Introduction
For some time now we’ve been singing the hymn, I Know That My Redeemer Lives. And it’s been a bit of a theme song for us for months now. Those of you who were here for the Sunrise Service already sang it, and all of us here now will sing it here in a bit. “I know that my Redeemer lives. Glory hallelujah! What comfort this assurance gives. Glory hallelujah! Shout on pray on we’re gaining ground. Glory hallelujah! The dead’s alive and the lost is found. Glory hallelujah!”
Did you hear that church? We’re gaining ground. That is indeed what we’re supposed to be doing. Jesus has promised us that He will build His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. He builds His church in and through His sovereign grace, the ordinary means of grace, and our grace driven faithfulness. And we, by His grace, march on, gaining ground. Notice He said that the gates of hell shall not prevail. Gates are defensive, which means that it is us, the church, that are on the offense. Through our every day lives of obedient faith we are pushing back the darkness and advancing the Kingdom for the glory of God, the good of the church, and the life of the world. And this is all only possible because our Redeemer lives. And that’s what we’re going to see in our passage today. So look with me at Acts 2:22-39.
Acts 2:22-39
Our passage takes place at Pentecost as Peter preaches the first Christian sermon after Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of the Father in heaven. The Holy Spirit has been poured out upon the disciples, and now Peter is preaching with passion, precision, and power to the men of Israel. And we see the heart of the content of his sermon in our passage in the first two verses. Starting in verse 22 we read, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” The context and content of Peter’s sermon is the person and work of Christ. Jesus, God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, took on flesh and lived the perfect righteous life that we all have failed to live. And not only did He live a life of perfectly obedient faith as a man, but as the God-man He did many mighty works and wonders and signs, commanding the wind and the waves, miraculously feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and even raising the dead. Over and over again He showed Himself to be who He says He is, God in the flesh who is Lord of all.
C. S. Lewis once pointed out that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord, and an honest look at what He said and what He did in His life proves that He is Lord. Yet, the vast majority of Israel suppressed the truth in their unrighteousness and rejected their Messiah. Their rejection of Jesus really said nothing about Jesus and everything about them. Rejection of Christ never really happens because people look at the truth of the gospel and find it wanting. Rejection of Christ happens because people want their sin more than Christ. They want to be God instead of submitting to God. But nothing lies down that path but disappointment, depression, and death.
As Jonathan Edwards once pointed out, “Worldly men imagine that there is true excellency and true happiness in those things that they are pursuing. They think that if they could but obtain them, they should be happy; and when they obtain them, and cannot find happiness, they look for happiness in something else, and are still upon the pursuit. But Christ Jesus has true excellency, and so great excellency that when they come to see it they look no further, but the mind rests there.”
Christ is who He says He is. He is our Lord. He is our Savior. He is everything we ultimately desire. But the Israelites, like so many today, by and large rejected all of that. And that rejection ultimately led to them having Jesus crucified and killed by the hands of lawless Romans. But, notice what Peter says here… This was not outside of God’s good sovereignty. Though these men are completely responsible for their sinful actions, Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. And indeed, the actions of these men were sinful… it doesn’t get more sinful than rejecting and crucifying Jesus. But, even then, as Isaiah 53:10 says, “it was the will of the LORD to crush Him.”
Through the most horrible-bad God was bringing about the most amazing-good. Again Edwards points out, “It implies no contradiction to suppose that an act may be an evil act, and yet that it is a good thing that such an act should come to pass. . . As for instance, it might be an evil thing to crucify Christ, but yet it was a good thing that the crucifying of Christ came to pass.” As Thomas Watson once pointed out, “God is a sea of goodness without bottom and banks.” God is good. He is what good is. And He is too good to let something bad happen without a truly good reason. And nowhere is that more evident than in the cross of Christ. The most horrific and unjust death that has ever been was ordained by God to bring about the greatest good that has ever been. It was the will of the LORD to crush Christ because it was the will of the LORD to save sinners. And, as Psalm 118:23 says, “This is the Lord’s doing. And it is marvelous in our eyes.”
Elsewhere, in John 10:18, Jesus said that no one takes His life from Him but He lays it down of His own accord… And this is because He is God in the flesh, and this was all a part of God’s definite plan, that is His grand plan of redemption. Before the very foundation of the world God made a grand plan to not only create, but to redeem. In His foreknowledge, that is His perfect knowledge that He has always had, even before anything was created, the triune God, knowing that we would rebel against Him, made a Covenant of Redemption, planning not only to create and make all things, but to redeem, recreate, and make all things new in and through Jesus. Because God is the one true God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, God made a plan to redeem people from ever nation and generation, and to make all things new in and through the person and work of Jesus: through His perfect life, sacrificial wrath-absorbing death, and justifying resurrection. And that’s what is being referenced in our passage.
Jesus was crucified and killed by lawless men, suffering the wrath of sinful man; but, by God’s sovereign grace He was actually suffering the wrath of the one true and holy God due sinful man, due lawless men, due sinners like us. As the God-man He was and is our perfect representative, and thus our perfect sacrificial substitute. And that’s why Acts 2:24 says, “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” Because Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, after dying for our sins He rose again in power because death could not hold Him. Indeed, death could not hold Him because He was perfect and didn’t deserve to die, because He is the God who rules over life and death, and because He is the fulfillment of God’s covenant promises. Because God is faithful death could not hold Him. Because God keeps His covenant promises to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed! He is the true son of David who rules and reigns forever, and has the very keys to life and death.
In Acts 2:25-28, Peter, quoting Psalm 16, says, “For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’” And then he explains that quote in verses 29-36 saying, “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him (that is a covenant promise) that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’ Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Church, this tells us that Easter, that the resurrection of Christ means far more than we typically realize. God promised Adam and Eve that one of their descendants, an offspring of the woman would come and crush the head of the serpent. That is, that a Savior would come to save His people from sin, Satan, and death itself. He would be a Savior that would bring grace and justice with Him, leading the world into a new creation like that pointed to in and through Noah and the flood. He would be the true child of promise, the true son of Abraham, the promised King who blesses the nations. He would be the true better prophet that Moses spoke of, that leads His people out of bondage and exile, and into the true promised land. He would be the true son of David, who is the true King who doesn’t just bless the nations, but rules and reigns over all forever leading them into perfect righteousness and peace. And here Peter tells us that this Savior, this Lord, this King is Jesus. And that’s why death could not hold Him. Because He who promised is faithful.
God gave these promises and led men like David to prophecy about them, knowing that it wasn’t David or even Solomon that God was speaking of. For they never got up from the grave. But, the grave would not and could not hold Jesus, for He is Lord of heaven and of earth, of life and death. And that’s what we see in Peter’s sermon. Peter not only quotes Psalm 16, showing that Jesus would rise from the dead, but also Psalm 110 as well, saying, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool’’’ (Psalm 110:1), showing that Jesus would reign over all as the true King who establishes the throne of David forever. Psalm 110 speaks of a victorious Lord who rules over all; indeed, all of His enemies come under His feet. And this is all tied to the resurrection.
We see this reality in 1 Corinthians 15, where, as we saw in the Sunrise Service, Paul tells us that Christ has in fact been raised from the dead (verse 20)… but then he goes on to say that Jesus will deliver “the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under his feet (that’s Psalm 110:1 again). The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:24-26). And this tells us a few things. First, like Psalm 16, it tells us that Jesus is the King who rules and reigns at God’s right hand, right now. He has established the throne of David, and He is currently ruling and reigning at the right hand of God the Father as King of kings and Lord of lords. And He will continue to reign until all His enemies have been brought under His feet. And we’ll know that’s happened when death is fully and finally destroyed, and the Kingdom of God comes in the fullness of glory, and heaven and earth perfectly join together. But between now and that final Day, Christ is slowly but surely bringing His enemies under His feet.
Jesus is the resurrected Lord. He is the King that God the Father has given all authority in heaven and on earth to. As Peter said in Acts 2:33, Jesus was “exalted [to] the right hand of God, and [their] received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit…” And what was happening there at Pentecost, as we will see in the rest of our passage, is that Jesus was subduing His enemies by grace. By the gracious power of the Holy Spirit poured out from heaven because of Christ, the enemies of Jesus are becoming His friends. By grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, by the power of the Spirit alone, Christ’s enemies, even some of the very ones who had Him crucified, are graciously being brought under His feet. By grace they are joyfully submitting to His Lordship. And lest this shock us, let us remember that this is our story as well.
There’s an old hymn that asks, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” And though we weren’t, it was our sin they made the cross necessary. So, though we personally did not cry out with the crowds, “Crucify Him…” Our sin does. As does Christ’s love—His love for the Father and His love for us. We sang earlier that it was our sin that held Jesus there upon the cross until it was accomplished, but that’s not entirely accurate. As A. W. Pink once pointed out, “It wasn’t the nails (or our sin) but the strength of Christ’s love for the Father and His love for the sheep that held Him to the cross…”
We were harden rebels against God. We were His enemies. But, by grace our heart was subdued, and because of the person and work of Jesus Christ we are now reconciled to God. We are now friends of God… and even better, we are children of God. We have been brought under Christ’s feet. We have been brought to the foot of the cross and enabled to trust in Christ as our Savior and surrender to Him as our Lord. And this is what God does. He is mighty to save. Indeed, this is why Jesus came. As 1 Timothy 1:15 says, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…” Even the foremost. And though there have been and will be many who do not bow the knee to Christ in this life, at the very heart of the New Covenant and the purpose of the gospel is to see the nations and the generations come to Christ and live for His glory. That’s what God promised Abraham when He told Him that in him the nations would be blessed and his offspring would be as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore—practically innumerable.
Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Many will do so under God’s wrath. But far more will do so under God’s grace. Indeed, “The knowledge of the glory of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9). Friends, I don’t care what you think about Jesus or how you feel about Christianity… none of you are exempt from glorifying God. Your feelings, your emotions, and your experiences do not dictate what is good, what is true, and what is beautiful… God does. God’s Word is the absolute Truth. And God’s Word teaches us that in one way or another we will all magnify the Lord. Indeed, we will all spend eternity glorifying God, some through the force of God’s wrath, and others through the pleasure of God’s grace. And that’s where you want to be… in and under the grace of God. And what Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension are all about is bringing every nation and every generation under God’s grace.
In order for God to be glorified through wrath all He had to do was nothing. That is our natural state and natural destination in Adam—condemnation, death, and hell… “But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass (that is through Adam’s sin), much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. . . . For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:15, 17). Friends, Christ came to save sinners, not condemn them. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son” (John 3:16). “Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6b-8). He came, He lived, He died, He rose again, and He ascended on high to bring us into the riches and the pleasures of His grace. Indeed, “In him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Or as Ephesians 1:6 tells us, God has blessed us in Christ for the praise of His glorious grace. He wants us, He wants the nations, He wants the generations to bow the knee under grace, not under wrath.
God promised David a King that would come from His line to rule over the nations and establish His kingdom forever. And as we saw last week, the Davidic Covenant is a covenant ultimately for the good of all of mankind. Christ is after the world, He’s after all nations, not just one. As I said earlier, God made covenant promises to His people. God promised Adam and Eve that one of their descendants, an offspring of the woman would come and crush the head of the serpent. He would be the Prophet, Priest, and King that Adam failed to be, who would take what is good, true, and beautiful and be fruitful, multiply, and advance it to the ends of the earth. He would be a Savior that would bring grace, justice, and peace with Him, leading the world into a new creation like that pointed to in and through Noah and the flood. He would be the true child of promise, the true son of Abraham, the promised King who blesses the nations and multiplies the people God as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. He would be the true better prophet that Moses spoke of, that leads His people out of bondage and exile, and into the true promised land. He would be the true son of David, who is the true King who doesn’t just bless the nations, but rules and reigns over all forever. And not just every nation, but every generation. Indeed, as God told us in Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations…”
Church, what we see here is what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 1:20, that all the promises of God find their yes and amen in Christ. That’s why the grave could not hold Jesus. That’s why He is risen! And that’s why the rest of our passage says, starting in Acts 2:37, that “when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘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. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.’”
These men of Israel had lost sight of the true meaning of God’s Covenant of Grace and His gracious promises. From the very beginning unto the very end, justification has always been by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. As Galatians 3:26-29 says, “for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. . . . And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” And so Peter calls them to repent and be baptized… And not just them, but these men and their households. As with the administration of the Covenant of Grace with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David, God lays claim to and brings believers and their children into His Covenant, which is why we baptize them. And this is why Peter tells them that the promise is for them and for their children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself. In other words, God is after every nation and every generation, and as we have seen, He will have them. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Peter tells his hearers that they will receive forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit, and this is directly tied to the promise he is speaking of. The promise that is for Jew and Gentile, men and women, boys and girls, is indeed the promise of the forgiveness of sins and the Holy Spirit, and everything else tied to the Covenant of Grace in all its fullness. The forgiveness of sin meaning justification and righteousness in Christ; the Holy Spirit meaning, not just being born again and sealed and secured by the Spirit, but also the ability to fight sin and pursue holiness… the gift of the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In other words, the ability to joyfully submit to the Lordship of Christ… to walk in righteousness and glorify God and enjoy Him forever. To be able to joyfully bow the knee to Christ under God’s grace, for the praise of His glorious grace. And that flows with everything else tied to the Covenant of Grace… It’s not just the salvation of our souls and heaven, but the nations and the generations coming to Christ, and every area of life brought into joyful submission to Christ. As I said earlier, it’s the redemption, the recreation, and the renewal of all things. And all of this is directly tied to the resurrection of Christ.
Conclusion
Friends, Jesus is alive. He is the risen Lord. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. The promise maker, the promise keeper, and the very fulfillment of those promises has come. Jesus has come and lived, died, rose again, and ascended on high. By God’s sovereign grace all things have been and are being worked together for His glory and the good of His people. And that means if you don’t know Him you can repent and trust in Christ and be saved, right now. And if you do know Him you can look to Him for the transformation of your life.
As Abraham Kuyper once said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!” This whole world, and your whole life all belong to Christ… and that’s what your life should reflect. And by God’s grace in Christ it can. For He is in the business of redemption, recreation, and making all things new. Because your Redeemer lives you can and you must live for Him. And as we saw earlier, that’s where true joy is found… in Him, and in a life lived for Him. So settle for nothing less, and look to nothing less.
Look to Jesus, and focus your whole life on Him, and help each other do the same. Abraham Kuyper also said, “He is your friend who pushes you nearer to God. Let those be your choicest companions who have made Christ their chief companion.” And friends that’s what the church is and does. We are those who were enemies of God who by God’s sovereign grace in Christ are now friends of God, and friends with God’s people. And true friends help each other know Jesus, love Jesus, trust in Jesus, and live for Jesus. So may we give ourselves to just that, because we know that our Redeemer lives. And all His enemies will come under His feet, either by wrath or by grace. And then the final enemy, death, will be destroyed, and the fullness of the Kingdom will come. So, until that Day may we live for Christ, because He lived, died, and lives again for us. For He is risen. He is risen indeed!