“The Ethnic God”
January 15, 2006
Introduction: This morning, we have talked already about the mission outreach that we are partnered with in North Africa with Jeremy and Stephanie Clark, So often when we think of missions and evangelism we think of supporting people like the Clark’s who do such great work. It is easy to think of simply sending money or provisions for people living overseas. Today, I want to paint a picture for you of why it is so important for us to be concerned about the spiritual condition of those living in lads far away from us.
There is a great passage of scripture we want to focus on today that tells the story of the first time that the message of the gospel spread across ethnic lines. It is a powerful story of the grace of God and the movement of His Spirit. Before we get into the meat of the passage, I need to give you some background information.
This story focuses on the life of Peter. As you probably know, Peter was one of Jesus closest friends here on earth and he was a disciple who helped build the church after the death of Christ. Peter was Jewish fisherman when Jesus called him. He was one of the most zealous and outspoken disciples, and was probably the oldest of the twelve. It was Peter who gave the heartfelt message at Pentecost in Acts 2 that saw over 3,000 Jewish people follow Christ on one day.
Peter was probably not an overly zealous Jew. He was a passionate follower of Christ, but was the ethnic and cultural traditions of his Judaism were not so ingrained that he would not bend them. However, he was not prepared to become a friend of the Gentile or non-Jewish person in order to minister to them in the name of Christ. That is what makes this story such a great lesson in the grace and love of God.
Peter is in the coastal city of Joppa staying the home of Simon the Tanner. He is apparently doing some ministry there among the Jewish believers in the town. About noon one day, Peter goes up to the roof to pray. While he is praying, he sees a vision of a sheet being lowered to earth from heaven with all types of animals on it. As he is in this trance like state, he hears a voice telling him ot take whatever animal he wants and kill and eat it.
Now, that may not sound like a big deal to us. I mean, how may of us have had visions of cheeseburgers or a bar-b-que sandwich around lunch time? But what you have to remember is that Peter is by upbringing and by cultural tradition a Jew, which means he lives by the dietary standards of the law of Leviticus.
God had given the nation of Israel some very specific instructions on what they could eat and what they were forbidden to eat. In Leviticus 11 in the Old Testament, we see God give the nation the foods they could and could not eat. It was designed not just as a way to keep them healthy, but as a way to set His chosen people apart form the other nations.
Peter argues with God that he could not eat anything that is unclean because he is a Jew. Now, here is a lesson for you. If you are in prayer and have a vision and God speaks to you, don’t argue!! Peter protests to God in Acts 10: 14 that he has never eaten anything impure.
"Surely not, Lord!" Peter replied. "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."
Acts 10:14 (NIV)
But God has a different idea in mind for Peter. He has a unique reply that changes not only Peter’s heart and mind, but the course of eternity for all of humanity.
“The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." Acts 10:15 (NIV)
Here is the point: God and Peter are not discussing what Peter should have for lunch. Instead, God is using this picture to open Peter’s eyes to a greater eternal truth that he is about to reveal.
As Peter is in the middle of this vision, three men show up who have been sent from Cornelius, a Roman centurion. Cornelius was, as scripture calls him, “a devout and God-fearing man.” He was the leader of a large group of soldiers who were garrisoned at Caesarea. It is important to note that Cornelius is not Jewish. He is a man who believed in a god, but did not have personal understanding of the true God. As he had been praying to God the day before, a vision came to him telling him to send for Peter in Joppa. So he does.
When Peter gets to Cornelius, he is told about the vision from God given to Cornelius and how Cornelius has gathered a large group of people together to hear whatever it is that God has to say to them through Peter. What we want to look at today is what Peter has to say and what are some principles that we can learn and apply to help us live out the life that God has called us to live.
I. The God-Centered Reality
“Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” Acts 10:34-35 (NIV)
Peter had, up until that moment, thought that God was only the God of the Jews. He had always been taught that Gentiles were unclean and that Jews were the only ones who had access to God. In fact, strict Jewish laws forbid him from being in Cornelius’ home.
God is the God of all nations.
The term translated nation in this verse is the same word that means ethnic.
What Peter has been shown by God is that all people, regardless of race, nationality or religion matter to God. This is a wildly radical concept for a Jew. It was unheard of that someone other than Jews, or those who converted to Judaism could have a relationship to God.
However, a thousand years before this event, God had told the father of the Jewish nation that he would bless all nations through him.
“I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse, and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." Genesis 12:3 (NIV)
This is a direct prophecy of the coming of Christ and the result for all the people of the earth. Jesus was born into the Jewish nation and through his sacrifice on the cross; all men could come into relationship with God.
Paul points our later in scripture that in God’s eye, there is no distinction of the nations.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 (NIV)
John, in his vision of the future in Revelation, notes that all peoples will be gathered around the throne of God.
“After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.”
Revelation 7:9 (NIV)
God is the God of all nations.
We might in our highly sophisticated western mind think about this and think how silly. We might think that we are above that kind of irrational thought that we somehow have the corner marketed in overcoming the prejudice and the bigotry of a group of people thinking we can have God all too ourselves.
The problem is that it has not been that long ago that people in the United States were unwilling to worship together and to live in community wit those of another race or culture. How long ago was it that churches were bombed and children died because they belonged to another race? Here is another question for us to ask ourselves: Why is the name of the denomination we belong to “Southern Baptist?” It is not because of our geography. It is because we had our start out of disagreement over how to deal with slaves and those who owned slaves.
Application: We must begin to see people with a God-view.
II. The Jesus Focus
Peter doesn’t simply talk about God in a far off impersonal way. He makes the direct connection between Jesus and God.
“You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, 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. "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.” Acts 10:36-42 (NIV)
Peter speaks of the personal nature of the ministry of Christ.
He spoke good news to people.
He did good and healed people.
He died on the cross.
He rose from the dead.
He spent time with his followers after his resurrection.
The message is that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh to change the lives of those who follow him.
Peter is bringing a “concept” of God into a personal reality.
Cornelius and those gathered with him are devout and they have a belief in God. They have a “deity” idea but not a personal knowledge of God. Peter is pointing out to them the personal nature of Jesus.
Application: We must realize that Jesus is the center of the God story.
All too often we look at God and think of this nebulous concept that we can’t understand. We need to recognize in our own lives and in the lives of others that Jesus is the focal point in the relationship between the Divine and the human.
III. The Proclamation of History
Peter notes that the prophets of old pointed to the fact of who Jesus is.
“All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." Acts 10:43 (NIV)
The past religious life of the Jews pointed to the eternal truth of Jesus.
“In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.” Isaiah 11:10 (NIV)
“The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” Jeremiah 23:5 (NIV)
"In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” Daniel 2:44 (NIV)
The message of the kingdom of Christ is forgiveness.
When Cornelius and those gathered with him heard the message, they were covered with the Holy Sprit and forgiven by God. It was the first time the Kingdom of God had crossed the border between the Jewish nation and the Gentiles. The wall of separation was done away at the cross and the eternal kingdom was brought to those outside the Jewish world.
Application: The banner of the eternal kingdom is life through Jesus.
Conclusion: Do you see God as the God of all peoples or as your own personal God? Do you have a desire to be a part of the movement of forgiveness and grace into the lives of those who have never heard? Are you willing to cross the barriers to share the message of Christ with others?
