By divine appointment, Peter was called to initiate the propagation of the gospel to the Gentiles. The divine nature of the appointment was unmistakable to both Peter and Cornelius.

Cornelius was the captain, or centurion of a band of 100 soldiers, a century. In the Roman army, six centuries made a cohort and ten cohorts made a legion. Caesarea was the headquarters of the Roman army in Judea. Thus Peter walked right into the heart of the Roman power structure to preach the gospel.

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The heart of Peter’s message is found in Acts 10:36: “The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all).” This message that God first sent to Israel, He now called Peter to bring to representatives of the Gentile forces who ruled in Judea.

“He is Lord of all.” At the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate the Jewish leaders had rejected that claim, saying “We have no king but Caesar.” But Cornelius, a representative of Caesar’s authority, now accepted the claim of Jesus Christ to be his true Sovereign. The result was evident to all who were there, including the six Jewish believers who accompanied Peter to the home of Cornelius in Caesarea.

When Peter asked, “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?”, no objection was raised. The six who had accompanied Peter later testified convincingly to the church in Jerusalem that God had indeed granted repentance and salvation to these Gentiles.

How many people today would willingly accept the first half of Peter’s message, peace by Jesus Christ, but want no part of having Jesus as Lord of their life? May that not be the reason there are so many restless Christians today? It doesn’t work. True and durable peace is ours only when we willingly submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.