JESUS IS…
(Part 2)
Acts 3:18-23
Our selected text covers a sermon that Peter preached at Solomon’s Colonnade in response to the astonishment of the crowd after the healing of the lame man. Peter addressed the people and made it clear that he did not heal this man by his own power. In verse 16 he declares that the man was healed by faith in Jesus Christ. In his sermon, Peter references the words that God has spoken through His prophets about His suffering servant. He also points to the fact that Jesus had been glorified and is currently in Heaven. He then declares that they possessed the opportunity to repent and be forgiven and accepted by God. However, if they continued to reject God’s Promised One, they would be “utterly destroyed”.
Peter covers many subjects in this sermon, but the central theme is the Lord Jesus Christ. Standing before this astonished crowd, Peter preached Jesus! I would like to continue examining Peter’s sermon and consider the thought “Jesus Is…”
- The last time that we gathered we covered the fact that Peter declared that:
JESUS IS THE PROMISED MESSIAH
The Old Testament records many prophecies concerning the Messiah. Those prophecies were fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ. - v18 But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled.
Jesus fulfilled these prophecies, and He did so in the presence of the very people who were listening to Peter preach. However, in spite of all that they had seen and heard, the Jews rejected Jesus. One of the main prophecies concerning the Messiah was that He would be a suffering servant. Peter pointed out to this crowd that:
JESUS IS THE SUFFERING SERVANT
The prophets of God declared that the Messiah would be a suffering servant. Jesus is that suffering Savior; He suffered for the people at Solomon’s Colonnade, He suffered for the sins of the world, and He suffered for my sins and yours! Not only is Jesus The Promised Messiah and The Suffering Servant, Peter’s sermon declares that:
JESUS IS THE COMPASSIONATE SAVIOR
In their ignorance, the Jews expected a great ruler, not a suffering servant. The Promised One had come to them, but they rejected Him and ultimately saw to it that He was put to death. However, thanks to the mercy, grace and love of Jesus Christ, they were about to be confronted with the opportunity to receive forgiveness for their sins. Peter did not excuse the sin of the people; but he did make it clear that even though they had rejected, tortured and crucified Jesus, if they would repent and believe in Him they could be saved. Not only does he state that this is possible, he implores them to turn to the Savior.
v19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
If the People of Israel would heed Peter’s invitation to “repent and be converted” then “their sins would be blotted out”. Furthermore, “the times of refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord”. If these people would repent; acknowledge their sin, turn away from it and turn to Christ they would be saved! Thankfully, the next chapter tells us that many of them responded accordingly, they repented, were converted and their sins were blotted out. This opportunity remains today; if you will repent and believe in Jesus Christ, forgiveness and salvation is available to you as well.
In the following verses Peter goes on to declare that Jesus is not only the Promised Messiah, the suffering Servant, and the compassionate Savior, He is also the sovereign Lord. Let’s take some time an consider the fact that:
JESUS IS THE SOVEREIGN LORD
In verse 19, Peter calls on his listeners to repent. Then he goes on to point out the glorious benefits of repentance. If they would repent they would be “converted”, their sins would be “blotted out” and “the times of refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord”. Furthermore, he said that God would “send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.”
If Israel would repent, God would send the Messiah, (Jesus Christ). This is a reference to the eventual return of the Lord to set up His Kingdom. We know that many individual Jews did in fact repent and believe in Jesus. They were converted and their sins were blotted out. But the entire nation needed to know that before they could experience the national restoration that they desired, there must first be national repentance. Israel as a whole did not repent and Jesus has not yet returned (though we are assured that He will someday.)
Whether Jesus would have returned if Israel had repented as a nation in those days, we simply do not know. The fact is that God in His infinite wisdom and knowledge knew that Israel would reject Jesus and His divine plan included a period of grace between Christ’s ascension and Second Coming. It would not be beneficial for us to hypothesize as to what would have happened if the Nation of Israel had heeded the call to repentance, rather we should praise God that He has given us the opportunity to experience salvation and to possess a place in His Kingdom.
Christ is in Heaven, seated at the right hand of the Father and will remain there “until the times of restoration of all things”. One day, He will return and all of God’s creation that has been corrupted will be restored. God’s divine plan of redemption will be accomplished. Jesus will return, and when He does He will not be the meek a lowly carpenter from Nazareth; He will return as King of kings and Lord of lords!
To further illustrate the reality that Jesus is the Sovereign Lord, Peter quotes the words of Moses. - v22 For Moses truly said to the fathers, 'The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.
In this reference, Peter is quoting from Deuteronomy 18:
- Moses said in - Deuteronomy 18:15 "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear”
- Deuteronomy 18:18-19 “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. And it shall be that whoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.”
This is one of many Old Testament passages that speak to the future reign of Christ. Jesus is God’s prophet who announces God’s will and God’s law. Just as God had raised up Moses as a prophet and leader of His people, He raised up Christ in the same way.
There was an occasion when Jesus proclaimed to the Jews that He had been sent by God, and He declared that the scriptures that they revered so much actually spoke of Him. He went on to say that Moses spoke of and wrote about Him long before He came to earth.- John 5:45 Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you--Moses, in whom you trust. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
Jesus was God’s Prophet; He was sent by God and the people rejected Him. Peter makes it clear that those who rejected God’s Prophet would ultimately be rejected by God. Notice - v23 And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.'
The Jews were at risk of missing out on the covenant promises of God because of their rejection of His promised Messiah. Those who refuse to “hear God’s Prophet will be utterly destroyed”. Christ will indeed return someday, and He will rule and reign with ultimate power and authority.
In this passage the love and compassion of God is on full display; however, if these people continued in their rebellion and refused to surrender to Christ, they would face eternal judgment. This is the case for all who refuse to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. We are living in a day of grace; the opportunity for salvation abounds, yet if you refuse to surrender to Christ, if you reject Him the same way the Jews did, you will be “utterly destroyed”. The consequences of your refusal and rebellion will be eternal condemnation in the Lake of Fire.
- Revelation 20:15 and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
- Revelation 21:8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
The message that was delivered to the crowd at Solomon’s Colonnade is still true today. Jesus is all that the Bible says He is and there are glorious benefits for those who submit to His Lordship; However, there are eternal consequences for those who refuse to do so.
Peter was not delivering a new message to this crowd; he was actually pointing out the fact that the prophecies of old had been fulfilled before their very eyes. He wanted them to know that it was vital for them to repent and believe in Jesus! He said “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (v19)
Repentance was the proper response for those who were gathered at Solomon’s Colonnade; And repentance is the necessary response for us as well. When we hear the Gospel message and when we experience Holy Spirit conviction, the proper response is to repent of our sins and surrender to Jesus Christ. The Bible says that if you will repent, you will be “converted”.
The word converted is used throughout the New Testament to describe what happens when lost sinners turn to the Holy God. When people repent and are converted, their sins are “blotted out”. The same Jesus who was willing to forgive those who crucified Him, is willing and able to save you. He is exactly who the Prophets said He would be; and He is exactly who Peter says He is in this sermon:
Jesus is The Promised Messiah
Jesus Is The Suffering Servant
Jesus Is The Compassionate Savior
Jesus Is The Sovereign Lord
If you repent and believe in Him then you can be converted; your sins will be washed away, and you can receive eternal life. I pray that you will hear, believe, and respond accordingly to all that “Jesus Is”.
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