The Cross of Christ

I've been reading the Crossway editions of the sermons of Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Acts (5 volumes so far). In a sermon on Acts 4:23-28, Peter and John, following a night in prison, are questioned by the Sanhedrin and, after Peter has preached a sermon, they are further threatened and released. On returning to their friends, the church goes to prayer asking in effect that God would give them boldness to face whatever persecution is coming their way. In the course of the prayer, Psalm 2 is cited and reference is made to the death of Jesus at the hands of Herod and Pilate "with the Gentiles and the people of Israel" who did "whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done" (Acts 4:28). It raises the issue of predestination and its role in our understanding of the cross:

"[It] shows that God did not react to what happened on the cross; God was the author of the cross. Here, in one text, the whole thing is put absolutely perfectly. It was the action of God. That is how the early church explained it in the middle of a prayer.