Understanding the Great Commission – Part 1

The next few days include a study and reflection I have done over Matthew 28:18-20 – the Great Commission.

There are many places near where I grew up where hunting dogs are trained.  A good hunting dog is very active and very strong.  It is not hard to teach that hunting dog to go. What is difficult is to teach him stand still, to listen, and to obey.

I have done many things in my ministry and, especially, many things as a young minister.  Many of them were fruitless. If I could go back in time, I would spend more time praying, more time listening, more time being in the presence of God, and being transformed in His Word.  I would have trained a different way.

In the West, we have a culture of busyness and we have carried that over into our Christianity. We think that it is spiritual to do many things in the name of Christ.

But how many of those things actually bear fruit?

Your greatest need is conformity to Jesus Christ and to know His will.  It requires that you spend time with Him–in stillness, listening, and obeying.

It is that time with Christ Jesus that will make you a fruitful servant for the Great Commission in light of the Great Commandment.

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV for all verses)

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Matthew 22:36-40

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” ³⁷ And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

The Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) isn’t the Great Commandment (Matthew 22:36-40).  Obedience to the Great Commission flows out of the Great Commandment. You must, first of all, be a person that loves the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Additionally, you must be a person that has been transformed, so that you love your neighbor as yourself.

To be a true witness of Christ Jesus, you must know God.  You must spend time with Him and be transformed.  The Great Commission was born in a context of worship. We come into greater revelation of our authority when we encounter His presence (Matthew 28:17).

And you must also know the authority of the One sending you!

THE AUTHORITY OF THE ONE SENDING

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me…”

The Great Commission would accomplish nothing if not for the fact that Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth.

This is the missionary’s comfort and strength: Christ has been raised from the dead! And this Christ who was crucified “God has made him both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).

Jesus is the king over the entire universe.  The whole of Scripture affirms the sovereignty and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. You should not think that one day Christ will reign. You should understand that Christ is reigning right now. All kingdom, power, and authority has been given to Him!

Think about this for a second: You see a beautiful flower and you cut its stem.  It doesn’t die and wilt immediately.  It looks like it has life.  But it has been cut off from its source of life.  And, in a few days, it will wilt and turn to nothing.

That is the description of the greatest powers on the earth today. The nations, the great kings, and leaders of this world are like a cut flower.  Whether they are political, spiritual, humanistic, or demonic—they are a cut flower.  They have no life in themselves.  Their power is nothing. They are always being used for God’s purposes and will.

As the Bible says in Psalm 2:6 :

As for me, I have set my King
on Zion, my holy hill.”

And that king is Jesus Christ!

He is the One that sends you out to evangelize and preach the Gospel.  He is the One that sends you out to all nations—as it says in Matthew 28:18-20—to all places.  No one has the authority to tell you cannot preach in a certain area—because Christ Himself has given you authority.

This is very important and encouraging! You see, in order to be a strong witness for Jesus Christ, you need a great vision of the power of the Savior who sends you. If you look at the nations by yourself, if you look at your unconverted family, friends, neighborhood, co-workers, etc. and compare them to yourself, they look giants and you look like a grasshopper.  They make you afraid.  But when you compare them to your God, they are like grasshoppers.

Let’s say there are two men standing in front of me.  One is short and weighs about 90 pounds.  His arms are bigger than a wide pipe. Then there is the second man.  He is 7 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds.  He has muscle even in his ears! I look at the little guy and I am afraid of him.  I look at the big guy and I am even more afraid of him.

I have to make a decision. Am I am going to be afraid of those little men? Or, I am going to be afraid of God? Am I am going to fear these little men who can kill my body? Yes, I am afraid of them. But should I fear God that can kill my body and my soul in hell (Matthew 10:28)?

I fear both of them – but I fear Him more!

Fear should never stop you when it comes to sharing, preaching, or evangelizing the Gospel.  When you see how great God is, then all the nations of the world are like nothing before Him (Isaiah 40:17).  Then you have the boldness to evangelize the world!

3 Traits of What the Church is to be Like

It is hard to believe that three little words can change the landscape of a company forever.

In 1988, with the help of advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy, Nike embarked on their now-famous slogan: “Just Do It.”  From your neighborhood basketball court to the largest stars in most every sport, “Just Do it” reigns king for those looking to take their athletic greatness (at least in feel!) to the next level.

Slogans like “Just Do It” are the filter through which we interpret everything we experience.

In the New Testament, one teaching that was pronounced repeatedly to the same effect –but that is almost invisible today—is the picture of the local church.  If the measure of a successful church according to the Bible is simply the programs, attendance, and building size, then we could say, like Nike, our efforts and advertising have been a worldwide success.

However, what is missing—and why we have missed the mark on this issue, I believe—is we define the church and its success not by corporate identity (“The Body of Christ”), but rather by individual preferences (“My church does this.  What does yours do?”).

Shouldn’t the questions of “Why does the church exist? What is there for?” be easily answered by pastors and members alike? The answer so often, though, is one of what the church does for us rather than what it is before God.

The church doesn’t exist for what it does for us—but rather what it does for God and His gloriously-purchased Bride through the Gospel of His Son, Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). According to Scripture, the church is the demonstration of the living, triune God in this fallen world for His glory.

What is the church to be like? Here are some 3 simple points from the book of 1 Corinthians.

1. Holy:

1 Corinthians 1:2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours.

1:8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

3:15-17 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. ¹⁶ Do you not know that you^[a] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

10:5-6 Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness ⁶ Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.

This sounds very simple.  But holiness is so strange to individual believers and more so to the church at large.  Holiness, in one sense, is strangeness, not because we cannot become holy this side of heaven, but because we are becoming something we are not and God is.

The heart of holiness is that God’s people—those truly saved members of the church—are special to Him.  This is, perhaps, why Paul uses chapter 5 to teach on church discipline and chapter 6 to teach on how are bodies are God’s temple.

God cares what is done in this life to the body.  This is why He calls us to be holy as He is holy (1 Peter 1:14-16).  Without any hesitation, Paul makes clear that all facets of corporate, not individual church life, are important, because of the holiness of God and His people.

2. Unified

1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

3:3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

6:7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?

Ironically, the separation of holiness the church of Corinth was to have from the world was actually separation from each other.  The church was a mess! The fact they sued—or attempted to sue—each other in open court verifies this fact.

Even in the Lord’s Supper, they were divided!

11:18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part

In Paul’s day, the world couldn’t understand how or why Jews and Gentiles came together.  The only reason they came together was because the Gospel bridged to be one united body.   If we are to be a true local church, our unity must be around the essentials of the Christian faith, not just a shared interest or moral values.

3. Loving

8:1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up.

10:24 Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

14:1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

16:14 Let all that you do be done in love.

Have you ever noticed that Paul places a priority of prophecy over tongues? Why is that?

Because prophecy builds up the church, while tongues are more focused on one’s self.  That goes exactly against the corporate attitude Paul is developing in the letter (See 1 Cor. 14:6-12).

Often, when it comes to “love” in 1 Corinthians, we quickly go to chapter 13.  How many wedding ceremonies and sermons have been preached on this text! Yet, according to Paul, chapter 14 is just as much about love as chapter 13.

Perhaps Paul was most tender to this truth because he himself had been a persecutor of the church.  What a miracle it is that God took one who had been a stark enemy of the church to be its biggest and greatest builder and cherisher!

Are you helping your church grow in holiness, unity, and love by your cherishing of the entire Body, instead of your individual preferences?

 

 

 

Can a Church Be a Biblical Church Without Evangelism?

Philippians 1:5 (ESV) “because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.”

I have recently started a daily verse study through Philippians utilizing the original Greek as a starting point.  Don’t be fooled—I am not a Greek expert or anywhere close.  Bibleworks9 is a crutch but a helpful one at that.

It is clear from reading Philippians that it showcases Paul’s emphasis on participation and fellowship in evangelism. The dual themes of witnessing and unity are found in the words “Gospel” (euaggelion) and “partnership” or “fellowship” (koinonia).

For Paul, especially in this epistle, “Gospel” refers to the work of evangelism and “participation” refers to an active partnership in evangelism.

After 1:5, Paul:

-Addressed the Philippians’ “defense (apologia) and confirmation of the gospel” with him (1:7) and about how his perilous conditions that served to advance the gospel (1:12);

-Noted how the believers were “more bold to speak the word without fear” (1:14);

-Referred to those who “preach” and “proclaim” Christ (1:15, 17);

-Rejoiced simply because “Christ is proclaimed” (v. 18); and,

-Urged the Philippians to live a “manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ” and to be “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (1:27).

Outside of chapter one, Paul continues to show that evangelism is a unified effort.

True believers were commanded are to “shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life” in “the midst of a crooked and twisted generation” (2:15-16).  Paul praised Timothy because he “served with me in the gospel” (2: 22). Finally, at the end of the letter, Paul referred to the time when the Gospel was first preached to them (4:15).

What is the point of all this?

Simpy put, Paul’s overriding concern was for the proliferation of the Gospel…TOGETHER.  This indicates his use of a number of words in connection with the Gospel:

-“Defense” (1:7)

-“Confirmation” (1:7)

-“Advance” (1:12)

– “Speak” (1:14)

-“Preach” (1:15)

-“Striving for” (1:27)

– “Holding fast” (2:16)

– “Labored side by side for” (4:3).

While I am just beginning my study, it has struck me time and again that Paul’s letter demonstrates the ongoing need for unity in the local church for propagating (sharing) the Gospel.  Again, notice that Paul uses a several examples to show how unity and evangelism are married.

-Paul and the Philippians (1:3-6);

-Paul and Timothy (2:22);

-Paul and Epaphroditus (2:25-30)

-Clement, Euodia, and Syntyche (4:3); and

-“The brothers and sisters” (so in the New English Translation for adelphoi – 4:21).

Practically, also notice that:

-Paul thanked God for a partnership in corporate evangelism (1:3-5);

-In the context, God is the One who begins and completes the work of corporate—and, by extension, personal—evangelistic efforts (1:6);

-Corporate, church-wide evangelism (and, certainly, personal evangelism) is all done by “grace” (1:7); and,

-If a Christian is truly saved, then, as “citizens of the Gospel” (BDAG)  their duty was to evangelize appropriately (1:27).  It is a mark of being a citizen of the kingdom of God!

Theologian Wayne Grudem noted:

This evangelistic work of declaring the Gospel is the primary ministry that the church has toward the world.

Source: Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 868

What does this mean for you and your local church? Dr. Thomas P. Johnston, a former mentor and professor of mine in seminary, noted this about evangelism and the corporate witness via the local church:

1) A discussion of the Great Commission is not a secondary issue;

2) It is the life-blood of a Great Commission church, a New Testament church;

3) Whether we realize it or not, everything else flows from our understanding of Christ’s Great Commission given to His Church!

Source: http://www.evangelismunlimited.org/documents/evangelizology/evangelizology-chapter-10.pdf

The bottom line is this: If your church is not actively training and equipping true Christians in the local church context to evangelize both personally and as part of the local church, they are missing a command of Scripture.  It is commanded of our Lord! Any church not doing this should seriously consider whether they are a “healthy church” unto His glory.

How does your local church prepare others to verbally share the Gospel of Christ?

 

11 Characteristics of Worship and Music

Thank you to special guest blogger, Craig Johnson (@CraigMacJ), for sharing his thoughts on from the Bible on worship and music in “11 Characteristics of Worship and Music.”

John 4:23-24 is one place where a principle is given on worship and is spoken by Jesus. A true worshipper is one the Father requires, commands, or expects to worship Him and Him alone.  We are to glorify God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ together with one voice (Romans 15:6).  Worship “in spirit” is worship that engages the heart or passions and there should be an overflow from us (Psalm 103:1).

1. God-glorifying – Throughout the Bible when God revealed Himself, the person responded with praise back to Him.  God is to be the object of all our praise and He is to be the first or primary audience (Isaiah 37:16, Isaiah 42:8).
2. Christ-centered – We are to declare the supremacy of Christ and His redeeming work on the cross (Colossians 1:15-20).  We conduct Christian worship in Christ because we are found in Him (Philippians 3:9).
3. Spirit-sensitive – We worship in the Spirit of God (Philippians 3:3).  The Holy Spirit is our teacher (John 14:26).  The Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18).
4. Bible–based – The greatest revelation of God that we have is His Word. God’s Word is useful for all times and will stand forever (2 Timothy 3:16, Mark 13:31).  We are to read the Word, pray the Word, teach the Word, sing the Word and preach the Word.
5. Truth-driven – Jesus said that He was the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).  Truth-driven worship is intentional.  We are to continue in God’s Word, and it is His truth that will set us free (John 8:31-32).
6. Theologically-sound – We are to be nourished by the words of faith and sound doctrine (1 Timothy 4:6).  The songs we utter should speak of the breadth and depth of God and His love for us (Eph. 3:17-18).
7. Joy-filled – Truth-based, biblical worship should stir the emotions of the heart while stimulating the mind (Psalm 33:1, 26:3).  Emotions should flow out of the heart of a worshipper in response to God’s revelation and biblical truth (Psalm 45:1)
8. Congregational – Every Christ-follower that comes should be able to participate in the worship service.  We are all commanded to sing (Psalm 100).
9. Excellence and Beauty – Worship music should have un-distracting excellence and whatever we do should be done in the Lord Jesus (Colossians 3:17, 23).  Psalm 33:3 states that the people that play instruments should play skillfully.  The worship we lift to Him should be wrapped in beauty.
10. Orderly and Holy – A prepared and orderly service does not mean that it is stuffy or stiff.  Order provides clarity and direction. Worship should be clothed in reverence and awe for the worship of the one, true and living God (Hebrews 12:28).
11. Worship as All of Life – Worship encompasses the entirety of our lives (Romans 12:1).  Evangelism springs forth from worship.  God has given us life and He desires for us to live it to the full (John 10:10).

Money Troubles

Matthew 22:21 (ESV) They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Authority is not something we like to discuss. We would rather have our own freedom, our own system, and our own rules.

Yet, Scripture is clear that a Christian must be subject to human authorities, including civil governments, bosses, parents, etc.

God’s providence is over both persons and nations. Whatever rewards or punishments they receive must be temporal. In need, and peace, and honor—they have their reward in this world for their justice, temperance and industry all because of God’s grace.

This is why, sir, why, ma’am, you are to pay your taxes when you old enough (or, if you are old enough, to do so now).

Romans 13:6 “For this reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants devoted to governing.”

It is the duty of a Christian to yield obedience to all laws of the government under which he or she lives that are not inconsistent with the law of God. When the human law contradicts the Divine Scripture, requiring us to do what God forbids, or forbidding us to do what God requires, the rule is plain: ‘We ought to obey God rather than man’ [Acts 5:29].

Nothing short of this, however, can warrant a Christian to withhold obedience from a law of the government under which, in the providence of God, he is placed

Just how deep does God’s providence go? Solomon, perhaps the wisest person outside the God-man, Jesus Christ, wrote in Proverbs:

Proverbs 21:1 “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.”

The farmer channels irrigation ditches where he wants them, where they will do the most good; so does the LORD with the king. No king is supreme; the LORD rules.

But while we give to Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, it is also important not to forget to give to God the things which are His. Does God not have a claim upon us He no claims upon us? No, truly everything in this world is His. We are just managers of it for His glory!

In giving to everyone their due, we should, in the first place, give to God all that is His. He demands our love, our gratitude, our prayer, our worship, and our submission. If we simply disregard His requirements, we are guilty of the worst kind. This is why it says elsewhere in the Bible: “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me!” (Malachi 3:8).

You and I are subject to God. He can’t hold you guiltless if you disown His authority and don’t desire to follow His ways.

Have you submitted to the authorities in your life in issues that don’t contradict Scripture and a Christian testimony? Does your attitude and lifestyle reflect that of one whose Master has appointed all authority?

Vice-Regency

Matthew 16:19 (ESV) “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Not many of us have heard of the word “vicegerent”. However, it’s an important biblical concept that many of us either take to heart or ignore.

A vicegerent is someone who has been given authority by a sovereign ruler or leader to act on their behalf. In the Old Testament, the Levitical order exercised authority to intercede to God on behalf of the Jews. This power was given to them by the ultimate Sovereign Ruler—the LORD God.

Today, we are vicegerents for Christ. He has given us authority to act on His behalf to spread the gospel, love one another, and be the instruments of God’s will. When Christ questioned the apostles about who they believe Him to be, He concluded with words that establish their (and our) vicegerency.

In Matthew 16:19, Christ said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” These may seem like odd promises, but an important meaning becomes clear when you read the whole chapter.

Remember that Christ has just explained that the “rock” is the Gospel, the facts of who He is and why He came. These facts are the foundation on which Christ will build His church—not Peter, as some believe. Simply stated, the Gospel is the foundation, or in Christ’s words, “upon this rock I will build my church.”

If the apostles have this knowledge, they have the key to entrance into heaven. The apostles, and us, hold the key to the entrance to heaven, don’t we? It’s the saving Gospel. When we deliver the Gospel message, we are setting loose a power on earth and in heaven. When the Gospel message takes hold in the hearts and minds of others, it is “bound” on earth and in Heaven.

This idea of delegated power was so important to Christ that He repeated the concept to the apostles later in Matthew 18. Jesus uses the same phrase to express that, in fact, the apostles do have power and should exercise it.

If you have the knowledge of how to enter heaven, you have the key to heaven. If you do not share this knowledge, you have bound the Gospel and also bound those around you to hell. However, if you lose the Gospel, its power is effectual to save those who accept its truth. Then, those who are saved are bound in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

What are we doing with our authority? What will our report be to the Sovereign Ruler who has given us our vicegerency?

A Father’s Sacrifice

Genesis 22:12 (ESV) He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.

We live in a culture that laughs about sin.  Sin is promoted and is the center of the entertainment.  It is the source of jokes, laughter, and all sorts of weird things.  And it simply demonstrates how much we really don’t understand it.

Adam and Eve sinned only ONE time and it cast the entire universe into condemnation.  We have sinned more times than we can possibly count.

Throughout the Bible, the following words are used to describe you and me:

Wicked. Evil. Fallen. Corrupt. Haters of God. Children of the devil.

The Bible says that you were created for the glory and good pleasure of God.  You are given breath only to worship God.  You are given strength to serve Him.  You are given mind to think great thoughts and things about God.  You were made for God!

But fallen man, though made for God, lives for self.  The Bible refers to mankind as lovers of self rather than God.  Humans are consumed with themselves.  Mankind loves to put man in the center of all things and to make man the end or purpose of all things.  This is what the Bible says about us, and it must be understood (See Romans 3 for more details)

With this, there seems to be a great desire today not to speak about sin.  This is a horrid crime against God!

To illustrate this, let me tell you a personal story. Several years ago, my father was diagnosed with cancer.  He went to the doctor’s office on a routine day.  After studying his case, he said, “John, you have cancer. And if we don’t act quickly, there is no chance you will survive.” If that doctor had not come out and told the truth, if he had not had told my father what he knew to be true, he would have been an immoral man.  The authorities would have taken away his license.  If the doctor truly loves his patients, if he is man of virtue, he must tell them the truth, so they might be healed.

That is the problem with the Gospel you probably hear at church or youth group.  We don’t want to speak of the bad news to you.  We have done you a disservice.  But without the bad news there is no good news.  And if you don’t talk about sin, you can’t later talk about grace.

What does this have to do with Abraham and Isaac? Well, have you ever read Isaiah 53:10?

It pleased God to crush His only Son.  It doesn’t mean that the Father took joy in crushing His Son.  But it means that the will of God would be completed by Christ dying under the wrath of His Father.

Someone had to bear our sin and die separated from God and close that gap.  But this one also had to die under the wrath of God, to satisfy God’s justice, and appease His holy and just wrath.

Let me give you an example from Abraham and Isaac. Listen to the language that is used.  God tells Abraham, “Take your son, your only son, and the sonwhom you love up to the mountain and sacrifice him there.”

So the old man takes his son to the mountain.  The son submits to the will of His father.  We hear nothing of Isaac fighting against his father.  And then the father Abraham lays his hand on the brow of his son, takes a hold of the knife, and as his will gives into the will of God, he brings the knife down to slaughter his son—his son, his only son, the son he loves. But God stops his hand! And Abraham learned that God has provided a ram in the place of his son, his only son, and the son he loves.  

And you think to yourself now, “What a wonderful ending to the story!” It is not the ending; it is the intermission!

2,000 years later, God takes His Son, His only Son, the Son whom He loves, and He puts Him on a cross and He lays His hand on the brow of His Son.  God the Father, in a manner of speaking, takes the knife out of Abraham’s hand and slaughters His Son, His only Son, and the Son whom He loves.

This is the Gospel! Have you truly believed on Jesus alone by faith alone, trusting only in His grace alone for salvation?

Bill Nye / Ken Ham Debate Response

This is written by fellow devotion author, Bryan Peters.

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” (Hebrews 11:3)

If you watched the Ken Ham/Bill Nye Creation/Evolution debate (www.debatelive.org) and wanted more in-depth answers on any particular point, please check out www.answersingenesis.org or www.icr.org to learn about “10,000 year old” trees or Missoula Lake.

The same evidences presented by Nye actually consistently fit within the context of a young earth.  However, if there is only one thing you should take away, please understand that an authority issue lies at the core of this controversy.  As Ken repeatedly emphasized, we are all looking at the same evidences, but each through a different lens.  Our ultimate authority will determine what we see.

Christian, do the latest findings of the scientific academy in your corner of the world determine how you read the Scriptures?  Are you willing to affirm the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son of God, but a six-day creation six thousand years ago leaves you embarrassed?

Surely the former is much more wondrous to believe than the latter!  Start letting the Bible speak first and the opinions of men after.  Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2)  and let your continual cry be, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20).

Revolutions in scientific paradigms will come and go, but the Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35).

Who Killed Jesus?

Acts 2:23 (ESV) “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

Who killed Jesus?

Was it the Jews?

Was it the Roman executioners?

Was it our sin?

Peter clearly tells us in today’s passage that Jesus was delivered up to be crucified according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.

It was not an accident that Jesus died on the cross. It was not a mistake. It did not take God by surprise. It was not the case that there was a different plan and that plan somehow failed.

Christ dying on the cross was the plan. It was the definite plan. And it happened according to God’s foreknowledge.

Peter refers to the fact that God ordered or planned it to happen. When this word is used of God foreknowing His people elsewhere in Scripture, it refers to His sovereign choice, His sovereign election. And here, too, it refers to His sovereign plan, ordaining beforehand that Jesus would be crucified.

This is why we can celebrate the death of Jesus, because it was not a sign of failure.  No, it happened exactly according to plan, and through it Jesus accomplished something that is wonderful beyond words. He achieved our eternal salvation.

Yet, the Jews, according to Peter, also had a hand in the death of Jesus.  To the Jewish crowd gathered there in Jerusalem for Pentecost, he says, you crucified and killed him. They got Judas to betray Him, the chief priests and scribes and elders accused Him, the council condemned Him and delivered Him to the Roman ruler Pilate, and the crowd, being stirred up by the chief priests, shouted “Crucify him!”

Finally, it was not only Jews who were involved in this, but Gentiles also.  The Romans played a key role in the death of Jesus. As the believers pray in Acts 4:27-28, they say, “for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.”

God killed Jesus. The Jews of Jesus’ day killed Jesus. And lawless men killed Jesus. How can those three answers all be true?

What we have here are sinful men who committed the most horrific and wicked act imaginable. They killed the perfect, sinless Lamb of God (1 Peter 2:21-23). Jesus deserves no punishment. Rather, He deserves all honor and praise and glory. And they spit on Him and whipped Him and nailed Him to a cross like a criminal.

And this verse from Peter sermon says that God planned that to happen. Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.

These verses don’t allow us to go in either of those directions. We cannot minimize God’s sovereignty, and we cannot minimize human responsibility. It happened according to God’s plan, and the people who did it are accountable for what they did.

But we would miss the effect of Peter’s sermon if we did not also put ourselves in the position of those hearing this sermon and realize that the statement “you crucified and killed him” is directed at us as well. We must face the reality that we, too, killed Jesus. We all played a role in putting Him on the cross. For those who repent and believe, for those who turn from rejecting Jesus to embracing Him, there is no more guilt. Jesus took our guilt. He suffered for our sin. He died in our place.

That, too, is also God’s plan!

Do you know Him today?