news of the kingdom of God" and, interestingly, it's only called "the good news of peace" twice - here and in Ephesians 6:15. I think Peter described it this way here because he was aware that, for the first time in his life, there was peace towards Gentiles in his heart. This peace is through Jesus Christ. For more on the peace between Jews and Gentiles that's made possible in Jesus Christ, read Ephesians 2v11-22 (which is in the same book as the only other NT reference to the gospel of peace).
Peter then set out the historical facts of the gospel, starting with what Cornelius and his friends already knew, that God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power and that he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, and made it plain that They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day. This is the simple, historical truth.
Peter continued by saying that He [Jesus] commanded us [the church] to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. We must tell people the good news that Jesus is alive, that He is our judge and that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.
This is not just another religion. This is historical truth. Jesus is real. His power is real. His crucifixion is real. His Resurrection is real. The forgiveness of sins is real. And its available to all who believe.
And He commanded us to tell people.