Both Lord and Messiah
Text: Acts 2:22-36
Introduction
1. Illustration: “The cornerstone of God’s plan is the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ” (Hugo Montoya).
2. As God always does, he had a plan B. He set us up with paradise, but that wasn’t good enough for us, we had to have more. So, we messed everything up by choosing the one thing he said we couldn’t have, and because of this we deserved death.
3. But God’s plan B was to send his own Son to die in our place.
4. God’s plan had three steps…
a. God’s plan of the Cross
b. Gods plan of the Resurrection
c. God’s plan of Exultation
5. Read Acts 2:22-36
Proposition: God’s plan to save us centered around declaring Jesus both Lord and Messiah.
Transition: The first part of God’s plan B is…
I. God’s Plan of the Cross (22-23).
A. His Prearranged Plan
1. As Peter’s sermon continues his sermon, he shifts from the events of the day to evidence of Jesus as Messiah and Lord. In v. 22 he says, “People of Israel, listen! God publicly endorsed Jesus the Nazarene by doing powerful miracles, wonders, and signs through him, as you well know.”
a. There’s an old saying that “the proof is in the pudding.” In other words, there’s evidence in the results.
b. It is obvious that Jesus’ ministry was approved and empowered by God, and his miracles, wonders, and signs were evidence of it.
c. The three terms miracles, wonders, and signs were not three different kinds of action, but they describe the same divine action displayed by Jesus.
d. They were mighty works because God empowered Jesus to do them.
e. The encouraging thing for us is that Jesus did his miracles and wonders through the same power of the Holy Spirit that is available to us.
f. These people knew about this because Jesus’ ministry was very public, and they had witnessed many of his works in person.
g. Peter stresses this fact by his words “as you well know.” During Jesus’ ministry he was accused by the religious leaders of doing these works by the power of Satan.
h. “The crowds were amazed, 15 but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.” (Lk. 11:15).
i. Some people were skeptical that Jesus’ miracles, but the disciples, who were with him, knew differently.
2. Then Peter shifts from Jesus’ ministry to his death. In v. 23 he says, “But God knew what would happen, and his prearranged plan was carried out when Jesus was betrayed. With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to a cross and killed him.”
a. Peter points out that Jesus’ death on the cross was all a part of God’s plan.
b. Instead of recognizing Jesus as the Messiah and Lord, they crucified him.
c. But what happened to Jesus was not there doing, but rather it was a part of God’s plan to save us.
d. The religious leaders were assisted by “lawless Gentiles,” which refers to the Romans, and they were the ones that nailed Jesus to the cross.
e. Without realizing it they were playing right into the hands of God.
f. This was all a part of God’s plan, and the Jews and the Romans were merely tools in the hands of God to bring salvation to the world.
B. Salvation Prepared for You
1. Illustration: The purpose of the Bible? Salvation. God's highest passion is to get His children home. His book, the Bible, describes His plan of salvation. The purpose of the Bible is to proclaim god's plan and passion to save His children. (Max Lucado)
2. God’s plan to save us was for his own Son to go to the cross.
a. “This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you.” (1 Pet. 1:10)
b. God’s original plan was for us to live in paradise, but we messed it up by choosing sin.
c. But he loved us so much that he came up with a plan to save us.
d. It was always Jesus’ mission to go to the cross.
e. It was always his purpose to go to the cross.
f. Even in his greatest anguish in the garden he prayed that if it was possible to be released from this, but he said, “not my will be done but your will.”
g. He loved you so much that he created this plan for you.
h. He prepared it long before you were born, but he did it with you in mind.
i. All he wants you to do is receive it!
Transition: The next part of God’s plan of salvation is…
II. God’s Plan of the Resurrection (24-32).
A. Raised His Back to Life
1. Godless men killed Jesus, and this was a part of God’s plan, but God’s plan didn’t stop there. In v. 24 Peter says, “But God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life, for death could not keep him in its grip.”
a. Godless men killed Jesus, but God stepped in and brought him back to life.
b. God released Jesus from the horrors of death and raised him to new life again.
c. Peter’s purpose was not to show that Jesus didn’t suffer any of the anguish of death, but rather to show that it was impossible for death to hold him in its grip.
d. It could not hold him as a prisoner, because God had set him free from it.
2. Peter then uses Scripture as proof of Jesus’ resurrection. He quotes David from Psalm 16. In v. 27 Peter says, “For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.”
a. Even though David was speaking in the first person, as if he meant himself, he was talking about the Messiah.
b. Peter points out that the David couldn’t be talking about himself because he was dead, and they all knew where his grave was located.
c. So, it couldn’t have referred to David, it had to refer to the Messiah.
3. Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, shows that David was looking into the future to the resurrection of the Messiah. In vv. 31-32 he says, “David was looking into the future and speaking of the Messiah’s resurrection. He was saying that God would not leave him among the dead or allow his body to rot in the grave. 32 “God raised Jesus from the dead, and we are all witnesses of this.”
a. Peter isn’t saying that his resurrection was a proof that Jesus was the Messiah, but rather he is showing that God raised Jesus from the dead to sit him on his throne.
b. Then Peter declares, “we are all witnesses of this.”
c. They had seen him, post-resurrection. They had been with him. They had eaten with him. They had put their fingers in his wounds and in his side. They were eyewitnesses of the risen Jesus!
B. Power of the Resurrection
1. Illustration: What if we had each person that witnessed the resurrected Lord come up here this morning and talk for 15 minutes giving a testimony to what they saw.
a. If we listened to the testimony of all the people that Jesus appeared to, we would be here all day, and all night, and Monday and Monday night and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday and sometime early Friday morning they would just be wrapping up the testimony.
b. It would take over 128 strait hours just to hear, for 15 minutes each, the testimony of those that saw the Lord after he rose.
2. There is power in the resurrection of Jesus!
a. “I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!” (Phil. 3:10-11).
b. There is great power in the resurrection.
c. Power over death.
d. Power over decay.
e. Power over sin.
f. Power over the grave.
g. Most of all, there is power over Satan!
h. The next time the devil comes knocking, just remind him that Jesus is no longer in the grave and the devil’s power no longer is relevant.
i. Because there is VICTORY IN JESUS!
Transition: The third part of God’s plan is…
III. God’s Plan of Exaltation (33-36).
A. Now He Is Exalted
1. Now Peter shows that Jesus is exalted to the right hand of God. In v. 33 he says, “Now he is exalted to the place of highest honor in heaven, at God’s right hand. And the Father, as he had promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as you see and hear today.”
a. Peter says that Jesus was exalted to the highest place of honor at God’s right hand.
b. The term “right hand” is the place of honor, authority, and power.
c. “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names.10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil 2:9-11).
d. Peter says that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on them is evidence that Jesus has been exalted. We are baptized in the Holy Spirit, but we are baptized by Jesus.
2. Peter then ends his sermon with perhaps the greatest declaration in the history of the church. In v. 36 says, “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
a. He declares, first, that Jesus is Lord.
b. This is a term that is used only of God. So, in using it here, Peter is saying that Jesus is more than a man, but rather that he is God.
c. As Christians we believe that Jesus is 100% God and 100% man at the same time.
d. Here, Peter declares that Jesus is God. He is not just a holy man, a great teacher, or a prophet. He is God the creator of heaven and earth.
e. “Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was even born, I AM!” 59 At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.” (Jn. 8:58-59).
f. In addition to being God, Jesus is also Messiah. He is the long-awaited Savior of all humanity!
g. Lord indicates that he is God himself, and Messiah refers to his saving work on the cross. May his name be praised!
B. The Place of Honor
1. Because Jesus lowered himself to become like us, he is now exalted above all the Universe, to the place of honor at the right hand of God.
2. “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven” (Heb. 1:3)
a. It was God’s plan for Jesus to go to the cross and die for our sins.
b. It was God’s plan to raise Jesus from the dead and give us victory!
c. Now, he has exalted Jesus to the place of highest honor, that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord!
d. And the greatest gift that God gives us as his people is knowing Jesus!
Conclusion
1. All I once held dear, built my life upon,
All this world reveres and wars to own;
All I once thought gain I have counted loss,
Spent and worthless now compared to this.
Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You
There is no greater thing.
You're my all, You're the best,
You're my joy, my righteousness,
And I love You Lord.
2. Now my heart's desire is to know You more,
To be found in You and known as Yours,
To possess by faith what I could not earn
All surpassing gift of righteousness
3. Oh to know the power of Your risen life,
And to know You in Your sufferings;
To become like You in Your death, my Lord,
So with You to live and never die. (Knowing You by Joseph Garlinton)
4. God’s plan is for you to know Jesus! Do you know him?
