The First Gospel Message

Acts 2:22–36 CSB

“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death. For David says of him: I saw the Lord ever before me; because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, because you will not abandon me in Hades or allow your holy one to see decay. You have revealed the paths of life to me; you will fill me with gladness in your presence. “Brothers and sisters, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah: He was not abandoned in Hades, and his flesh did not experience decay. “God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

It is noteworthy that the burden of the message of Acts may be summed up in six phrases: (1) Christ crucified; (2) Christ resurrected (the word with its cognates occurs at least 22 times in Acts); (3) Christ ascended; (4) the Holy Spirit descended; (5) Christ Jesus declared Lord of all (Lord occurs at least 110 times in Acts); (6) the door of salvation opened to all

It's so important for us to recognize what was being preached and taught at the very beginning of the church. I think sometimes we get caught up in all of these seven ways 2 live a prosperous life in the Lord and all of these good advices make you feel good type of sermons when that's not the gospel that's not the good news that the church was founded on. The gospel is the good news of Jesus Christ the son of God almighty, the second part of the Trinity, the Redeemer, the overcomer, the one who defeated death hell and the grave and the one who saved each one of us from ourselves saved us from our sins saved us from hell saved us from hopelessness Jesus Christ saved us from eternal death and gave us eternal life. So, what is being preached all throughout acts. Jesus, Jesus is being preached. Jesus Christ crucified, Jesus Christ resurrected, Jesus Christ ascending, the Holy Spirit descending, Jesus Christ declared Lord of all, and the door of salvation opened to all is what we see in this sermon and then most of the sermons moving forward in Acts. I believe this is a good reminder to us pastors that we gotta preach Jesus. That the answer is Jesus. That the only thing that matters is that Jesus is represented, preached, lived out and proclaimed not just every time we step in the pulpit but every day that we wake up with breath in our lungs.

Men of Israel, hear these words: Many people would think it would be enough for Peter to stop after the quotation from Joel, considering all we have in it. To recap Joel told us about.

· An outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

· Miraculous dreams, visions, and prophecy.

· Signs and wonders regarding the Day of the Lord.

· An invitation to call on the name of the Lord.

But it wasn’t enough, because Peter had not yet spoken about the saving work of Jesus on our behalf. Everything until this point had been introduction, explaining the strange things they just saw. Now Peter would bring the essential message. He begins with

During Jesus’ time on earth his ministry was guaranteed by threefold evidence—miracles, wonders, and signs—precisely the marks of an apostle which Paul identified in

2 Corinthians 12:12 CSB

The signs of an apostle were performed with unfailing endurance among you, including signs and wonders and miracles.

The credentials of Paul’s apostleship were his

signs, wonders, and mighty deeds.

They were also the credentials of our Lord. The sign is defined as a “token and indication of the near presence and working of God,” while a wonder refers to “the effect of astonishment, which the work produces upon the observers.

Men of Israel, hear these words Peter had already said this once. But he was reiterating by saying, let this be known to you, and heed my words. Peter wanted people to pay attention, and he spoke as if he had something important to say. It's like when I ask you just stick with me. I'm saying don't lose your attention, stay with me I'm getting to the next point I'm laying the basis for what I have to say next. Then Peter says as you yourselves also know: Peter referred to what these people already knew about Jesus. They already knew of His life and miraculous works.

Being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God: Peter knew that Jesus’ death was in the plan of God. At the same time, those who rejected Him and called for His execution were responsible for the actions of their lawless hands. Peter did not flinch at saying, “You crucified this Man who God sent.” His first concern was not to please his audience, but to tell them the truth. The Spirit-filled Peter was a different man than the Peter who, a few months before this, denied even knowing Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75). This is another great example of not only what was being preached from the very beginning but how things were being preached. They were being priests in love and in truth and with the power of the Holy Spirit. But take a notice here Peter did not flinch it's saying you crucified this man who God sent, his first concern was not to please his audience but to tell the truth. Honestly this convicts my heart. We've become too worried about getting the amens, we've become too worried about being accepted and hoping everybody leaves here hunky Dory all pumped up and charged up on a sermon the was tailor made to make them feel good. That's not what Peter did, as we get further in acts, we're going to see that's not what Paul did, that's not what Steven did, they took him out and stoned him. But when I preach in truth it is 100% wrapped in love because if I didn't love you I wouldn't tell you the hard things if I didn't love you I would give you a 20 minute sermon on things that I know will just make you feel great but I have to listen to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit convicts us he corrects us he shows us the way when we lose our way and that doesn't always feel good but it is always wrapped in love. So, the next time you hear somebody say well they're preaching hell fire and brimstone over there understand that the church was founded on preaching the truth wrapped in love that doesn't always make you feel good. There's Wednesday nights and Sunday nights that you should walk out of this building not feeling bad condemned or shamed but feeling convicted about growing closer with the Lord feeling convicted about things in your life that that need to change and if you never walk out of here feeling that way I haven't done my job because I know the Holy Spirit convicts me and if I'm listening to him and preaching what he's telling me to preach there will be conviction coming to your heart about certain things.

e. It was not possible: Peter knew that Jesus could not remain bound by death, as explained by the following quotation from Psalm 16. It was not possible that Jesus should remain a victim of the sin and hatred of man; He would certainly triumph over it.

. Having loosed the pains of death: In the phrase pains of death, the word pains is the word for “birth pains.” In this sense, the tomb was a womb for Jesus.

ii. “It was not possible that the chosen one of God should remain in the grip of death; ‘the abyss can no more hold the Redeemer than a pregnant woman can hold the child in her body.

. For David says concerning Him: Peter recognized that though this Psalm spoke of David, it spoke of someone greater than David – the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. Jesus may have taught Peter this when He instructed the disciples in the Scriptures like

Luke 24:44–45 CSB

He told them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.

While Jesus was with them, before His death, He had frequently indicated that the Scriptures must be fulfilled. In the Hebrew canon there were three main divisions—the law, the prophets, and the psalms. The Law consisted of the first five books of the Old Testament. The Prophets took in Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings, as well as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve Minor Prophets. Everything else went into the Writings, or the Psalms. What is implied here is that every part of the Old Testament speaks of Christ in some way. Something new has been added. Not only was David’s psalm a messianic prophecy, but the application of the psalm to Jesus is also linked with the fact that the Messiah came in David’s line. David may have considered himself a shepherd and a king, but Peter tells us he was also a prophet, whether aware of it or not. We see here a major key to understanding Scripture, namely—Christ is the unifying link between Old and New Testaments. Luke had already concluded his first report to Theophilus on precisely this point: “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them ‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses to these things. So, wait a minute here. Not only was the gospel of Jesus Christ being preached at the very beginning of the church, but it was being preached in the Old Testament also. It said that this is what is written the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in Jesus’s name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

. Not only did David understand Jesus’ coming, but he also foretold his resurrection. Standing in the crowd that day were many residents who were familiar with the events that had transpired in Jerusalem less than two months earlier. Just in case their memories had lapsed, Peter raised again the broad banner of those courageous early Christians: we are all witnesses of the fact.1

Your Holy One: Jesus bore the full wrath of God on the cross, as if He were a guilty sinner, guilty of all our sin, even being made sin for us

2 Corinthians 5:21 CSB

He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Yet, that work was an act of holy, giving love for us, so that Jesus Himself did not become a sinner, even though He bore the full guilt of our sin.

i. This is the gospel message; that Jesus took our punishment for sin on the cross and remained a perfect Savior through the whole ordeal – proved by His resurrection. Apart from the resurrection, we would have no proof that Jesus successfully, perfectly, paid for our sins