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Thursday, November 12, 2015

What did Jesus of Nazareth come to Achieve? Acts 10:38-44



Acts 10:38-44 "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. 40 God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. 42 And He ordered us to preach to the people, and solemnly to testify that this is the One who has been appointed by God as Judge of the living and the dead. 43 Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.”

Introduction:
In yesterday's post we considered the identity of Jesus of Nazareth from the opening of Apostle Peter's Sermon in Acts 10:34-38. We noted that Jesus of Nazareth is identified in two ways by Peter:

1. Jesus is God in human flesh. Acts 10:34-36
2. Jesus is truly man. Acts 10:36-38

We could say in effect that yesterday served to tell us "who Jesus of Nazareth is" and "What He is". Today's post aims to finish this brief tour of Peter's sermon by considering the achievements of the Lord Jesus Christ. We can never separate His work from His Person. With that said, Peter seamlessly goes into the highpoints of Jesus' achievements. Notice what Jesus of Nazareth, as God in human flesh, being truly man, came to achieve....

1. He came to achieve perfect righteousness. Acts 10:38-39a
Peter states in Acts 10:38-39a "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." We must not ever forget that Jesus Christ's incarnation served to not only make Him capable of dying for sins, but also for providing perfect righteousness. Jesus as the Perfect man was anointed by the Holy Spirit - modeling for the Christian the expectation of Spirit-filled Christian living. As the anointed Messiah of prophetic prediction (see Isaiah 61:1-2; Luke 4:18); Jesus fulfilled everything written about Him. He lived a perfect human life so that at the moment of saving faith - upon which God declares the sinner righteousness - the righteousness credited to the sinner would be what Jesus earned. Now notice the second achievement mentioned by Peter, not only perfect righteousness but....

2. He came to achieve victory over sin, hell and the grave. Acts 10:39-42
Peter says next in Acts 10:39-42 "They also put Him to death by hanging Him on a cross. 40 God raised Him up on the third day and granted that He become visible,41 not to all the people, but to witnesses who were chosen beforehand by God, that is, to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead." This particular statement of Peter, and really the whole sermon, would had been preached with a year or two of the events mentioned. Jesus' death, resurrection and post-mortem appearances supply the drive-train for the Gospel message. Jesus of Nazareth provided satisfaction for sin in His atoning death on the cross (1 Timothy 4:10; 1 Peter 3:18; 1 John 2:2 ). In defeating sin and atoning for sin, Jesus defeated the powers of Hell (Colossians 2:11-12; 1 Peter 3:18-20). Then thirdly, by raising from the dead and making ten subsequent physical appearances over a period of 40 days (Acts 1:1-3); Jesus demonstrated His defeat of the grave or death (Hebrews 2:11-14). 

So, Jesus of Nazareth came to achieve righteousness and defeat death, Hell and the grave. Now notice the third major achievement mentioned by Peter in Acts 10:43, namely...

3. He achieved the grounds for forgiveness of sins. Acts 10:43
Jesus of Nazareth provided the grounds for redemption, of which the Holy Spirit applies to all who by grace through faith believe on Jesus. Bible teachers often distinguish between the achievement of salvation by the Son and the application of such by the Holy Spirit. The former is objective, historical, once-and-for-all finished. The latter is applied subjectively to each individual believer who graced by God freely chooses Jesus and thus experiences the forgiveness of sins. Only when we believe on Jesus Christ can we receive the forgiveness of sins - which is Peter's point. Peter states in Acts 10:43 - "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.” 

Conclusion:
So Who is Jesus of Nazareth? He is God in human flesh and thus, truly man. What did He come to achieve? Three things: 1). perfect righteousness; 2). victory over death, hell and the grave; 3). grounds for the forgiveness of sins to all who believe. 

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