Title: God Raised!
Contents
Bible Text: Acts 2:14-36
God has saved you!
Dear saints,
May the grace of the risen Lord be with you. Jesus broke the authority of death and was resurrected. Because Jesus is the Lord of our salvation, he could not remain in death and had to rise again. Jesus fulfilled God's promise through His resurrection and kept His own promise. Jesus came from the beginning to die a substitutionary death for us, and to be resurrected. This is the great drama of God's redemption. There was no other way but this way.
Jesus became flesh, suffered all kinds of shame and suffering, died on the cross, and came to live again. This is the almighty mystery of God, and it is the grace of God. Therefore, Christianity is the religion of life and the religion of resurrection. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, mankind would be in a place of curse and destruction. But through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, He has given us eternal hope. Christianity is based on the belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Faith without resurrection is not Christian faith. Those who do not have faith in the resurrection are those who do not believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior and the almighty redemption of God.
The apostle Peter received great power as soon as the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 of today's text, and he preached the book of Joel to thousands of audiences as the main text. The point of Peter's first sermon is that it focuses on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Therefore, today I would like to think about the lessons we can give through the evidence of the resurrection in Peter's sermon.
First, Peter testifies that David had already looked to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now Peter is preaching to thousands of unbelieving Jews. In fact, you don't know how difficult it is to preach in front of unbelievers. But there was one thing the Jews all knew. It was David, Israel's war hero, poet and musician, and Israel's second king. David was a pillar, a dream, and a hope that could not be built forever in the hearts of the people of Israel. The people of Israel had national pride in the historical event that they had David. But today, in the first sermon after Pentecost, Peter is preaching with the book of Joel as the text, proclaiming a surprising and new fact that touches the hearts of the people of Israel.
Peter's sermon begins like this.
“Brothers, I can speak boldly about my father David, who died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. He was a prophet, knowing that God had sworn an oath that he would put one of his descendants to sit on it, so he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of Christ, saying, “He will not be abandoned in Hades, nor will his flesh see corruption… ” (Acts 2:29-31) These verses refer to Psalm 16:8 and below. In other words, this is the truth that David knew and prophesied about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on the cross.
Peter was well aware of the Bible's work of redemption through the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ was not put to death as a political prisoner. Jesus Christ did not suddenly become a celebrity and die of envy and jealousy. Jesus as the Lord of our salvation has already been prophesied by David. David prophesied that Jesus Christ would die for our sins and rise again on the third day. Of course, David was not the only one who spoke of the resurrection of Jesus. The entire Old Testament, including Isaiah, speaks of the Messiah's work of redemption. But the Jewish audience who heard Peter's message were shocked by these words. It is a surprising fact that David, the representative of the nation of Israel, had already foretold the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Today we are surprised once again when we think of Peter's sermon. The suffering and resurrection of Jesus are the fulfillment of God's promises and the proof of the fulfillment of the promises of the prophets. As David prophesied, he did not remain in the tomb, but rose again. This is God's method of man's salvation that was already planned from the beginning. He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross to redeem sinful people, died and rose again on the third day, giving all believers a guarantee of resurrection and a hope. What will you do, brethren, when you hear this great truth? repentance took place, and the work of new life arose.
Christianity is based on the Word of God. The content of God's Word is the record of God's almighty act of saving us through Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again. The Old Testament testifies that the coming Messiah will suffer and rise again. According to these words, Jesus suffered and rose again. The disciples, who were refreshed by the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, risked their lives to become witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus.
We who are living today also have a mission to testify of the resurrection of Christ. The evidence of Jesus' resurrection seems foolish, but these words become words of power. The reason is that Jesus Christ was resurrected according to the words of the Bible. Today, when we hear this gospel of life, the Holy Spirit makes us believe and understand, and when we testify of this truth, the world changes.
Dear saints,
This resurrection faith must change our lives today. We must change our neighbors and the world with this resurrection faith. This resurrection faith changed the thousands who gathered there. The person who was changed changed another person. So are we today. It is so good and grateful that this resurrection faith has been fulfilled according to the Word, so we should be the ones who fervently testify to this resurrection faith.
Second, it is evidence that Peter said, “Jesus was raised by God, and we are all witnesses of these things.”
The resurrection of Jesus Christ was a miracle of God. What is a transfer? It is a miracle that God works in a supernatural way to do what human rational reason and human strength cannot do.
God is the creator of heaven and earth. And God is the ruler of all that He created. God has been working supernaturally by promising to give us a Messiah to save us humans. He gave Abraham a son when he was 100 years old, who could not have children. When he left Egypt, he made the people of Israel cross the Red Sea like dry land. When the 600,000 Israelites were hungry in the wilderness, He gave them manna and when they were thirsty, He made water spring from a rock. They destroyed the city of Jericho without firing a single bow. Daniel's three friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, went into the lions' den, and blocked the lion's mouth and saved them. When the time came, the Messiah was born from a virgin body by the power of God. He mobilized the angels of heaven and moved the stars to guide the way of the Magi.
In this way, God began a great and great work for the salvation of mankind from the beginning of history. Peter can cry out, “This Jesus has been raised by God.” Because the people of Israel knew all these facts, God allowed his Son Jesus Christ to break the authority of death and to win.
Think about it. If this astonishing message from Peter had not been true, he would have been stoned to death by a crowd of thousands. If the resurrection of Jesus was not true, the Roman soldiers would have already arrested the person spreading this rumor.
Peter's sermon took place on the 10th day after Jesus' resurrection and ascension into heaven, and it was the 50th day counting from the resurrection of Jesus. Therefore, if the resurrection of Jesus was not true, the scribes and Pharisees who persecuted Jesus would have worked together to bring the body of Jesus.
Some say, 'How can the dead live again? Says. They say, ‘How could that be reasonable?’ But such a person is truly a fool. Listen to Peter's sermon when he said, "God raised this Jesus."
God is the Lord God who created heaven and earth. And by raising Christ from the dead, he is also the God of the Redeemer. The only sure thing in the world is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Because the resurrection of Jesus Christ was true, the history of Christianity existed for 2000 years, and because his resurrection was true, countless lives coming and going came back to the cross of Christ and received eternal life. The resurrection of Christ is not a rumor, it is a historical truth. Christianity stands firmly on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Third, let's find out what the method of salvation really is through Peter's sermon.
1. Faith. (Ephesians 2:8)
Faith comes from hearing. Faith comes from hearing the gospel. They heard the word and knew who the crucified Jesus was. They also knew that they had killed that Jesus. Every time we look to the cross of Jesus, whom God has made Lord and Christ, we have come to realize our sin.
2. Repentance.(38)
Repentance is a change of heart, a change of action. It is a deep realization of the sins of the past life and turning away from the old life. Those who repent will have a desire to know the righteous God and earnest desire to be saved from the curse of sin. He is prepared to sacrifice according to the will of God.
3. It is to receive.(41)
Those who received the word received Jesus by being baptized. Those who receive him, who believe in his name, enjoy the right to become children of God (John 2:12). This promise is given to everyone who believes. Therefore, those who believe and are baptized will receive the Holy Spirit as an offering. The promise of salvation is given to those who call on the name of God.
Dear saints,
“God exalted Jesus with his right hand, and he received the promised Holy Spirit from the Father, and he showed this to you what you have seen and heard. said Jesus ascended to heaven in the resurrection and instead came with us by the Holy Spirit. do it together I hope that you will have the Lord who is with us in my heart, and I hope that you will be witnesses of the cross and resurrection of Christ with fervent and powerful voices while we live on earth. And we hope that you will be able to overcome sin and the world by standing firm in your faith in the resurrection. I pray in the name of the Lord that the grace and peace of the risen Lord overflow over you and your family.