Acts 13:36–37

Paul reasons in verses 36 and 37 much as Peter does in Acts 2:29-31, and both with unanswerable power. But one man, the Messiah, was to see no corruption while tasting death. David in his own generation served the counsel of God, but saw corruption — as did all his descendants, except that one of whom he prophesied in the Spirit. Scripture cannot be broken. One man alone does and must fulfil the condition: who was He but Jesus, the Christ?

Paul urged this fact about our Lord Jesus Christ on those who heard him at Antioch. He contrasted Christ with the psalmist. David, he said, "fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption." But He whom God raised again "saw no corruption" (Acts 13:36-37). Those who deny the actual physical resurrection of Jesus must also deny that God kept His word in Psalm 16:9-11. They are committed as well to the blasphemy that Christ saw corruption. For it is written, "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile" (1 Cor. 15:17).

At Antioch Paul is insisting that Christ did not see corruption, and that the psalm does not apply to David, for he has seen corruption. Does he say anything about his soul? Not a word. Stephen fell asleep — the word Paul uses of David — but Christ received his spirit.

In Acts 13:36 we have a full, unqualified commendation of David's life. No "but" comes in to spoil the picture. The New Translation gives a delightful rendering of this verse: "David, indeed, having in his own generation ministered to the will of God, fell asleep."

We notice that David "served his own generation by the will of God," or "in his own generation ministered to the will of God." He could not truly minister to his own generation unless he ministered to the will of God.

David had thought to do much in his day, and he was sincere in the thought. But he had to learn that the will of God for him was that he should "serve his generation." We too must learn this. A humble mind, a devoted heart, a tender conscience, an honest purpose are far more precious in God's sight than outward services, however showy and attractive.

Scripture says of David that he "served the purpose of God in his own generation" and then "fell asleep." We cannot serve a generation that lived before our time, or one that lives after we are gone. God has brought us into this world to serve Him today, in the time we were born into. Sighing after another day, one we may judge to be better, will get us nowhere. It will only tempt us to give up.

The New Translation renders this verse, "David, after he had in his own age served the will of God." That is the most any of us can do. It is impossible to predict the details of the future. My business is to do the little bit given to me in the present, as His grace enables me. I do it very imperfectly, as I can see, but the great Head on high has resources that are everlasting. To carry on His work through the years — that is His business.

The apostle to the Gentiles, in verses 36 and 37, reasons much as the apostle to the Jews does in Acts 2:29-31. Both speak with unanswerable power. But one man, the Messiah, was to see no corruption while tasting death. David in his own generation served the counsel of God, but saw corruption, as did all his descendants, except that One of whom he prophesied in the Spirit. Scripture cannot be broken. One man alone does and must fulfil the condition: who was He but Jesus, the Christ?

It was clear that David did not mean himself in that sixteenth Psalm, the one the apostle had just quoted. David died, was buried, and saw corruption. So he was writing about another — about Him whom God raised from the dead, the Lord Jesus Christ. … How would that come true? Not by keeping Him from death, but by raising the Lord Jesus Christ on the third day.

His work was finished. Now man could do nothing more to insult that body, though divine patience had permitted such insults before. It is taken down from the cross. It is wrapped in spices, which suggest the sweetness and fragrance of that death to God. It is laid in a new tomb that death had never tainted. The ashes of the sacrifice were poured out in a clean place, and no corruption may touch that Holy One (Acts 13:37).

Notice the great pains the apostle Paul took to prove that God had raised Christ from the dead (Acts 13:30-37). He proved it from the Scriptures, and from the testimony of eyewitnesses. And with reason. The resurrection of Christ was the evidence that His work of atonement was complete, to the satisfaction of God. Indeed, it was God's own demonstration that the death of His Son had glorified Him, and that the question of sin was settled once and for all. For God Himself stepped in. He stepped in with the abounding joy of His own heart, and He lifted out of the grave the One who died on the cross.

He is now in the heavens in a body which saw no corruption, a body which can never decay. He is the Firstfruits from among the dead. He is the pledge that the bodies of all believers will be raised in the same way, though their bodies did see corruption.

This fact is of basic importance for us today. Those who deny the actual physical resurrection of Jesus are committed to denying that God's Word in Psalm 16:9-11 came true. They are committed to the blasphemy that Christ saw corruption. And as a result they are committed to the falling away from the faith that was foretold. For it is written, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile" (1 Cor. 15:17).