I. Jesus is risen and has been restored from exile to God.
A. When God’s people sin, God often disciplines with exile away from Him and the Promised Land. Deuteronomy 28:36: “The Lord will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone.” The good news is that God forgives sin. Isaiah 40:2: “(Israel’s) iniquity is pardoned.” God promises in Isaiah 40 that He would lead the people home from their exile in Babylon. There would be a second exodus into the Promised Land.
B. Jesus is the way to return from your exile away from God. John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” The only way to a restored relationship with God is through Jesus. When did Jesus go into exile? He prayed from the cross in Matthew 27:46: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” At the cross, Jesus took all our sin upon Himself and was separated from the holy God. But God brought Jesus back home to heaven through His resurrection and ascension.
II. You can be risen and restored from exile to God.
A. Saul was living in exile from God. He thought he was doing God a great favor by persecuting and killing the followers of Jesus (vs. 1). But then Saul hears a voice from heaven in Acts 9:4, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” The next words of Jesus are not words of judgment for Saul. They are words of rescue for Saul. Jesus does not kill Saul in judgment. Instead, Jesus converts Saul to be one of His followers (vs. 17) and assigns him to be one of His ambassadors to tell people about Jesus and what He has done for us.
B. How did Jesus see what Saul was doing to His followers (vs. 5)? He sees any persecution of His followers as persecution of Him. Jesus lives in His church and loves His church. If you still wonder if Jesus could love a guilty sinner like Saul or like you, look at something Saul wrote later in his life from 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” For whose sake did God the Father make Jesus to be sin when He went to the cross? For our sake.
Application:
Come home to God through Jesus. Go back to basics if you feel distant from God.
Sources:
The Bible
Commentaries by Al Mohler, David Peterson, Eckhard Schnabel “Remade” by Paul Tautges and ”Union with the Resurrected Christ” by G.K. Beale.
Sermon Discussion Questions
1) Saul and the early church saw God do something completely unexpected in Acts 9. Do you expect the unexpected from God? What difference would that make in your life?
2) How should God’s sovereign power in converting people encourage us in our prayers and in our witness?
3) In what ways are unbelievers living in exile? How can faith in Jesus bring you home from exile?