“—how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.”
Acts 10: 38
How would you summarize the ministry of Jesus when speaking with someone not familiar with the Bible or the Gospel message? The earliest apostles and evangelists faced that challenge as they spread the Gospel–especially to the Gentiles who had no background in the Old Testament. In Acts 10:38, when Peter shared the Gospel with a Roman centurion and his household, he summarized Jesus’ earthly ministry.
Books could be written about the theology contained in that one verse. It presents a side of Jesus’ ministry that needs due recognition: His warfare against Satan’s kingdom. First John 3: 8 says that Jesus appeared “that He might destroy the works of the devil”. That means liberating those who had been bound in darkness and setting them free–like the woman who had been bound by Satan for eighteen years (Luke 13:16). Paul wrote that every Christian has been delivered from “from the power of darkness” and transferred “into the kingdom of the Son” where we find “the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13,14).
Give God thanks today that in Christ you have been liberated from darkness and given an eternal home in God’s Kingdom.
May God richly bless you,
Pastor John