'Both Lord and Christ'

This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, Until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. - Acts 2:32-36

    The subject before us in these verses is the exaltation and glory of Jesus Christ as Lord. This was the issue Peter pressed upon his hearers on the Day of Pentecost. He did not ask them to raise their hands, walk down the aisle, come to the altar, or say the sinner's prayer. Peter demanded as God's ambassador that those who heard him bow to, trust and acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord.

    Peter shows us in this part of his sermon that the singular purpose for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost was to announce the exaltation of Christ as Lord. The outpouring of the Spirit was not in any way a change in God's plan. It did not alter God's method of grace in salvation. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not the beginning of 'the church age', or a new 'dispensational age'. This mighty outpouring announced the exaltation of Christ. The exaltation and glory of Christ as Lord over all things is the theme of all gospel preaching, the acknowledgement of all true faith and the ground of the believer's hope.

    We must understand this: the one issue between God and man is the lordship of Jesus Christ. God demands that all men bow to and acknowledge the rightful dominion of his Son over all things. All men will bow to Christ, either in this life in repentance and faith, or in the Day of Judgement, but all will bow to Christ (Phil. 2:9-11).

    1. What is the significance of our Saviour's exaltation?

    Peter tells us that Christ is indeed exalted. The baby of Bethlehem is now the King of glory. The man we nailed to the cursed tree now sits upon the throne of universal dominion. The King of glory has come into his kingdom and taken possession of his throne (Ps. 24:7-10). What does that mean? What is the significance of Christ's exaltation?

    First, Christ upon the throne means that his work is finished and complete (Heb. 1:1-3; 10:10-14). Our great High Priest is pictured as a priest seated in the holy of holies, in heaven itself. In the Old Testament there was no chair in the holy place. Those priests could never sit down, because their work was never finished. Their sacrifices could never take away sin (Heb. 10:1-4). But our High Priest is seated in heaven, in a posture of rest, because his work is finished! All that was agreed upon in the covenant of grace he has done (John 17:4). He came to do his Father's will, and he has done it completely. He brought in, by his obedience in life, perfect righteousness for God's elect. By his death he satisfied all the demands of God's law and justice as our substitute (Isa. 59:16;63:1-5; John 19:30).

    Second, Christ's exaltation upon the throne of glory means that God the Father has accepted the sacrifice of his Son for the salvation of his people (Rom. 8:34). The believer's assurance that sin is pardoned is the ascension and exaltation of Christ. If Christ, who was made to be sin for us, is now exalted with everlasting glory upon the throne of God, then our sins that were imputed to him are gone for ever! His blood has indeed put away our sins!

    Third, the exaltation of Christ proclaims reconciliation between God and man (Col. 1:18-22). There is a man in glory whose righteousness has been accepted, whose death has satisfied the very justice of God. The debt for sin has been fully paid. Godhood and manhood are in perfect harmony in Christ, the God-man. Therefore, there is hope for men.

    Fourth, the exalted Christ is able to save fallen men (Heb. 7:25). Christ on the throne is able to save all who come to God by him. Christ on the throne is touched with the feeling of our infirmities. Christ on the throne is able to keep you from falling and to present you holy, unblameable and unreproveable before the presence of his glory! (Jude 24: Col. 1:22).

    2. What is the exalted Son of God doing in heaven?

    He is enjoying the honour and dignity he won as our mediator. In his divinity, as God, our Saviour has always enjoyed the bliss and glory of total sovereignty. Though he humbled himself as a man, even unto the death of the cross, he never ceased to be God over all! But as a man the Lord Jesus Christ earned the right to rule the entire universe (Rom. 14:9; Phil. 2:9-11). He enjoys the highest honour that heaven affords. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. And the honour he receives is well deserved (Rev. 5:9-10).

    The exalted Christ is ruling this world in total sovereignty (John 17:1-4; 1Peter 3:22). He is the only Potentate(l Tim. 6:15). He rules all things according to the eternal purpose and pleasure of God for the salvation and eternal, spiritual good of God's elect. And he rules all things well (Rom. 8:28).

    Christ, exalted in heaven, is making intercession for chosen sinners according to the will of God (Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2). On the basis of his perfect righteousness and blood atonement, he pleads with the Father for the salvation of his redeemed ones, the non-imputation of sin to them and their presence with him in glory at last (John 17:24), and he always prevails!

    The exaltation of Christ is a representative exaltation. That is to say, he was exalted as the representative of God's elect and we are already exalted with him (Eph. 2:5-6). So certain is the salvation of God's elect, so certain is it that Christ's redeemed ones will possess the glory of an eternal inheritance in heaven, that we are already possessors of it in Christ!

    3. What has the exalted Redeemer been promised?

    When he was exalted to the right hand of the majesty on high, God the Father promised his Son that he would make all his foes his footstool (Heb. 1:5,8-13). It is virtually done now and it will be carried out in all the universe. As he promised to make all Christ's enemies his footstool, the Father also promised the Son that he would save all his ransomed people (Isa. 53:10-12; Heb. 2:13). As I said before, all men and women will bow to Christ. You will either bow to him in faith, surrendering to his rule now, or you will bow to him in fear and trembling, acknowledging his sovereign justice in the Day of Judgement, but bow to him you will (Isa. 45:23-25).

    4. 'What shall we do?' (2:37)

    The people who heard Peter's message had sense enough to realize that there is only one way to deal with an absolute sovereign. We must bow to his claims, acknowledging his lordship over all things (Rom. 10:9-10; 1 Cor. 12:3). True faith involves surrender to the rule and dominion of Christ as a willing servant to him (Luke 14:25-33). Where there is no surrender there is no faith!

    Let every believer rejoice. Christ is exalted. Christ is Lord. That means all is well! Let us trust him in all things, rejoice in him in all circumstances, walk before him in submissive faith and wait for him with hope and expectation (1 John 3:2).