We continue our series, The First Sermons: A Study in the Book of Acts.

Continuing our First Sermons Series. 

We again look at the second half of Peter’s sermon in Acts 3. Not only is Peter emphasizing the importance of Jesus’ resurrection and the promise of restoration, he’s calling for a decision: repent, turn to God, and find salvation in Jesus alone. The application for today involves an expansion of how we understand Jesus in real life terms.

Peter builds to a crescendo in the last half of his sermon and declares that heaven has received Jesus until the time when God restores all things. Peter is saying that Jesus’ resurrection has launched the beginning of the new creation now, and it points to the final day when all things will be made right. This reality can change everything, especially our perspective in a world full of suffering.

In the front part of Peter’s sermon in Acts 3, he tells the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus. This is the one thing that he repeats every time he preaches: Jesus died and rose again. Although it’s a well-known story, it’s still as relevant today as it was when Peter first preached it two thousand years ago.

Peter heals a lame man in the Temple in Jerusalem before preaching his next sermon, recorded in Acts 3. There was nothing random about this miracle. It sets the stage for the rest of Peter’s sermon, and it tells us a lot about our future destiny with Jesus in the new creation.

After Peter’s sermon in Acts 2, many were cut to the heart and cried out, “What should we do?” Peter tells them to repent and be baptized. This is the pattern we see in the New Testament. The good news of Jesus is preached and people respond by being immersed in water. This is just as relevant today as it was on that day that Peter preached the first sermon.

In the final part of Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 he describes Jesus’s ascension into heaven. Quoting Psalm 110, he shows that the Messiah is not just David’s son but also the Lord who shares God’s throne as God Himself. Jesus is the rightful king of the world! This brings us to the quest we all have to ask: Who is my king?

When Peter quotes Psalm 16 to explain the resurrection of Christ, he’s demonstrating that Jesus is at the center of Israel’s story. All of God’s promises in the Old Testament are fulfilled in him. When we share in Jesus’ resurrected life, we share in all the promises written there.

In the next section of Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 he tells the people that they killed Jesus, but God raised him from the dead. He doesn’t say why Jesus died, but simply that he was killed and rose again. This simple story highlights the depth of sin in the human heart. When humans killed Jesus, sin and evil reached its peak. Jesus let human rebellion do its worst. But God’s power was stronger, and raised his Son from the dead. This has direct application for our lives now.