It all seems so insignificant. Peter is talking about some events that happened in a tiny area in the Middle East, a region far away from us. How could those events impact the world, especially our modern world? They seem so irrelevant to our time.

We’re caught up in the American way: shopping, working, and in entertaining ourselves. Life is all about the here and now. Sin and reconciliation with God Almighty are anachronisms. Our society avoids the conversation about sin because there is no such thing. And everyone seems to get by just fine without thinking about sin and being in a right relationship with God. Whether people think about this or not the world still turns. Buying and selling continue. People still earn a living and live okay. There isn’t a compelling need to focus on what Peter is talking about in our text. Life goes on with or without God in the picture. That’s why there is no expediency on the part of many people to think about the profundity of what Peter is saying.

Isn’t this what we see when we look out on the world? Life continues to zip by. The pace of life doesn’t slow down. Everything keeps on going whether God is in the picture or not. This is what leads people to falsely believe that this life is the only thing there is. Many people believe that Jesus doesn’t impact this life in any way whatsoever.

But oh how wrong those who think this way really are. Believe it or not, what Peter is talking about is central in the history of the world, whether the world realizes that or not. I know that working, shopping, and entertainment is central to most people’s lives but that’s not what Peter is telling us. Instead, it’s what Jesus did in a part of the world that didn’t receive much attention. It sounds crazy, but it’s true.

For many years our system of dating events centered around Jesus Christ. We were taught in school what B.C. and A.D. stood for, right? B.C. meant "Before Christ" and A.D. meant "Year of our Lord." This system of dating events centered all around the key events in the history of the world, namely, Jesus coming into the world so that He could die for all of our sins. Now there has been an attempt to do away with B.C. and A.D. because many people no longer believe that Jesus’ coming into the world was the main event in history.

But it really doesn’t matter what people think about Jesus Christ. It doesn’t take away from the importance of what Jesus did and how that is central in the history of the world and in our lives. Just because Jesus performed His miracles and died on the cross and rose from the dead in a tiny country of the world doesn’t in any way take away from the fact that what He did was the most important in the history of the world.

How can we come to terms with this fact when what we do on a day to day basis seems to be more important and central to our lives? This is a constant challenge that we face. Each and every day the devil tries to convince us to ignore our faith in Jesus. But we do have a leg up on those who don’t at all see the importance of Jesus’ coming into the world. At least we have faith in Jesus and the Holy Spirit who does battle for us. Those who don’t have any of this in their lives are carried away by the prevailing views of our time, and they don’t think twice about it.

There will come a day when every one will finally understand that Jesus was the center of human history. That time is no doubt coming. But it will be too late then when everyone sees Jesus coming in His glory. Unfortunately, I don’t see much change coming in the way of the human attitude toward Christ. What happened in Judea for the salvation of mankind is too insignificant for people to want to turn their attention to it. That’s a sad shame. History will continue to run its course. People will continue to be misled by the devil and this world.

But I hope we will not fall away. I hope we will continue to see Jesus as the center of human history and our lives. Our text makes it so clear that Jesus is our salvation and should be at the center of all we do.

The irony of our text is that the greatest event in the history of the world took place in a humble land and under humiliating circumstances. One would think that that wouldn’t be the case. Something that is meant to have meaning for our lives ought to be grand and mind-blowing, not something that not too many people don’t notice. How can something like Jesus’ coming into the world have taken place in a land that anyone barely noticed? How can that be the center of human history?

Well, it is. The Bible says that God uses what is foolishness to the world to accomplish His purposes. We, however, don’t think like God nor do we always have a desire to be on the same page as He is. At times, we think like the rest of the world does. But God used what was lowly and of little worth to the world to save the world: a man by the name of Jesus. Peter says that by Him we are saved.

Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking Jesus doesn’t have to be at the center of our lives, that what He did for us isn’t at the center of human history. Unfortunately, we have put the American way in the center of our lives. I know what most of us think. We think that if we are good citizens, we go to vote, have a decent house and not a dumpy one, a nice car, and we go to work, that’s all that’s necessary. And on the last when we stand before God we’ll say, "I conformed to the American middle-class way of life. I was a good person, a good American. What’s wrong with that, God?" Do you really think that is going to fly before God? If Jesus isn’t at the center of our lives, none of that is going to matter. If we are relying on our own self-righteousness to get us into heaven, we need to think again. It all depends on what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross in the humble land of Judea. It’s that simple.

Now I can say only so much. The rest depends on you. You can take what I’ve said and throw it out. Or, you can search and study the Bible yourself and try to understand what God is telling you. That’s the choice before you. Make Jesus Christ truly the center of your world is for you to decide.

The reason I’m driving this home is because I want us to be ready for when our life ends and we have to give an account before the Lord. This isn’t child’s play. This is serious stuff. Each week I preach on a text from the Bible in the hope that we will listen to what is said, apply it to our life, and thus be ready for when the Lord takes us or He comes again. The sole reason we do this church thing every week is to prepare us for the Lord. That’s it. And the reason I stress the importance of this is because what we do has eternal consequences. I don’t want us to make the wrong decisions and choices that will negatively affect our eternal destiny.

Our text makes it very clear that Jesus is the center of the universe and that fact ought to be reflected in everything we do. Read the text for yourself.

I pray that the Holy Spirit will press it upon our hearts to realize how important Jesus’ death and resurrection is and how these events are the center of human history. I suppose you can believe that Columbus’ discovering America is at the center of human history, but by believing that you are going to get nowhere in terms of eternal salvation.

May we respond to the truth that Jesus is the center of the universe by living lives that truly conform to His ways and His commandments. May the Holy Spirit enlighten us to understand the profundity of Peter’s message in the Book of Acts. It’s a message for us, and just as relevant today as it was in Peter’s day.