Acts 2:36-39: Acts of Forgiveness

Acts 2 is quite a dramatic chapter in the Bible and parts of it read like a suspense-filled thriller movie. Acts 2 speaks about an appearance of the Holy Spirit after Jesus has returned from the dead. It shows the power and authority of God to all who are present. The signs in this chapter show that Jesus is King; Jesus is God and as Peter speaks to them, the people realize that Jesus is the Christ and they understand, Verse 36, that they have killed the Christ, the one they have been waiting for to save them. They have killed him.

These people now standing in front of Peter are like repentant children in front of the school principal, realizing that they’ve done something terribly wrong. They realize that Jesus is the Christ and they realize that they’ve killed him. We’ve killed him and now Jesus is back from the dead. If we didn’t know the ending and for those present who don’t, it could be like a 1970s horror movie. You wrongfully kill someone and they come back from the dead to set things right! That is what Jesus did. The people in our text today are hoping against hope to somehow make it right with this Jesus whom they have killed and who has now returned from the dead. Verse 37, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter says, Verse 38, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.” Now this is significant. Jesus is ushering in the Kingdom of God. And what does this Kingdom look like? It is a Kingdom of forgiveness. It is a Kingdom –like the Lord’s Prayer says - where we forgive those who do things against us and God forgives us what we have done – even our sending God’s own son to die on the cross. This is what it looks like when we are a part of God’s Kingdom; this is what it looks like when we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Christ has already forgiven us everything. As we accept the forgiveness, as we repent and as we forgive others, we will be forgiven and we will be a part of his Kingdom of Forgiveness.

Questions for today: Is it evident in our lives that we are a part of God’s eternal Kingdom of Forgiveness? Do we forgive others as Christ has forgiven us?

More daily blogs at

https://salvogesis.blogspot.ca/

Comments

Low Saturday (Genesis 3, Revelation 21)

Hello, I am Major Michael Ramsay from TSA. As well as running The Salvation Army, the Bread of Life soup kitchen, shelter and The Salvation Army thrift store, I am a Christian pastor / teacher. This weekend is Easter. That is the most important time on the Christian Calendar. Christians acknowledge Jesus as God. Our teachings tell us that God, as creator, created the whole world. And when He did it was perfect. Not only did we not harm each other, ourselves or the earth; but we never got sick, we never got injured; and the earth itself – the trees did not fall to the ground and die. Animals did not eat animals. All of creation was in perfect harmony. The Creator even walked in this Garden He created with people He created. Then something happened. The first people created made a choice. Because of this choice, death, decay, harm and hurt entered the world. Where there was none before, now there was illness, injury and death for all of creation. Plants, animals and al...

Psalm 147:7-11: Does God Prohibit the Kilt?

7 Sing to the Lord with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp. 8 He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. 9 He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call. 10 His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man [or ‘the warrior’]; 11 the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. Psalm 147:10 : “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man.” I thought this was an appropriate passage to look at on Robbie Burns Day. For Christmas one year Susan bought me some Bible Commentaries on Psalms. In one of these books the author, Peter C. Craigie, from Scotland, writes: …. It was the custom in Scotland for boys to ...

Luke 24:38-34: Revelation of a King

James V, the King of Scotland used to go around the country disguised as a common person. That is because he wanted to meet the everyday people of the country not just the rich and powerful. He wanted to see how the normal people lived. One day he was dressed in very old clothes and was going by a place known as Cramond Brig, when he is attacked by robbers who don’t know who he is. There is a fierce struggle and he is nearly overcome when, at just the right moment, a poor farm worker - Jock Howieson - hears the commotion comes to the disguised king’s aid. Now Jock, the poor labourer, who works on this portion of the King’s land, Cramond Brig, unawares takes the undercover king home and gives him a dinner of broth and Jock - as the king is recouping – naturally asks the man who he is. The King responds ‘I’m a good man of Edinburgh.’ ‘And where do you live in that city and where do you work?’ ‘Well,’ says James, ‘I live at the palace and I work there too.’ ‘The palace, is it?...

Salvogesis

Search This Blog