The Good News

Text: Acts 2:22–36 ESV

General Introduction

Good morning, Table Rock! For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Ryan Eagy, and I am one of the pastors here at Table Rock Church. It was on April 22 this year that, after about eight months of building a core group, we began meeting on Sundays. We told ourselves then that September 9 was going to be our “Hard Launch”—the date when we prayed God would let us have all our stuff together enough to be doing this Sunday morning aspect well. By God’s grace, here we are! And for many, you won’t notice much that is different about this Sunday because God has been sweet to give us a great core team that has been helping since day one to provide an un-distracting worship experience for everyone on Sunday.  But today does represent a lot of movement and change in the background. Our entire team arrived over this summer, we have two Life Groups that are about to grow and multiply into four Life Groups, and this morning we are offering a youth service on the other end of the building for kids from Kindergarten to 5th grade. We are excited—not about ourselves—but rather about our great God and what we see him doing here at Table Rock church. 

We want to give you a preview this morning of where we are heading this next year. For the next three weeks, we will be doing a short series on the Gospel (more on that in a moment). The goal is not only to revisit what our God has done for us that we love and treasure, but to set you up for our first discipleship class that will start in October on Gospel Fluency. We pray this series will ignite your passion for the gospel of Jesus Christ and then our discipleship class can help you think through the practical steps of sharing the gospel with those you know and love. We will have more on that class over the next couple of weeks.

From there we are going to take nine weeks (going from the last week in September through October and November) to look at several Psalms in their entirety and see the character of God written all over them. As we head into Christmas, we will start the advent season in Luke and continue on through Luke into 2019, looking at our King—Christ Jesus—through the different parables and accounts Luke puts together, culminating that series on Easter Sunday. We also want to join Luke with the accompanying book of Acts, and spend our spring and summer looking at Christ and his mission as it is continued on through his disciples and the work of his Holy Spirit. We are excited to see how God uses this path and his word to bless all of us.

Passage Introduction

Here at Table Rock our motto is “Pursue Joy” because we believe that is what everyone is about anyway. We all, believers and unbelievers, are looking to find joy—ultimate joy—that will not fade and leave us empty. So, we say, “Yes, pursue joy because we believe you will only find true and unceasing joy in God through Jesus Christ!” That is why our mission statement is this:

We exist to spread a passion for the glory of God for the joy of all peoples in all things through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit.

We believe that seeing God’s glory, finding a passion for who God is and what he has done, and having our affections changed will bring the ultimate joy that all peoples are looking for. And they find that in Jesus Christ alone! Jesus is the very glory of God revealed and knowing the good news of what he has done for us—sinners—is what changes us!

That is the purpose of this three-week series on the Gospel. We are going to look at Peter’s great sermon in Acts 2 and see how the Gospel—the good news of Jesus Christ—changes everything and, and what it requires of you and me. The good news of Jesus will bring you the only true joy you will ever have, if you will accept it!

Over the next three weeks we are going to look at three aspects of the gospel:

1. The Gospel

2. The Gospel Response

3. The Gospel Life

First, it requires that you know what this good news is—to be confronted with God’s loving kindness on your behalf in Jesus Christ. That is what we will talk about this morning. Second, it requires a response from you, and Luke Salik will talk about that next week. And lastly, it requires your entire life to be changed and engaged for the glory of God through the good news of Jesus Christ, which is what Luke Miller will talk about two weeks from today. 

This morning, I want to start this first section on the gospel from Acts 2 with one simple yet potentially provocative and offensive question. Are you one of the ones who crucified and killed Jesus?

This is really a question that is asking whose side are you on. Are you on God’s side and his plan to reveal his glory through Jesus, or do you still deny his power and purposes and in doing so are one of those who cries out “crucify him” in your disbelief toward God.

Passage Background

As we come to our passage this morning, the background is familiar even to those who have only come to an Easter Sunday service. We are in the days immediately following Jesus’s death and resurrection. Many Jews are still gathered in Jerusalem from the Passover celebrations that coincided with Jesus’s crucifixion, still taking part in the festival activities. Jesus appeared to the disciples and commanded them to remain in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit comes to them in power, and then he ascended into heaven. And, in the immediately preceding passages to our section, this is exactly what has happened—the very presence of God has descended on these believers, the entire city has heard it and has seen the resulting miracles from that moment, and they are questioning what has happened. And Peter, the disciple who denied Jesus three times just days ago, gets an amazing opportunity to preach to these fellow Jews about Jesus!

Passage Structure

We aren’t going to look at all of Peter’s sermon, but the crux of the section we are looking at this morning is found in both verses 23 and 36. 

“this Jesus…you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:23 ESV)

And he sums the same statement again at the ending of this section when he says:

“Let all the house of Israel therefore know that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36 ESV)

This is our question: Are you one of the ones who crucified Jesus? Obviously, not every single person that Peter was talking to that morning was literally in front of Pilate screaming for Barabbas to be released and Jesus to be killed. Yet the question and claim are still valid for them all, as it is for us. And Peter lays out an argument for his audience, and for you and me today, that shows who Jesus is and what God has done through him, and who we are and the choice we have to make. Peter makes these three main points about Jesus:

• Jesus: Attested by God with mighty works, wonders, and signs.

• Jesus: Delivered up according to God’s plan and foreknowledge and triumphantly raised from the dead.

• Jesus: Exalted to the right hand of God and receiving and pouring out his Holy Spirit.

Let’s look at those as we work through our passage this morning.

Jesus: Attested by God with mighty works, wonders, and signs

“Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know” (Acts 2:22 ESV)

As we look at Scripture, there is an amazing amount of description given to the signs and wonders performed by and through Jesus. Even his very coming to earth was one big miracle and sign. We are told in Micah 5:2 that he would be born in Bethlehem. 

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.” (Micah 5:2 ESV)

In Isaiah 7:14 we are told he will be born of a virgin.

“Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14 ESV)

There are over 300 plus prophecies that Jesus fulfilled in his life, death, and resurrection. Signs, wonders, and miracles that pointed to his very mission being from and ordained by God. And as if those weren’t enough, Jesus himself performed many literal signs and wonders before the very people of his day. Scripture records over 40 of these miracles that he performed: the blind see, the deaf hear, the dead are raised. However, we are told by John in John 21:25 that:

“Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25 ESV)

Interestingly, Peter makes this statement to his hearers: “as you yourselves know.” Amazingly, there wasn’t even a debate amongst those who didn’t believe Jesus that his miracles weren’t happening. The Pharisees send the officers out to arrest Jesus, and upon returning—without Jesus—they say, “No one has ever spoken like this man.” And when the Pharisees themselves are confronted with his miracles, they don’t debate it isn’t happening, but rather in places like Matthew 12:24 they argue that he is doing these miracles by the power of Satan, not God. 

And that is actually the real issue behind Peter’s statements here. I summarized it as “Jesus: attested by God.”  Peter makes that point in the middle of this sentence where he says, “that God did through him in your midst.” Do you believe that God is working in and through Jesus Christ? When Jesus comes to be baptized, and the heavens open, the spirit of God descends on Jesus, the Father says this, in Luke 9:35—

“This is my son with whom I am well pleased.” (Luke 9:35 ESV)

The Jews did not want to believe this. No matter what they saw, no matter what they heard, no matter what they knew, they did not want to believe that Jesus was the promised Messiah of God. And many still reject that today, both Jews and Gentiles. Jesus: Attested by God with mighty works, wonders, and signs. God is the one at work in Jesus, and it shows he approves of him—do you believe that?

Jesus: Delivered up according to God’s plan and foreknowledge and triumphantly raised from the dead.

“this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” (Acts 2:23 ESV) 

Even if someone will give in and admit that God must have been working through Jesus, his death poses a problem. “What kind of prophet or man of God is he, that he must die?” they might question. He might be a good man, a good teacher, a prophet maybe, but that he died they think creates a massive problem. Especially if we are to believe that Jesus is God himself! This was the cry of the Jews as he hung on the cross—“If you are the son of God, come down from the cross.” (Matt 27:40) And this is exactly what Peter preaches against! Jesus’s death was not an accident, nor was God raising him from death a plan B in light of his plan A being foiled by Jesus’s death. No! Rather, as Jesus himself said to his disciples when he was resurrected, 

“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:45–47 ESV)

This was always God’s plan. Yes, as Peter says to his audience, “You crucified and killed [him] by the hands of lawless men.” But! “God delivered him to you, and God raised him up!” There is no excuse for the killing of the son of God, but God used it and ordained it in his mighty purposes that through Jesus’s death our sin might be paid for and dealt with.  

We have the entire New Testament at our disposal, but Peter, standing literally at the cusp of the Old Covenant changing way to the New Covenant doesn’t have First and Second Peter yet! Rather, he goes to the beloved promise of the Davidic King and David’s own prophecy in Psalm 16:8–11. Israel was waiting and looking for this King. The one who would reign forever as David did. Look at what Peter says next:

“For David says concerning him, “‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.” (Acts 2:25—32 ESV)

Peter is saying, “Look! This was always the plan.” He is showing how Psalm 16 is not about David, rather David prophesied about Jesus. David is dead—he was in Hades and his body definitely had been corrupted at that point. Peter’s Jewish audience is meant to feel the reality that this Jesus was affirmed by God and fulfilled this prophecy in Psalm 16. The picture they had of the Messiah coming first as reigning and triumphant king was wrong—they had missed the picture of suffering servant—and they had played the critical role of killing him. 

And that same question is critical for us today. We have the entire New Testament available to us. We could go to the beginning of Ephesians and see Paul’s eloquent description of how God, even before time began, chose me and chose you and had his plan in place that through Jesus Christ we would be saved and brought back into relationship with him. It is a beautiful peek behind the curtains of what God has been doing on our behalf before we were even created, but at the core the point is the same as Peter’s. Jesus: Delivered up according to God’s plan and foreknowledge and triumphantly raised from the dead. God has affirmed it with witnesses as we are reading Peter say. God has affirmed it through prophecy like Isaiah 53 where Christ is depicted being led like a lamb before the slaughter and our iniquities laid upon him. Do you believe Jesus was sent in God’s plan to die for our sins? “Delivered up in God’s plan” Do you believe that he was risen bodily from the grave? “Triumphantly raised from the dead.” 

Jesus: Exalted to the right hand of God and receiving and pouring out his Holy Spirit. 

What is amazing is that the good news of Jesus Christ leads all presentations to one amazing revelation. Paul in Ephesians ends up going to the exact same place as Peter does here. Look at how Paul says it in Ephesians 1:19–23

“and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Ephesians 1:19–23 ESV)

Peter says almost the exact same thing, but he harkens back to Psalm 110, [He, Jesus] 

“Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”’(Acts 2:33–35 ESV)

When we see that God has used Jesus and attested and affirmed him through signs, wonders and miracles, when we see that Jesus was delivered up by God’s amazing plan and with his foreknowledge and that God also raised him from the dead, we also see that this is not just any mere man through whom God worked, but that he is very God of very God. He is given co-command over the Holy Spirit to dispatch him to his people to work his will and ways. He is placed at the right hand of the Father as a co-equal person of the godhead, ruling over all of creation, specifically his enemies. 

And this is where our question comes to a crescendo. Are you one of those who has crucified and killed Jesus Christ? Are you on the side of God, who has shown his approval of Jesus through signs and wonders? Who has had a plan from before time and Jesus, as God himself, submitted to that plan to have our sins placed upon himself, to die for those sins, and then be raised in power? This very Jesus, who now sits at the right hand of God the father and dispatches his Holy Spirit. This Jesus, who now rules over everything, including his enemies. This is where Peter sums up his message in Acts 2:36:

“Let all the house of Israel therefore know that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36 ESV)

We are either with God, Jesus—Lord and Christ—or we are against him. And being against him means we are his enemy, those who are proclaiming “Crucify Him.” 

There is no middle ground. The Gospel—the good news of Jesus Christ—presents us with a very clear truth claim. Jesus is our Lord and God and only hope for joy! True joy in having our sins paid for, receiving Jesus’s righteousness, and coming back into right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

Communion

That is what we are celebrating and remembering when we take communion as believers. We are celebrating the incredible mercy and grace of God in Jesus Christ toward us. We were once those who were yelling crucify. But by the work of his Holy Spirit in our lives, we are now those who cry out “Father!” to our God through Jesus Christ. He brought us out of that group, and we thank him for that and praise him. When we take communion we are celebrating that Jesus was delivered to us, in signs, wonders, and miracles, that he might be killed and raised again to power. 

BENEDICTION

“[May] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ.” (Ephesians 1:17–20 ESV)