The Mission

Frail, Tempted Humans Are the Messengers

The angel was not instructed to tell Cornelius the story of the cross. A man subject to human weaknesses and temptations was to tell him of the crucified and risen Savior. God does not choose angels as His representatives, but human beings, people of like passions with those they are trying to save. Christ took humanity so that He could reach humanity. We needed divine-human Savior to bring salvation to the world. And to men and women God has committed the sacred trust of making known “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). The Lord brings those who are seeking for truth into contact with fellow beings who know the truth. Those who have received light are to share it with those in darkness. God has made humanity the working agency through which the gospel exercises its transforming power. 4TC 70.1

Cornelius gladly obeyed. When the angel had gone, he “called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.” 4TC 70.2

After speaking with Cornelius, the angel went to Peter. At the time, he was praying on the roof of the house where he was staying, and “became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance.” It was not just for physical food that Peter was hungry. He hungered for the salvation of his fellow Jews. He had an intense desire to show them the prophecies relating to Christ. 4TC 70.3

In the vision Peter saw “a great sheet. ... In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air. And a voice came to him, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ But Peter said, ‘Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.’ And a voice spoke to him again the second time, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common.’ This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.” 4TC 70.4

This vision revealed to Peter God’s plan—that the Gentiles should be heirs to the blessings of salvation along with the Jews. None of the disciples had yet preached the gospel to Gentiles. In their minds the Gentiles were excluded from the blessings of the gospel. Now the Lord was trying to teach Peter the world-wide extent of God’s plan. 4TC 70.5

Many Gentiles had listened to the preaching of Peter and the other apostles, and many Greek Jews had become believers in Christ. Cornelius, however, was to be the first important convert among the Gentiles. The door that many Jewish converts had closed against Gentiles was now to be thrown open. Gentiles who accepted the gospel were to be equal with Jewish disciples, without needing circumcision. 4TC 71.1

How carefully the Lord worked to overcome the prejudice in Peter’s mind! By the vision He intended to teach that in heaven there are no racial distinctions. Through Christ the heathen may receive the privileges of the gospel. 4TC 71.2

While Peter was thinking about the vision, the men Cornelius had sent arrived and stood in front of the home where he was staying. Then the Spirit said to him, “Three men are searching for you. Now get up, go down, and go with them without hesitation; for I have sent them” (NRSV). 4TC 71.3