Abstract
New Beginnings
Easter is a time of hope and new beginnings. Are there things in your life that you should bid farewell, while beginning new habits? One thing necessary to change among the early church was the recognition ‘that God is not one to show partiality’ (Acts 10:34). The message of the gospel is that ‘whosoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered’ (Joel 2:32; Rom 10:13; cf. Acts 2:5, 21; Rev 22:17). Acts 10 shows how Gentiles were accepted into the church without first becoming Jews or submitting to the law of God revealed to Moses.
The gospel message had previously only gone to Jews and Samaritans. The salvation of Gentiles was prophesied in the Old Testament, and the Lord Jesus had commanded his disciples to be his witnesses ‘even to the remotest part of the earth’ (Acts 1:8), yet the Jewish believers did not fully understand that Jew and Gentile were to be one in Christ, partly because this was a ‘mystery’ (Eph 3:1–7).
Jesus gave ‘keys of the kingdom’ to Peter. Keys either lock or unlock doors, and Peter’s ‘keys’ signified loosing entry to Gentiles into ‘the kingdom of heaven’ (Matt 16:19). Prior to Christ’s coming, Gentiles were ‘strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world’ (Eph 2:12). Through the vision of ‘an object like a great sheet’ (Acts 10:10–16), Peter learned ‘that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him’ (vv. 34–35).
Peter declared rightly that God is not a respecter of persons (vv. 34–35; cf. Deut 10:17; 2 Chron 19:7; Job 34:19). God’s message to all humanity is ‘peace through Jesus Christ (He is Lord of all)’ (v. 36). The message of salvation includes the essential facts concerning the life and death of Jesus Christ (vv. 37–39), his resurrection that was confirmed by predetermined witnesses (vv. 40–41), and his coming someday ‘as Judge of the living and the dead’ (v. 42). ‘Everyone who believes in Him’ will be saved (v. 43).
Since the time of the Enlightenment, the modern mind has attempted to be free from any semblance of religion. Fallen humanity attempted to erase the existence of God and the supernatural to be ‘captain of their own destiny’. However, in attempting to eliminate God, one eradicates the self in the process. The hope of the resurrection is a vital doctrine because it has present and future ramifications. The resurrection of Jesus Christ assures humanity that life is not abandoned to meaninglessness, nothingness, and worthlessness.
Every human being is created in the image of God (Gen 1:26) but has fallen into sin (Rom 3:23; 6:23). However, the good news is that whosoever will have a faith/trust relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior will experience resurrection, and live with the Creator for eternity (John 3:16). Of course, one’s faith is only as good as the object in which it is resides. Biblical faith is founded upon certainty in the historical resurrection of Jesus from the dead (as the divine Substitute on behalf of those who trust in Him).
While the faith of the ‘disciple whom Jesus loved’ was focused upon the evidence he had seen (John 20:8), he and the other disciples would have additional reasons for believing that Jesus had arisen, namely, the prophetic Scriptures that the resurrection fulfilled (Luke 24:6–8; John 20:9), in addition to beholding the living Christ (John 20:1–10). Unbelief blinds a person to the reality of the resurrection (Luke 24:11; John 20:9–10). Faith liberates one from the past and introduces a new relationship (John 20:11–18). The empty cross and the empty tomb loudly proclaim that the ‘wages of sin’ have been paid, and now ‘the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus’ for all who are trusting in Him as the risen Lord (cf. Rom 6:23).
The resurrection is a vital doctrine because it is the foundation for any hope in this life and thereafter. The resurrection is the vital truth of the gospel message because it forms the basis for the legitimacy and reasonableness of faith. The existence of the early church necessitates the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ. Many people act foolishly for things they believe to be true, but one does not engage in activity for something known to be a lie. If the deceased body of Jesus still occupied his tomb, the early church would have never come into existence. Nevertheless, the angel of the Lord testified, ‘He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said’ (Matt 28:6). The early church proclaimed the resurrection in the most inoffensive and peaceful manner, but was met with bitter persecution, contempt, and reviling. Believers would not have been able to persist in affirming the truths they proclaimed if Jesus Christ had not actually risen from the dead (and if they knew this fact as certainly as any other). The early church knew the value of eyewitness testimony, and appealed to it repeatedly with confident and relentless assertion.
Belief in the resurrection of Jesus is a practice of faith, but it is not a blind faith (1 Cor 15:19–26); rather, it is a reasonable faith in an historical Lord, who by grace through faith in Him alone, will transform the heart of any individual. Regarding the resurrection of all humanity, the Bible states each will be raised ‘in his own order’ (v. 23). The Lord Jesus will come again, and the dead in Christ will be raised. Subsequent to Christ’s return, the end will come (v. 24). The blessings of the kingdom that God has prepared for his people will be a time of fulfillment and joy with the blessing of the Lord abounding (Isa 65:17–25).
Thankfulness to the Lord for his boundless mercy and lovingkindness is the appropriate response of all God’s people (Ps 118:1–2). The Lord is the believer’s ‘strength and song’ because He delivers his people from all adversity (v. 14). ‘The right hand of the Lord’ will provide the victory that believers need (vv. 15–16), and his deliverance is nothing short of miraculous (vv. 17–18). The freedom the Lord Jesus provides—by grace through faith in his atoning work of Calvary’s cross—is certainly reason for declaring God’s majesty (vv. 19–24). ‘Rejoice and be glad’ (v. 24) in the marvels of God’s grace in sending his Son into the world so that believers may know Him and the power of the resurrection, and thereby ‘might live through Him’ (cf. Phil 3:10; 1 John 4:9). He is risen! Be certain to thank the Lord this day (and each and every day) for granting the hope of eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ, the coming King and living God.