The Gospel of Jesus Christ

Good news from our compass – Acts10

I focus on the section about Jesus of Nazareth.

        Although Jesus the Christ was born a Jew and worked mostly among Jews, Peter insists that He is Lord of all ( all people ). It was God who anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. The evidence of God’s approval in His life was seen in His doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil. This brilliant light shining in Jesus seemed to be the answer to the world’s problems. – but the jealous Jewish leaders rejected His claim to be the Messiah, the Son of God and condemned Him as worthy of death. The Roman rulers would not allow a rival king to Caesar or Herod so they crucified Him. This seemed like the end of God’s mercy and kindness through Jesus of Nazareth.  But God interrupted the hatred and cruelty of mankind with this triumph – “God raised Him on the third day”.

         What seemed like ultimate defeat, God turned into an eternal triumph. To verify this resurrection, God appointed witnesses. These apostles and many others saw the risen Christ and to verify the reality of His physical body, they ate and drank with Him.

   Peter then recalls the command of Lord Jesus, to go and preach – but preach what?

1 That Jesus had been appointed by God to judge the living and the dead.

2 To announce forgiveness of sins to all who believe in His name

The first statement affects us all  -  we shall all be judged.

The second presents a choice  - we will either believe in him or reject Him.

The people who listened to Peter, believed the message and received from God forgiveness of their sins

.

     For us the challenge remains the same – will we believe, or do we choose not to believe. We have the liberty to choose, but the consequences flow to a logical conclusion.

     Jesus the judge has nail scarred hands – scars to recall the price He paid in love to save all.  – scars to tell His true right to be the final judge of all humanity.

I call on all readers of this article today, to look up and give God their answer to the vital question  “What shall I do then with Jesus who is called Christ?”

John McKee