Let me continue my study on what the gospel is from Acts 10. We have already said that the gospel is for any person who comes to faith in Christ, it will produce the righteousness needed to get back with God and it provides man with peace with God. We pick up with number four….
4. The Gospel presents the Life of Christ. – 37-39
37 you yourselves know the thing which took place throughout all Judea, starting from Galilee, after the baptism which John proclaimed.
38 “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
39 “We are witnesses of all the things He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross.
Peter reminds Cornelius of what he knew about Jesus….Jesus was baptized by John. It is important to realize that John’s baptism was not the same as a NT baptism – it had its roots in the OT purification baptism. Specifically when a Gentile would become a Jew – they would have to be baptized. For Jews to be baptized in that matter was an amazing act -- seeing that most Jews hated Gentiles – but Jesus loved Jew and Gentile alike. He identified with all men. Peter also said that…”The Holy Spirit anointed Him…” Look at what the gospels says about that event….
Matthew 3:16-17 (NASB95)
16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,
17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
After His baptism, people witnessed a supernatural event take place – the Spirit of God descending upon Jesus giving another evidence that he was NO ORDINARY MAN!
The Peter told Cornelius….“Doing good and healing many” - Jesus did miracles and acted divinely…..because He was divine….He was God!
Finally Peter declares that…. “God was with Him” – God was not just WITH Jesus – Jesus is God. Why bring up all these events in the Life of Christ….is it important to the gospel?
Answer is YES – to fully understand the significance of the gospel you must understand that Jesus is GOD and to review his life it certainly affirms that fact in the Deity of Christ.
Jesus is not just a great teacher, a miracle worker, a prophet – He was God in the flesh.
This is crucial because the gospel will have eternal implication. For when Christ died for sins – He died for all sins, of all time. And he provides atonement for sins ETERNALLY.
He would forgive sins – past, present and future – his forgiveness would be eternal and universe – because of his deity. That is why we call him the “Lamb of God” sacrificed for us – a normal lamb would only “cover sins” up to that moment…..temporal and limited atonement! The Lamb of God would die “once and for all” – saving man from sin – from the beginning of time. Why is Jesus being God important? Because his death and atonement – is universal, unlimited and complete! That can only be accomplished by an eternal God.