Monday, November 17, 2008

The Gospel According to Acts 2


A Healing, an Explanation and an Opportunity (Acts 3.1-26)

- A man lame from birth is healed outside the temple (vv. 1-10).
- This amazing healing calls for an explanation. Where there are miracles there are chances of misinterpretation (vv. 11-12).
- They had delivered the righteous and holy servant of the God of their ancestors to be delivered over to be killed. But God raised him from the dead (vv. 13-15).
- It is by faith in God’s risen servant that this man has been healed (v. 16).
- Their ignorant actions were part of God’s plan that the Messiah would be the suffering servant (vv. 17-18).
- They need to repent so that their sins may be forgiven, times of refreshing may come, and that Christ may return and restore all things (vv. 19-21).
- These are the days that the prophets pointed to, Christ being the prophet that Moses pointed to (vv. 22-24).
- The blessings of the Messiah are for all people (vv.25-26).

The explanation that is given for the miraculous healing is that God has raised the Messiah from the dead. Jesus is the King that was prophesied in the Old Testament and this is what it looks like when he sits on the throne. Jesus’ death was not ultimately according to man but was a part of God’s divine plan to save his people from their sins. Jesus is the suffering servant whose death makes forgiveness possible. Faith is how one experiences the life of the messianic age and all the blessings that come with it. Those who repent will have their sins forgiven, experience the refreshing of the messianic age and look forward (since their sins have been forgiven and they will not be judged) to the time when the Christ returns to restore all things. The essence of this sermon is that Jesus is the risen Messiah that brings the blessing of the messianic age into the present and gives his followers great expectation of their consummation in the future. Through his death one can have their sins forgiven and experience, for themselves, the blessings associated with this glorious age.

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