What does that mean? (PART 2) - Acts 2:22-41

Hello.

Let’s pick up where we left off last Sunday.

In the streets of Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost. Suddenly, through the window of a house, you hear people praising God. In your mother tongue. Malagasy, Bamileke, Spanish, Chinese, English, French.

You ask a passer-by. There are people speaking my language! Here, in Jerusalem! What’s going on?

You are told: they are proclaiming that God has finally brought the world back under his rule.

***

God has brought the world back under his rule?

What does that mean?

***

This is the heart of Christianity. Through Jesus Christ, God has established his reign on earth. He has brought the world back under his authority.

This morning we’ll be asking what that means. What does it look like?

A week ago, Pope Leo XVI celebrated Mass with 700,000 people on the Champs-Élysées.

Paris on its knees, in front of the world’s cameras.

Is that what it means?

More controversial. In several countries in recent years, tens of thousands of people have marched with flags, crosses and placards reading ‘Christ is King’… mixed with nationalist rhetoric.

Is that it? The reign of God. A return to Christian values through politics?

Or does God bringing us back under his reign simply mean a life that’s going our way? Our problems sorted. Health, work, relationships. No more struggles.

Or is it a Church that’s really taking off? Full halls, everything running smoothly, enormous influence.

What does it mean when we say God has brought the world back under his rule?

If you’re like me, this idea might leave us feeling a bit out of step with reality!

God reigns?

He must be on a state visit somewhere else, then. Life doesn’t seem very much under control to me. I actually feel quite left to my own devices.

For me, this start to the new term has been one of the most difficult I’ve ever experienced. God reigns? Really?

***

We’re not the first to ask these questions.

The Book of Acts is addressed to a certain Theophilus.

He lived in the middle of the first century at a time when the church was fragile, under attack and persecuted. The main pioneer of the Christian movement, the apostle Paul, was in prison.

Theophilus was no doubt familiar with the Old Testament, the stories of the kings of Israel with their prosperity and victories.

A few decades after the church’s inception, he must have wondered: is this what God’s reign on earth looks like?

I was expecting better.

What does it really look like today when God takes back control?

It looks like Acts chapter 2.

It looks like Jesus reigning as Lord and Christ from heaven. And through his Spirit, bringing people back to God.

Two points this morning.

Good news: Jesus’ universal reign has begun
Good news: Jesus’ universal invitation has been issued


1. Good news: Jesus’ universal reign has begun (verses 22–37)

The first thing to understand is that the Christian message – the Gospel – is the declaration that God has entrusted Jesus with authority over the universe.

Let’s return to the commotion in the streets of Jerusalem.

A few days earlier, Jesus had told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them to bear witness to him.

Then he was lifted up into the sky, and they could no longer see him.

On the Day of Pentecost, his promise was fulfilled. The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaimed the wonders of God in other languages.

What are these wonders of God?

Acts 2:22 – Peter explains.

People of Israel, listen to these words! God has appointed Jesus of Nazareth to you by performing through him, in your midst, miracles, wonders and signs, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you in accordance with God’s definite plan and foreknowledge. [You arrested him,] and through the hands of lawless men you put him to death on a cross.

What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?

Christians have had all sorts of ideas about this.

I grew up in churches where being filled with the Spirit seemed to mean having extraordinary experiences, not always closely linked to Jesus: falling to the ground, fits of uncontrollable laughter, and so on.

But when Peter is filled with the Spirit, what does he do?

He speaks about the person of Jesus whilst explaining the words of Scripture.

That is what the Spirit enables us to do.

So Peter speaks up and tells the crowd: you have committed a heinous crime.

• [The miracles show that Jesus came from God – you killed him (verses 22–23)]

Jesus’ miracles showed that he came from God. But you killed him.

When I preach to a non-Christian audience, I try to find a hook to break the ice.

I’ve rarely started by accusing my audience of murder: ‘Hello… you bunch of murderers!’

I start off more gently.

Peter, however, starts right there.

This Jesus, whose miracles bore witness to him, you had crucified.

He continues …

- The resurrection proves that Jesus is the Christ – we are witnesses (verses 24–32)

The one they had crucified was none other than the Christ.

Christ means ‘the Anointed One’. The one whom God has anointed as King.

We know that he is the Christ because his resurrection, to which Peter was a witness, proves it.

Verse 24

But God broke the bonds of death and raised him from the dead, for it was impossible for death to hold him.

Indeed, David says of him: ‘I always saw the Lord before me, for he is at my right hand, so that I may not be shaken. That is why my heart is filled with joy and my tongue with gladness; even my body will rest in hope, for you will not abandon my soul to the realm of the dead, nor will you allow your Holy One to see decay.

Peter’s reasoning is as follows. David had written these words in Psalm 16, which say that God is too good and powerful to let the king He chose rot in a grave.

But David is dead: you can visit his tomb, lads! You’ll find his bones there. His body has indeed decayed.

Yet God had promised that one of his descendants would be seated on an eternal throne.

He says so in 2 Samuel, chapter 7.

So Peter concludes: it is therefore the resurrection of Christ that He foresaw and foretold when He said that He would not be abandoned to the realm of the dead and that His body would not see decay.

It is this Jesus whom God has raised from the dead; we are all witnesses to this.

What we have seen – Jesus living after his death – is exactly what the Old Testament said about Christ.

Throughout history, countless people have presented themselves as a Messiah, a messenger of God whom people should follow.

Sometimes they were rather ridiculous figures, sometimes genuinely dangerous. You may have heard of Claude Vorilhon, alias Raël, founder of the Raelian movement, which is regarded as a cult by the French government.

How do we know that Jesus is different? Because he rose from the dead. Just as had been foretold, just as Peter and the apostles saw.

‘OK,’ someone might say, ‘but if he really is the Christ, if he really is the King, where is he? Where is his throne? We can’t see him.’

Peter continues. He says that …

- The outpouring of the Spirit proves that Jesus is Lord – you are witnesses (verses 33–36)

Verse 33

Exalted to the right hand of God, Jesus received from the Father the Holy Spirit who had been promised, and he poured him out, as you see and hear [now]. David, after all, did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I have made your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’

King David had not only foretold Jesus’ resurrection; he had also foretold his ascension.

He brings us into the heavenly throne room to listen to a conversation within the Trinity.

The Father grants Jesus authority equal to his own.

“Sit at my right hand” – they are on an equal footing.

Both are called “Lord”. When Kate Middleton married Prince William, she took the royal name and the authority that goes with it. Just like Jesus: the same name as God, the same authority.

And Jesus does what God was to do.

In the Old Testament, the one who was to pour out the Holy Spirit is the Lord, the Eternal One, Yahweh.

Now Peter declares that the one who poured out the Spirit, with the manifestations that everyone saw—speaking in tongues, tongues of fire—is Jesus.

In other words, Jesus is far more than just another human king. Far more than even the greatest king of Israel, David.

He is Lord!

Man and God seated on the throne of heaven.

To say that Jesus is in heaven does not mean that he is absent or distant.

To say that Jesus reigns from heaven is to say that his authority is supreme and universal.

The Presidency of the Republic is the supreme authority of the French state; the heavenly throne is the highest authority in the universe.

Jesus has taken his seat there.

We can no longer see him. This merely confirms that his authority is ultimate.

Hence the conclusion of Peter’s sermon

Verse 36

‘Let the whole community of Israel know with certainty, then, that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.’

***

The Bible is the story of God’s plan to bring the world back under his good and benevolent rule.

It is not that God is like a teacher who cannot manage his class. Not powerful enough to maintain control.

It is that every human being has chosen to give their Creator the finger and declare their independence, even if it means plunging into self-destruction.

We see the consequences everywhere.

Conflicts, broken relationships, injustices. When we reject the source of all goodness, this is what we reap.

But… God had a plan to bring this world back under his rule. It culminates in the establishment of Jesus as Lord and Christ.

And that is the Gospel!

If you’re like me, when I’m asked what the Christian message is, I reply something like: ‘Jesus loves you, he died for you, he invites you into a relationship with him!

All of that is true.

But isn’t it striking that, in the first public sermon in the history of the Church, that wasn’t the message?

It was: ‘God has made this Jesus—whom you crucified—both Lord and Messiah!’

That doesn’t exactly go down well!

It is not that Jesus can improve our lives a little. Or give us the life we want.

It is this: Jesus is Lord! Whether we like it or not!

To say that the word ‘Gospel’ means ‘good news’ is not wrong, but it is insufficient.

In Jesus’ day, he was talking more about a change of regime. A new emperor, for example.

So the Christian message is both brilliant and terrifying.

It’s brilliant, because this Jesus, who truly reigns today from heaven, is a good Lord who wants what’s best for our world.

But it is terrifying for his opponents.

It’s like the ending of the best film of all time.

The Matrix.

At the end, the hero Neo is killed, then resurrected, proving that he is the Chosen One. Everyone is happy: he is going to save the world from the slavery of artificial intelligence.

But his enemies, seeing the one they’ve just killed return, realise their days are numbered.

That’s more or less what the Christian good news is all about.

God has established Jesus as Lord and Messiah to restore the world according to his good plan.

But to oppose Jesus is to oppose the supreme authority. One is in grave danger.

Look at the crowd’s reaction in verse 37

After hearing this message, they were deeply moved and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’

‘Is it all over for us?’ they ask

We didn’t crucify Jesus like that crowd did, but we’ve all rebelled against him in one way or another.

If, on hearing the Christian message, I ask myself, ‘What am I going to do?’, it may be that I am beginning to realise who Jesus is.

For me, it was only when I realised that I hadn’t bowed down before King Jesus, that I was living life on my own terms, and that this was a problem, that I began to grasp the meaning of the Christian faith.

Jesus’ universal reign has begun.

***

So, what is the answer to this question: ‘What shall we do?’

Secondly …

2. Good news: Jesus’ universal invitation has been issued (verses 38–41)

I mentioned those parades mixing Christian symbols with nationalism.

Their rhetoric is often aggressive, even violent, towards their opponents. A return to Christian values would be seen as taking revenge on those who do not share them.

Jesus is different!

His authority is supreme. So is his grace.

He invites the rebels to accept the royal privileges of his reign.

Verse 38

Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let each of you be baptised 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, for your children and for all those far off—as many as the Lord our God will call.’

Let us not forget this. Peter is speaking to the very people whom Jesus had been sent to save, who had witnessed his miracles and yet had killed him.

They would have every reason to think it was too late.

Yet King Jesus reaches out to them.

Changing one’s attitude means repenting, realising that one has gone in the wrong direction and turning back.

It happens to me sometimes on the underground; I’m daydreaming. When I realise it, I come to my senses: I get off and head back the other way.

With Jesus, it means recognising that our ways of thinking and living have not been those of people who accept his authority.

We take the crown off our heads. We lay it at his feet.

To be baptised is to bear public witness to this choice, to tell the world that we have changed sides and are now on the side of King Jesus. Baptism itself does not save us: it bears witness to this change.

In return, Jesus offers forgiveness: all our rebellion is completely and permanently wiped away.

Even the worst crimes. That crowd had killed the one who was declared to be equal to God. It would be hard to do worse.

And Jesus offers forgiveness. Such is his grace!

And the gift of the Holy Spirit: King Jesus offers to make us his palace! He comes to dwell within us, to transform us into the people we ought to be, and to make us his spokespeople.

And finally, this is for everyone: for you, for your children and for all those who are far away.

No one is excluded. No one is too wicked. No one is too far away.

Perhaps you are here this morning because you are wondering about the Christian faith.

We’re delighted that you’re here to explore these things.

This invitation is for you!

Perhaps some of you need to take it up this morning. There’ll be an opportunity later on.

You may leave here having made the best decision of your life.

But for most of us, it’s already been made.

We’ve accepted the invitation.

For Theophilus, for whom the Book of Acts was written, it was probably already done too.

How does this apply if we’re already Christians?

Firstly, this invitation applies throughout our whole lives. If Jesus reigns today, it is today that I must repent of what offends him and accept his forgiveness.

It’s not something we respond to once and then move on. We live it out every day.

But above all, let us return to our original question.

What does it look like when God brings the world back under his rule?

Is it through large religious gatherings, through politics, by giving us the life we desire, or through a triumphant Church?

The Book of Acts answers: no.

It is when, one by one, people change their attitudes, declare their commitment to Jesus and receive his forgiveness and his Spirit.

Let’s admit it: we’re often at a loss when we say that Jesus reigns.

How can we tell?

We see neither an army, nor a flag, nor a political programme. Our lives often don’t seem to be very much under control; our problems are countless.

In what way does he reign?

Yet God is bringing the world back under his reign today as people repent and believe in Jesus.

Jesus’ reign is an objective reality. He is seated on the throne in heaven.

It is also an inner reality. Giving Him control of our lives

We would love it if this were already the moment when Jesus puts an end to our difficulties. He will do so. The Bible calls this … judgement. Let us not take this word negatively: it is the moment when Jesus will set everything right, when his kingdom will become fully visible.

We are not yet at that stage.

We are living in a period of royal amnesty.

A bit like in South Africa when Nelson Mandela became president: he offered amnesty to people who had committed crimes during apartheid. If they publicly acknowledged their wrongdoing, they could be pardoned.

It was a way of bringing the country back under control, not through coercion, but by reconciling these people with the new authorities.

Jesus reigns in a similar way.

He forgives in order to win us over to his cause.

We must not overlook the awakening that this passage brings about.

Jesus is Lord, whether we acknowledge it or not. His authority does not depend on our consent.

One day, everyone will have to give an account before him.

Think of the colleague sitting next to you tomorrow. One day, they will have to answer to King Jesus.

Your line manager … will have to answer to King Jesus

Your neighbour on the same floor.

The members of your sports club.

They will have to answer to Jesus.

But we are in a time of royal pardon, and when this pardon is granted, the reign of Jesus will have come.

It doesn’t make the front pages, unlike the parades or masses on the Champs-Élysées.

The team setting off to preach the Gospel in Togo won’t make the headlines.

When someone asks to be baptised, BFMTV doesn’t turn up to cover it.

But every time someone repents and believes in Jesus, his reign has come.

It’s not spectacular, but this is how God establishes his reign in a profound way.

The risk, if you are one of those who advocate a return to Christian values in society, is that it remains superficial and hypocritical.

A superficial moralism.

Jesus wins our hearts in order to transform the whole person.

If we understand this, we will see opportunities everywhere to contribute to the advancement of his kingdom. In our family, our church, with our friends and colleagues.

The Bible makes it clear that this is how Jesus reigns today, so that we do not harbour false expectations of life.

If we expect a life where everything always goes our way or triumphs of every kind, we will often feel shaken in our faith. Jesus can remove our difficulties, but that is not how he promises to exercise his reign today.

He exercises his reign by leading people to change their attitudes and receive his forgiveness.

Christians who take this on board are the ones who change the world.

Quietly but truly and with confidence, because they are working towards the same things as Jesus.

Jesus’ universal invitation has been extended.

***

To conclude, I get the impression that the present reign of Jesus is a subject that isn’t entirely clear.

I realised this week that for a long time I believed in an inaccurate version of the Christian message. Here it is:

God loves us,

so he sent Jesus to die for us.

He rose from the dead,

went to heaven,

and will return.

Can you see the problem? It’s not what it says, but what it doesn’t say!

What is Jesus doing today? In this version, it’s as if he were absent.

But Jesus reigns! Truly. Actively. From heaven, where we cannot see him, of course. That does not make his reign any less real: it makes it universal.

We’re not left to fend for ourselves whilst we wait for his return. He’s never left us!

How good it feels to know that!

This start to the new term has been difficult for our church and other churches in Paris.

Unexpected and baffling setbacks.

Many of us are going through similar things in our personal lives.

Jesus hasn’t lost control!

Later on in the Book of Acts, there is a great deal of suffering.

But it comes under the authority of King Jesus, with the aim that people may be saved, sanctified and equipped for service, so that the Gospel may spread and so that we may place our ultimate hope in his coming new creation.

Jesus is in control.

We do not always understand how he acts in every situation, but we know that he acts to advance his kingdom in us and through us.

And no situation, no person, is beyond redemption.

If 3,000 people who had demanded his crucifixion just a few weeks earlier could change their attitude in a single day, then nothing and no one is beyond redemption for Jesus.

We may be facing situations that seem hopeless. We’d like to do things as Jesus asks, but it’s complicated.

Or there are people hostile to our faith, whom we would like to see turn to him, but it seems unlikely.

The Lord’s arm is not too short!

This summer I confided my current worries to my former pastor.

The church has a church-planting project – it’s brilliant but ambitious. The workload will be heavier for everyone, with plenty of uncertainties.

He realised I was mainly just venting. He took a sip of his tea and said: ‘Joe, I believe that this year, Jesus will still be on His throne!

We’re quick to forget him.

Jesus is always on his throne. Even when we don’t understand what he is doing. Even when our lives are complicated. Even if it is invisible.

His reign is real; it is advancing; we cannot ignore it; we must face it.

And he invites us all to take part in it.

PRAYER

May the whole community of Israel know that God has made this Jesus both Lord and Messiah.