BIBLE READING: ACTS 2
22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
Notice in this passage that it says that Jesus was a “man……. among you”. We are told that Jesus was “approved of God” and that he was “among” them. God came down to man. This word “approved” means to display, to set forth, or literally to show off. God the father was so pleased with His Son that He wanted everyone to see Jesus, and to behold Him. It is kind of like when new parents have a baby, they’re so proud to show that baby to everyone. It is also much like grandparents that simply must pull out the picture album, or nowadays pull out their phone, and show you pictures of their grandchildren. They love them, and they are proud of them, and they want to let everyone know that.
Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, the precious only begotten son of God the Father, humbled Himself to be “among” sinners like us. Now the passage takes a different direction. In verse 22, we see how God the Father was so pleased to “display” His Son. And now in verse 23, we see that He “delivered” His Son to the wrath of man to be crucified. This decision was made by God’s “determinate counsel and foreknowledge”. This means that God had ordained and planned this according to His purpose long before it happened. What was the purpose? It was the redemption of our souls. He “loosed the pains of death”. The whole purpose was centered on you and me. We were the reason.
God was pleased to “DISPLAY” Jesus, God purposed to “DELIVER” Jesus, and praise God He had the power to “DEFEAT” death, hell, and the grave. You talk about power, look what the Bible says about affect death would have on Jesus:
* “it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”
It was not even “possible” that death and the grave could have ever held Jesus. Defeating Jesus is what we would call “MISSION IMPOSSIBLE”. That is why David was quoted in this chapter when he said:
* 26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy to see corruption.