SALVATION SUMMARIZED
Do you remember a man from the Bible named Cornelius? If you can’t recall all that much about him, that’s OK. His story is squeezed in between some of the more well-known stories of the apostles after Pentecost in the early part of the book of Acts and the missionary journeys of the Apostle Paul in the later half, and so Cornelius doesn’t always get as much attention as he should. But his story is important to the spread of the gospel throughout the world and it also serves as the background to the Scripture verses we are looking at this morning.
Cornelius was a centurion. Which means he was a Roman soldier in charge of at least a hundred men whose job it was to occupy territories throughout the Roman Empire. Cornelius’ regiment was currently stationed in Caesarea, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea on the west side of the land of Israel. Normally, that would make Cornelius a very unpopular person among the occupied Jewish people, but it happened to be just the opposite. Because the Bible says he was a God-fearing man, one who prayed to the Lord on a regular basis and gave generously to those who were in need. And so Cornelius most likely got along with the Jewish people relatively well. He wasn’t considered “one of them” yet, but he wasn’t their enemy either. It was this Roman centurion that an angel of the Lord appeared to one day in a vision and told him to send for a man named Peter who happened to be 30 miles south of him in a city called Joppa. And so that is exactly what Cornelius did. He sent two servants and one of his trusted soldiers to find Simon Peter. In the meantime, the Lord himself sent Peter a vision and told him to go with the men that would soon be there at the house looking for him. The men from Caesarea came, Peter agreed to go back with them, and Cornelius invited all of his relatives and friends to his house in anticipation of Peter’s visit. And when this famous apostle arrived and after pleasantries were exchanged, Cornelius said, “Now we are all here in the presence of God to listen to everything the Lord has commanded you to tell us” (Acts 10:33).
The stage was set and Peter had a captive audience, but where would Peter start? There was so much to say! There were so many things he could tell them! Because this wasn’t just a normal group of people he would find in a local Jewish synagogue. This was a group of non-Jews, many of whom were probably unaware of most of the Old Testament stories about God’s chosen nation, Gentiles who apparently believed in the true God and had heard about what had happened to Jesus in Jerusalem, but also a gathering of people who might not have grasped all of the eternal implications of all those things that Jesus had recently done. And so Peter saw the need to summarize salvation. He realized that he had to give them a clear and succinct review of who Jesus was and what he had just accomplished.
But in order to summarize salvation Peter didn’t start in Bethlehem. He didn’t mention the virgin birth or the angels or the shepherds. He didn’t go over the story of the wise men or the escape down to Egypt. In fact, Peter skipped over the first 30 years of Jesus’ life on this earth! To summarize salvation Peter started at Jesus’ baptism. “You know what has happened throughout Judea,” Peter said, “beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached - how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” Peter wanted to get right to the point of their eternal life. And so to do that he focused their attention on what happened at and after the baptism of Christ. Because that is where Jesus began his public ministry on our behalf. That is when he was revealed to this world as the Son of God by his anointing with the Holy Spirit and power. After that incident in the Jordan River, Jesus began performing miracles and preaching God’s Word and ultimately preparing for his death on the cross. Those last three years of Jesus’ life was the time in which he did all of those things that were necessary for the salvation of everyone in this world - including those Gentiles whom Peter was talking to that day. And so there was nothing more important that Peter could tell them.
And the importance of that time period of Jesus’ life is even seen in the way the first four books of the New Testament are laid out. The books of Matthew and Luke begin talking about Jesus after he was baptized as early as chapter 3 in their historical accounts. And Mark and John begin with Jesus’ adult life at that point in the very first chapters of their books. Because the Bible isn’t concerned about the cute little stories of Jesus as a child or funny anecdotes concerning his family life growing up; the Bible is only concerned about one thing: what Jesus did for our salvation. And so after Jesus was brought back from Egypt as a small child up to the point where he was baptized by John in the Jordan River as a 30 year old, there is only one story about him in between: when he was a 12 year old in the temple at Jerusalem. That’s it! We don’t know anything else about Jesus as an adolescent, as a teenager, or as a young man in his twenties. Because that isn’t important! The most important thing for us to know is what he did for our salvation. And that can be summarized in three short years: from his baptism by John to his ascension into heaven - and everything in between.
I wonder how a writer would summarize my Christian life. Not the amusing stories of my childhood or the various things I did growing up; and not really what has happened to me either, but what I have done as a Christian for the Lord. The Cliff Notes of my Christian life, so to speak. It would be a short book. Actually, it wouldn’t even be a book at all; it’d be a half-page sheet at best. If someone were to compile the commendable parts of my life, my actions and words that didn’t contain even a hint of selfishness or any false motives whatsoever, it’d be a little pitiful and a little embarrassing because of how little material that author would have to work with.
And I’m sure the Christian Cliff Notes of many of your lives would be much longer and much more flattering than mine. But even so, how many stories would there actually be of you helping someone without being selfish in any way? How many incidents could be mentioned in your life that would portray you as genuinely patient and kind and gentle? How many paragraphs could really be written about your unsolicited love for your family and your untiring efforts to spread the gospel and your unwavering devotion to the Lord in every and any situation? Can you even think of a handful of times like that which could be published in your favor? I don’t think I could count on one hand those moments in my life that would make the grade. And, as a life-long Christian, that is kind of pathetic.
Because here we have chapters and chapters and chapters worth of Scripture detailing the hundreds of different things that Jesus did just in the last three years of his life. In fact, in those first four books of the Bible that describe the life of Christ, almost 30 full chapters out of those books are devoted just to the last week of Jesus’ life and up until he ascended into heaven. And what we have in Scripture isn’t even close to all of the things Jesus did. At the end of his gospel account, John says that, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). Jesus’ entire life, and especially the time after his baptism, was filled with countless commendable acts that he did on our behalf.
And that’s the point. That’s why Peter spoke to Cornelius and his entire household about this time period in Jesus’ life. That’s why the writers of the four gospels spend so many pages on Christ after his baptism. This is a summary of our salvation. This is exactly how our sins are forgiven - in minute detail. This is exactly how he won for us our eternal life in heaven. This is exactly why he came to this earth in the first place. And this is why Peter continued his summary to Cornelius, his family, and his friends with these words, “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:39-43).
Peter understood - and so do you - that the Bible isn’t just for your historical knowledge. The Bible isn’t simply a biography about God’s people throughout the ages. The Bible is the story about what Jesus did and what Jesus does and what Jesus will do for you. And so notice as you read through the pages of Scripture next time that Jesus hardly ever did anything for himself. He slept when he absolutely had to for his own health. He ate when his body had to do so to survive. But that’s about it! He didn’t take any time off. He didn’t go on vacation. He didn’t spend a day on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea with his disciples. He didn’t have time! He had too much to do! He had too much to do for you. And so after his baptism, when he officially entered into the public ministry of what he had been sent here to do, he filled his life with a passion for yours. He spent every waking moment making sure that you could one day wake up from death. He dedicated every ounce of strength and every second of his time and every possible opportunity to get you to heaven. And “These [words about Christ] are written,” John says, “that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:31).
What John and Luke and Mark and Matthew all wrote about in Scripture is exactly what Peter summarized for Cornelius in his preaching: Jesus was baptized; Jesus lived perfectly; Jesus hung on a tree; Jesus rose; Jesus appeared; Jesus forgives. And that simply summary that Peter gave to those people gathered in a house in Caesarea that day must have been very powerful. Because as the story continues the Bible says that the Holy Spirit came upon those who heard these words and they began to speak in tongues. They were then baptized into the name of Jesus. And they urged Peter to stay with them for a few days longer so that they could know more about what their Savior had done for them. This summary of their salvation had immediately worked in their hearts, demonstrated in incredible fashion through a special gift of the Holy Spirit, and prompting them not only to want to be baptized, but also to hear even more.
Do you think that after Peter eventually left Cornelius’ house that Cornelius and the rest of the people that were gathered there that day just shrugged their shoulders and went back to their lives as usual? Probably not. They were probably so overcome with joy and excitement that their lives were never the same. And they undoubtedly shared this summary of salvation with as many people as would listen to them. After this worship service is over this morning and you go back to your homes, are you going to just shrug your shoulders and get back to your life as usual? I hope not. I hope I don’t either. I hope we are overcome with so much joy and excitement that we will want to share this summary of salvation with everyone who will listen. “Jesus suffered; Jesus died; Jesus rose; you’re forgiven!” Is there a simpler summary than that? Is there anything more powerful? Do not be afraid to share what Peter shared. And never be ashamed to share it in such a simple way. It worked in Cornelius’ heart. It worked in the hearts of those around him. It worked in yours. Isn’t it time to let the Holy Spirit work in others?
Amen.
“Jesus appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.” - 1 Tim. 3:16
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