You Killed the Author of Life

You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. - Acts 3:15

This is an amazingly succinct explanation of the gospel. Just before this, a paralysed man was miraculously healed, a crowd came running to check it out, the Apostle Peter explained that Jesus is the power behind the miracle, and as part of that explanation, he drops this truth bomb: You killed the author of life.

It's an amazing statement because it captures so much in so few words. Your life was authored by the Word of God. He made you. And that life-authoring Word was in your midst, living as a human, ushering in God’s kingdom.

And you killed him. How could human beings possibly kill the author of life? Yet that’s what happened. You showed how deep your depravity goes. Not only in that you didn’t recognise him, but you killed him! You’ve cut yourself off from life, rejecting it and God himself. Possibly dooming the whole world to destruction.

But God raised him from the dead. The story didn’t end with his death. Jesus is alive and working powerfully through his church. God isn’t on your side, but his. God is with Jesus, the central figure of this whole conflict. The one you now have to reckon with.

And we are witnesses of this truth. We’re here to call you to repent “and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out” (Acts 3:19).

Blessings,

Geoff