ACTS 13:13-43. GOING FARTHER. God desired that Israel be a light to other nations of the world and to display His grace and goodness to the whole world at large through a small insignificant nation. But the Jews resisted this because they wanted to be like everyone else rather than everyone else being like them. God had fulfilled the promises of the covenant He made with Israel, and when the “The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world,” His chosen people rejected Jesus as their Messiah and crucified Him. God was not finished, and He raised Jesus from among the dead. Through the satisfaction of the legal claims of God against sin, which have been fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, salvation is given freely to all who come in faith in Him.
There is no questioning of the justice and severity of God. Death for sin is the cost of sin that must be paid. There is also no questioning of the goodness of God that brings people to repentance and faith in Christ so that a person can be fully forgiven of their sins forever. His goodness is how He dealt with people in the past, and He is the same today. Paul’s first recorded message was in a synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia and begins with a historical reminder of God’s dealings with Israel. He summarized it by telling of the death and resurrection of Jesus with scriptural proofs and then concluded by urging the Jewish hearers in Antioch of Pisidia to accept God’s forgiveness of their sins by putting their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
God’s Goodness revealed to Israel, v.13-22. They were chosen, v.17. God chose Israel to be His earthly representative nation to the sinful world through grace. That choice was not because they were good or better than others. They were small, insignificant people who had nothing going for them, and consequently, they would be monuments of God’s mercy. We also have nothing to recommend us to the grace of God. It is of His mercy we are not consumed. By allowing us to hear the Gospel, the message of salvation became clear to us, and by God’s grace, He saved us. They were delivered, v.17. As strangers and then slaves in Egypt, after four hundred years, God brought them out with mighty power (high arm) and delivered them from bondage. The fact that we are born in sin is a human condition because all have sinned, do sin, and, to a certain extent, like sin and what pleasures it brings. But along with that comes the wages of sin, and the soul that sins will die and be separated from God forever. Sin also binds people through habits, pressures from others, and our choices despite the consequences we know will follow. They were preserved, v.18. For forty years, despite their murmuring, complaining, and unbelief, God put up with their conduct in the wilderness and kept them from perishing. When God saves us, He keeps us. Even though we often fail, He never fails us. Temptation, trials and testing times are par for the course of life for us, but He has promised to never leave us or forsake us. They had a prepared place, v.19.Seven nations in Canaan were eliminated by God because of their open and blatant sinfulness and idolatry, and those lands were given to the children of Israel for a possession. It had been promised to Abraham hundreds of years before, and they could claim it as a homeland for them as a nation. Even though we are still the world, this is not our final home. We have been brought into God’s family as His children but are still pilgrims on our way to the Father’s house. Their need was supplied, v.20-22. God arranged for judges, a prophet, and kings to guide the nation. In particular, David, a “man after God’s own heart,” was raised. He was a type of Jesus Christ who was raised up for Israel as a Savior. But they ignored, rejected, and crucified Him. For those of us who believe in Him, He supplies all we need for our spiritual life and growth as the Spirit of God and the word of God are applied to the different areas of our lives.
When we follow the course of Israel, we are reminded of our own journey with God. How He puts up with our “manners in the wilderness,” our conduct, is a wonder. When we realize all the blessings we receive constantly from His hand of grace and by His mercy, we are moved to thankfulness and praise. We receive from His bounty all we need and more when we start to recount “the exceeding riches of His grace toward us through Christ Jesus.”
God’s Goodness revealed in His Son, v.23-39 He was promised, v.23. Psalm 132:10-12 and Isaiah 11:1-2, as well as other Old Testament scriptures, assured the people of Israel that Jesus was the promised Savior. He was prepared for this before the world was made and raised up at the exactly appointed time to be the Savior. The promised Savior is the personal Savior of every man, woman, and child who is willing to believe in Jesus. He promises eternal life as a gift now, which can be enjoyed now and forever. He was heralded, v.24-25. John the Baptist did not doubt who the Lord Jesus Christ was. He identified Him as the coming Messiah and then as “The Lamb of God,” who takes away the sin of the world. John made it plain that Jesus was the Mighty Sovereign Israel had been waiting for, but they didn’t believe him and rejected the Lord Jesus. Paul’s message was that Jesus is still being heralded as the Savior for Israel, but even then, people did the same as now – they questioned the facts, and because it didn’t fit what they wanted, they rejected God’s Son. He was condemned, v.26-29. Paul’s message made it clear that the rulers of the people of Israel “found no cause of death in Him,” but because of envy for His obvious power and jealousy because of His authority over creation, disease, demons, sin, and death itself; they condemned Him to die. The awful enmity of natural human hearts against the holiness of God was made obvious for all to see. He was raised from the dead, v.30. Paul didn’t hesitate or try to add anything to his dogmatic statement: “But God raised Him from the dead.” Not only was He raised from among the dead, but He was seen by many witnesses over the forty days after His resurrection. This was not some obscure action without authenticity and verification. Visible, verbal, personal testimony by many people was given by those who were then proclaiming the “glad tidings.” He was preached, v.31-37. Those who were eyewitnesses of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ did not remain silent but boldly preached Jesus and the resurrection. The body of Christ was in no way subject to decay, and that is evidenced by fulfilled scripture that told of blessings to come that had been promised to David. The death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ means that forgiveness of sins and being justified by God’s grace are through personal faith in Him. He is able to save, v.38-39. The law of Moses and the practice of Judaism did not save anyone nor could they justify anyone. They made everyone conscious of their sin and how far short we fall from God’s standard of righteousness. Being cleared of all guilt is only possible because the wages of sin have been paid for by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. The infinite Personhood of our Lord Jesus makes His death an infinite, completed work done on our behalf.
God’s Goodness Despised, v.40-41 To despise what God has already done and discount it as having nothing to do with me or for me means that one will perish in their sins. Unbelief in a person, after having heard the message of the Gospel presented and rejecting it, is a soul-damning sin. God’s goodness has been presented in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Jesus is the only Savior for mankind, and those whose hearts are broken and who repent of their sin to God and put their faith in Christ will experience the goodness of God personally and forever.