These past three weeks, my preaching has been focused on the story of Cornelius' meeting with Peter found in Acts 10.
An angel visits Cornelius and tells him to send for Peter, 30-some miles away. The next day, the Spirit shows Peter a vision of a sheet filled with animals and tells him to "kill and eat". Peter is still pondering this vision and God's command to not call anything unclean that He has made clean when Cornelius' men show up.
So God arranges this meeting between Peter and Cornelius and it ends with Peter sharing the Gospel with Cornelius and his entire household. The Holy Spirit falls on the crowd and everyone gets baptized.
What is striking is the way God works to bring these two together and teaches each a significant spiritual truth.
Cornelius learns that he needs to put his faith in Jesus as God's Son. Peter learns that the Gospel is for the whole world and not just the Jewish nation.
But did God really need Peter and Cornelius to meet? Couldn't the angel have related the Gospel to Cornelius? Couldn't the Spirit tell Peter explicitly that he was to begin evangelizing among the Gentiles?
He certainly could have done it then and He could do it today. Nevertheless, the Lord chooses to work through us humans and our relationships.
Fascinating.
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