RESCUE PLAN
Opening Prayer
Jesus, I need You to rescue me today. You are the One for whom my soul longs.
Read Acts 2:22–28
22 “Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men,[a] put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25 David said about him:
“‘I saw the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand,
I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope,
27 because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.’[b]
Footnotes
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘If prayer was so indispensable to Jesus, how much more is it so in our case?’ (Andrew Murray).In this middle section of his speech, Peter lays it all out for his listeners, helping them to join the dots between the Messiah they were waiting for and Jesus of Nazareth.
Peter establishes the key facts of Jesus’ life that relate to the prophetic messianic promises: his miracles were widely known and reported, He suffered and died and then God raised Him from the dead (22–24). The pilgrims could have asked around Jerusalem: ‘Where’s the body?’ and seen the resounding answer of an empty tomb! David had prophesied this hundreds of years earlier (27; compare Psalm 16:10). Peter points out the no-brainer: David couldn’t have been talking about himself because he was well and truly dead and buried (29).
How and why had all this happened? Because God had willed it so (23). Before the beginning of time, God planned to rescue sinful people without agency or hope, to bring us into His family to be loved forever and bring glory to Himself.
This tweet by Tim Keller really struck me today: ‘Jesus is not primarily a teacher. He’s a rescuer’ (Tim Keller, @timkellernyc).
Apply
Do you know someone who needs to be rescued by Jesus? How can you share hope with them today?
Closing prayer
Jesus, thank You for rescuing me. Commission me to go out and be the means through which You rescue others who are lost.
Book and Author Intros
Extras
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