Assured

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

ASSURED

Acts 2:33-36

 34 For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, "'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand 35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet." '  36 "Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

NIV

We finish up with the first part of Peters Sermon, before he gets into a conversational interaction with the crowd listening to him. Here he concludes the facts about David with his words about Jesus. What must it have felt like to be told that you just killed the Lord and Christ? We have thought about this before and understood that it is also our sin which caused Jesus to have to be crucified, and thus we are a part of that crowd even if we were not there at that time. Yet going forward from there we are also aware that Jesus is our Lord and he is our Christ. We also understand that we are not his footstool for we are not his enemy, but rather we are a friend of God’s, he calls us friend. Because we have accepted what Jesus did on that cross we know without a doubt that we are safe and secure from all alarms, for now we are leaning on the everlasting arms of Jesus. Before Jesus it was not possible for a man to defeat death, which is what Peter was saying about David. Although he was a great man, one of the forefathers of Israel, a king, a man who God testified as a man after his own heart, died and was buried, but Jesus defeated death, and now it is possible for man to cheat death, to not have to be captured by the grave. Jesus is our Lord and he is our Christ, we have the opportunity through him to gain eternal life. We know we will never be free of sin, not completely free. Yes, we can change our life, change our lifestyle, repent of many of the evil deeds we once did, and endeavor to live a life which is pleasing to God, but we will never be totally free of some sin. We certainly desire to do what is right, and stop doing anything which is wrong, yet like Paul we continue to do some wrong, and we do not do all that is right. It is a constant battle that wages within our soul, but at the same time we can be assured that Jesus is both our Lord and our Christ. He covered our sin by his blood. There is nothing more for him to do, in order for our sin to be forgiven. Yes, we need to continue to repent daily of those failures, those sins which we struggle with. Yes, we need to make every effort to live in a manner which pleases him. Yet the greatest pleasure God enjoys in our life is when we accept his Son as our Lord and our Christ. God loves his creation, all of mankind, which includes us. He loves us so much that he sent his one and only Son to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sin, so that we could return to our rightful place in his kingdom. What greater Joy can that be for both God and for us? So, yes we crucified Jesus, but as we will see, we have repented and we have been baptized in the name of Jesus and we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit. What more is there to life? So we can be assured.