In this Easter season of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, let’s take a look at a message about Jesus that Peter delivered to worshippers at a temple. It is just as timely today as it was when he delivered it some 2000 years ago.
If we look in the Book of Acts at chapter 3, we see Peter and John going to worship at the temple when they saw a lame man begging for alms.
Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
The lame man was healed. He began walking around and leaping and praising the Lord in the temple. As you can imagine, this drew quite a crowd. So, Peter used the opportunity to preach the name of Jesus to the worshippers there.
Acts 3:16 And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
Now Peter preached very direct to them. He did not sugar-coat any part of his message. He told them they delivered up and killed Jesus. Now he could have kept going in that manner and told them they would burn in hell for what they did! He could have preached fear into them. But like Paul said in Romans 2, Peter knew that God’s goodness towards men is what causes true repentance. Look at what he said in verse 19:
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
Not “Repent or burn forever!” Not “Repent or your sins will find you out!” No, he told the crowd, “Repent so that your sins will be blotted out and times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord!” He was saying, “You want to repent so that your sins will be completely obliterated. You want to do this so that times of refreshing in the presence of Jesus will flow.”
As Peter continued preaching Jesus from the Scripture. He told them of the prophecies that point to Jesus. And he called the people “children of the covenant,” speaking of the covenant of God with Abraham. Look how he wove the prophecies of the coming Messiah in Scripture together into a personal invitation for people to turn from their sins and be blessed by Jesus.
Acts 3:26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”
As Peter said, God personally sent His Son Jesus to us to bless us as we turn from our sins. He wants to intercede in our lives with what He planned to do for us.
Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Because of Jesus, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing. Because of Jesus, we are God’s masterpiece to do good works.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
God is telling us that He wants to bless us, to act in our lives. He sent His Son to blot out our sins. Then He chose to put those iniquities from His mind. Now, through Jesus, He sees us as His righteousness. Now He can do what He always wants to do, to bless us:
Galatians 3:9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
So, we come back to the beginning of Peter’s message that day in the temple. That is: Have faith in the name of Jesus. Those that have faith in the name of Jesus are blessed. Choose Jesus. He has the power to heal you. He has the power to refresh you. He has the power to bless you. So, reach out and take those blessings and let Jesus work in your life. He wants to heal you. He wants to refresh you. And He wants to bless you!
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