God has made this Jesus both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:22-41) By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

God has made this Jesus, who was crucified, both Lord and Messiah (Acts 2:22-41)

By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce   

Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music

 

Scriptures reading Acts 2:22- 41

  22“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 24But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. 25David said about him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.26Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest in hope, 27because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, you will not let your holy one see decay. 28You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

 

 

 29“Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. 30But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. 33Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand 35until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” ’ 36“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

 

 37When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

 

 

Verses 22-36 Peter reviewed the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth (vv.22-24) and then recited the prophecy of the resurrection, (vv.25-31), quoting Ps.16:8-11. Since David was speaking of the Messiah (v.31), Peter continued, and since Jesus was raised from the dead (v.32), Jesus must be the Messiah (v.36) .

Verse 22 the first message of the apostles’ preaching of the gospel was focused on a man. In his Gospel, Luke presented to his readers this man, from His conception, through His birth, youth, life on earth, death, and resurrection, to His ascension. Here, in this book of Acts, Luke went on to tell us that this man was preached by the apostles as the God ordained Savior.

Verse 23 This counsel must have bee determined in a council held by by the Divine Trinity before the foundation of the world (1Pet.1:20;Rev.13:8), indicating that the Lord’s crucifision was not an accident in human history but a purposeful fulfillment of the divine counsel determined by the Triune God. Including Judas Iscariot, the chief priests, the officers of the temple, the elders, the high priest, the Jewish Sanhedrin, Pilate, Herod, and the Roman soldiers—mainly the Jewish religionists with their deputies and the Gentile politicians with their subordinates . This indicates that Jesus was killed by all mankind.

Verse 24 Here and in v.32 Peter said that God raised up Jesus. In 10:40-41 he said the same thing again but added, “He rose from the dead.” Regarding the Lord as a man, the New Testament tells us that God raised Him from the dead (Rom.8:11);considering Him as God, it tells us that He Himself rose from the dead (1 Thes.4:14). This proves His dual status –human and divine. The Lord is both God and resurrection (John1:1;11:25), possessing the indestructible life (Heb.7:16). Since He is such aa ever-living One, death is not able to hold Him. He delivered Himself to death, but death had no way to detain Him, rather, death was defeated by Him, and He rose up from it.

Verse 25This is the declaration of Christ in His resurrection. When Chirst is held by God as in Isa.41:13;42:6), God is on His right hand; when He is exalted by God, He is sitting at the right hand of God.(v.33;Psa.110:1;Eph.1:20-21).

Verse 26 This is a quotation from Psa.16:9 in the Septuagint. But in the original Hebrew text the word for tongue is glory, which is a synonym of soul, according to Gen.49:6 and Psa.7:5. Because Christ trusted in God. His heart was made glad and His soul exulted while He was in Hades (v.27). rest or dwell, reside, pitch its tent. After Christ died on the cross, while His soul was in Hades exulting, His flesh (His body) was in a tomb resting in hope, because He trusted in God.

Verse 32 which or whom. The apostles were witnesses of the resurrected Christ, not only in word but also by their life and action, especially bearing witness of His resurrection (4:33). Bearning witness of Christ’s resurrection is the crucial poin, the focus, in carrying out God’s New Testament economy.

Verse 33 Not the promise given by the Holy Spirit but the promise given by the Father in Joel 2:28, quoted by Peter in Luke 24:49 and in 1:4 of this book, concerning the Holy Spirit. The exalted Christ’s receiving of the promise of the Holy Spirit was actually His receiving of the Holy Spirit Himself. Christ was conceived of the Spirit essentially for His existence in humanity (Luke 1:35; Matt.1:18,20) and was anointed with the Spirit economically for His ministry among men (Matt.3:16;Luke 4:18). After still needed to receive the Spirit economically again that He might pour Himself out upon His Body to carry out His heavenly ministry on earth for the accomplishing of God’s New Testament economy.

Verse 34 This proves that up to the time of Pentecost, David still had not ascended into the heavens. Further more, his tomb was still among the disciples on the day of Pentecost (v.29). This fact annuls the inaccurate teaching that says, based on Eph.4:8-10, that when Christ was resurrected, He brought Paradise, with all the Old Testament saints, from Hades into the heavens (2:cor.12).

Verse 34 “the Lord said to my Lord,” The first Lord refers to God and the second, to Christ, whom David called “my Lord” (Matt.22:45). The position of glory, honor, and power (Exo.15:6; 1 Kings 2:19; Mark 14:62).

Verse 35 As God, the Lord was the Lord all the time (Luke1:43; John 11:21;20:28). But as man, He was made the Lord in His ascension after He brought His humanity into God in His resurrection. And as God’s sent and anointed One, He was Christ from the the time that He was born (Luke 2:11; Matt.1:16;John1:41;Matt.16:16) But as such a One, He was also officially made the very Christ of God in His ascension. The Lord was made Lord, the Lord of all, to possess all; and He was made Christ, God’s Anointed (Heb.1:9), to carry out God’s commission.

Verse 38 The New Testament uses three different prepositions to describe baptism’s relationship to the Lord: (1) En.in (10:48). To be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ is to be baptized in the sphere of the name of Jesus Christ, within which is the reality of the baptism. (2) Eis. Into (Matt.28:19;Acts8:16;19:5;Rom 6:3;Gal3:27). To be baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, or into the name of the Lord Jesus, is to be baptized into a spiritual union with the all-inclusive Christ, who is the embodiment of the Triune God. (3) Epi, upon or on (v.38). To be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ is to be baptized upon the ground of what the name of Jesus Christ stands for. It stands for all that he person of Jesus Christ is and all that He has accomplished, both of which constitute the belief (the faith) of God’s New Testament economy. It is on this ground that the believers in Christ are baptized.

Verse 38 forgiveness of your sins Forgivness of sins is based on the redemption of Christ, which was accomplished through His death(10:43;Eph.1:7;1Cor.15:3); it is the initial and basic blessing of God’s full salvation. Based on it the blessing of God’s full salvation goes forward and consummate in the receiving of the gift of the Holy Spirit. gift of the Holy Spirit Not any gift distributed by the Spirit, such as is mentioned in Rom.12:6, 1 Cor.12:4 and 1 Pet 4:10, but the gift that is the Holy Spirit Himself, given by God to the believers in Christ as the unique gift that produces all the gifts mentioned in Rom.12, 1Cor.12, and 1 Pet.4. those gifts are the abilities and capacities for the service of God, and they come from this unique gift, the Holy Spirit. The all-inclusive Spirit of the processed Triune God in His New Testament economy, both essential for life and economical for power, given to the belivers at the time of their believing in Christ (Eph.1:13, Gal.3:2), as the all –inclusive blessing of God’s full gospel(Gal.3:14) that they may enjoy all the riches of the Triune God (2Cor.13:14).

The Apostles preached and ministered Christ, but when their hearers repented and believerd in Him, they received this wonderful Spirit of the Triun God. This implies that this Spirit is just the resurrected and ascended Christ Himself. The receiving of the Spriit here is both essential and economical, in a general and all-inclusive sense, differing from the receiving of the Spirit in 8:15-17 and 19:2-6), which is particularly the receiving of the Spirit in His falling upon the believers economically.

Verse 40 Testifying requires experiences of seeing and enjoyment concerning the Lord or spiritual things, It is different from merely teaching. Be is active, and saved is passive; hence, be saved is in the active –passive voice. Salvation is to be carried out by God, but man needs to be active to receive what God intends to do. At the time of Pentecost, everything concerning God’s full salvation had been prepared; and the Holy Spirit was poured out as the application and full blessing of God’s salvation, ready for man to receive. Man, be saved!

At the conclusion of his message Peter did not say, “ Be saved from God’s condemnation,” or “from eternal perdition,” but, “Be save from this crooked generation.” The crooked generation refers to the perverted Jews in that age, who rejected God’s Christ (v.36) and were considered by God as the “present evil age” (Gal.1:4). For the crooked Jews to be saved from their present evil age required a genuine repentance concerning their crookedness toward God and a real trun to God. This indicates that they needed to turn to God not only from their sins but also from their generation, their Jewish society, including their Jewish religion. The result of such a salvation was not their entering into heaven but their entering into a new generation –the church. Thus, the saved ones were separated from the Jewish society into the church. Being saved in this way implies being save from God’s condemnation and eternal perdition unto God’s eternal purpose and His pleasure (Eph.3:11;1:9).

Bibliography,

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie Study Bible (NIV).Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986.