We now come to the next major move in the break out of the gospel to the whole world, the conversion of Cornelius.
I mentioned in the last post the importance the New Testament places in godly behaviour, and we see another example of it here. Cornelius and his family were god fearers, they prayed to God and gave generously to the poor. The text says explicitly that God remembers what they had done, ie their actions influenced God's actions.
People sometimes, in objection to the gospel, say something like "what about good people who do not believe in Jesus". Well, here we see an example of "what about ...". God notes what they have done and takes steps to reveal the Lord to them, and when they see the Lord they are absolutely delighted.
An angel appears to Cornelius and gives him specific instructions. Cornelius is initially scared, but then he receives instructions, and immediately obeys them.
Angels play a role at a number of key stages in the gospels and Acts, but note that they come at the instigation of God, not at man's request. We should not pray for God to send an angel. We should just pray for what we need, if God chooses to send an angel to answer the prayer then so be it. Moreover, he will normally send one in order to achieve His purpose, as here when He is going to do something which no one expected, or was planning.
No comments:
Post a Comment