‘This message of salvation’
[Acts 13:13-41]
I meditated on Joshua 23:11 this Thursday during the early morning prayer meeting: "So be very careful to love the Lord your God." Contemplating on this word, I reflected on the importance of being cautious not to "turn aside" (v. 12) from loving God. In order to do this, we must cling closely to our God. See verse 8: "But you are to hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have until now." Holding fast to God means adhering firmly to Him (Park). To achieve this, we must diligently observe and follow God's commandments. Look at verse 6: "So be very careful to love the Lord your God." Are we truly putting great effort into keeping God's commandments? It seems that often we desire a smooth path and prosperity, but struggle to obey or even understand the key to achieving it. What does the Bible say is the key? It is meditating on God's word day and night and diligently obeying what is written. Look at Joshua 1:8: "Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful."
We must exert great effort in meditating on God's word. In the midst of this, we must listen for God's voice. In particular, we must hear the "this message of this salvation" mentioned in Acts 13:26. In today's passage, we see Paul and his companions arriving in Pisidian Antioch from Paphos by ship, and on the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down after the reading of the Law and the Prophets. They were invited to speak if they had a word of encouragement for the people. Then Paul stood up, motioned with his hand, and began his address. In verse 16, he addresses the Israelites and God-fearing Gentiles and preaches the word of salvation. I summarized this word of salvation into three points for reflection:
First, God has brought us out with great power.
Look at Acts 13:17: "The God of the people of Israel chose our ancestors; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power." Just as God brought the Israelites out of Egypt with His mighty power, He has brought us out of Satan's kingdom with great power. When we talk about God's great power here, it refers not only to the ten plagues that He sent upon Egypt through Moses, but also to how He has delivered you and me from Satan's kingdom with His exalted arm ("great power"). What is this "great power" that Acts 13:17 is speaking of? If we consider the original Greek expression, it literally translates to "with His uplifted arm." In other words, God delivered the Israelites from Egypt with His uplifted arm, which symbolizes His "great power" (Yoo). While God delivered the people of Israel from Egypt with His uplifted arm, He has saved us from Satan's kingdom through the exalted cross of Jesus Christ (v. 23). This is through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (vv. 30, 34). Jesus fulfilled all that was written about Him in the Scriptures (v. 29) and yet, despite there being no fault found in Him, the Jews requested for Him to be put to death (v. 28). Ultimately, He was crucified on the cursed tree, the cross (v. 29). People took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb (v. 29). But God raised Jesus from the dead (v. 30). In other words, God raised Jesus from among the dead, preventing Him from experiencing decay (vv. 34, 37). Therefore, through Jesus, we have received forgiveness of sins (v. 38) and have been declared righteous (v. 39).
Therefore, we must proclaim a baptism of repentance to everyone, just as John did. Look at verse 24: "Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel." The "baptism of repentance" here was a ministry to lead people to receive forgiveness of sins through accepting Jesus Christ (Park). Similar to how John the Baptist preached this baptism of repentance to all the people before the arrival of Jesus, we too must proclaim His gospel, calling people to repent and receive Jesus as their Savior (v. 23) before His second coming.
Second, God bears with our actions.
Look at Acts 13:18 - "For about forty years he endured their conduct in the wilderness." During the forty years in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt, the Israelites repeatedly tested and grumbled against God, even resorting to idolatry by making a golden calf. Nevertheless, God endured patiently. This same enduring God continues to bear with our conduct as we live in this wilderness. What is our conduct? Of course, like the Israelites, we sometimes doubt and resent God, even betraying Him. However, apart from that, it seems we are also committing similar sins to those of the Jews mentioned in verse 27. Look at verse 27: "The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus, yet in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath." Just like the Jews at the time of Jesus who "did not recognize the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath," we also seem to be unaware of the sermons we hear every Sunday. Therefore, we are committing the sin of not believing in God's word (v. 41, Park). Dr. Yoon-sun Park says, ‘Even though human beings may be great leaders, they tend to despise those who are close to them, and not only that, they also tend not to deeply contemplate the true meaning of God's word, even if it comes directly from heaven’ (Park). In the end, the Jews committed the sin of condemning Jesus (v. 27). Despite Jesus being completely without sin and no guilt found in Him, they still asked Pilate to put Jesus to death (v. 28).
We must remember that God's patience is unlimited (1 Tim. 1:16). Also, we should pay attention to the words in 2 Peter 3:15a: "Bear in mind that our Lord's patience means salvation ....”
Third and last, God will give us the promised land as our inheritance.
Look at Acts 13:19 - "He overthrew seven nations in Canaan, giving their land to his people as their inheritance. All this took about four hundred and fifty years." In the end, God fulfilled His promise to the Israelites by destroying the seven nations in the land of Canaan and giving it to them as their inheritance. God is faithful. The same God who promised the land of Canaan to the Israelites during the exodus also gave the promise to their ancestors. What was this promise? Look at Acts 13:23 - "From this man's descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised." Ultimately, God, in accordance with the promise made to the faithful David, establishes the Savior Jesus (v. 23) from his descendants, fulfilling His will (v. 22). More specific words of promise are found in verse 33: "he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in Psalms – “You are my son; today I have become your father." The quoted words from the second Psalm are from Psalms 2:7, which says, "You are my son; today I have become your father." Originally, this passage refers to God adopting a new king who succeeds David's throne as His son according to the covenant made with David, but Paul uses these words in relation to the resurrection of Jesus. Paul's argument is that the resurrection of Jesus is the event in which God declared Jesus as His Son (Yoo). Through the accomplishment of Jesus' resurrection, God has given us, who believe in His death and resurrection, the "holy and sure blessings promised to David" (v. 34; Isa. 55:3). These "holy and sure blessings" mean that God has adopted us as His children (v. 33) and has granted us the gift of eternal life through the resurrection of Christ, which has been realized for all the chosen people like us.
God is leading us to the true promised land, the heavenly kingdom. Just as Jesus was raised from the dead without seeing decay (v. 35), we too will be raised in glorious bodies that will not decay when Jesus comes again, and we will live with God in the eternal rest in the kingdom of heaven.
Today we have heard the word of God's salvation. God led us out of the kingdom of Satan, where we could do nothing but die, by causing Jesus to be lifted up on the cross. And our God is leading us through this transient world, as sojourners, to the true promised land, the kingdom of heaven. However, what is the problem? Like the Israelites in the wilderness of the exodus, we doubt and resent God, and we commit the sin of betraying Him. Furthermore, like the Jews living in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, we often commit the sin of blaspheming Jesus in front of unbelievers because we do not understand God's word even though we hear it. But the amazing thing is that our God bears with these actions of ours. Why? It is because He desires to lead us to repentance. Look at Romans 2:4 - "Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?" Therefore, we know one thing for sure. It is to receive forgiveness of sins through Jesus.
With hope gained through the word of God's salvation,
James Kim
(Pressing forward towards the true promised land)