“The promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call”
A gift of grace – For the promise
We see in the previous verse the promise which Peter here refers to – “you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit“. The gift of God’s presence to all who feel the guilt and shame of their sin and turn to Jesus Christ in repentance, seeking forgiveness. God who is of “purer eyes than to behold evil” (Habakkuk 1:13) graciously promises to dwell in the heart of the sinner whose trust and hope is in Jesus Christ.
This gift is the mark of all true believers – have we received this gift?
The depth of God’s grace – to you and to your children
This promise was made to those who were actively involved in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ (verses 23 & 36). Those involved in the greatest crime in history – the death of the Son of God had the grace of God extended to them. What does this tell you of His love and mercy and compassion?
There is no depth of depravity and evil that we can sink to that the grace of God cannot reach. There is no sin that cannot be cleansed by the death and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. However long we have lived for ourselves, however long we despised our Creator and His laws however we have mocked, rejected and denied Him, if we, like these Jews in the passage, experience the conviction of sin (verse 37) then we too can know the forgiveness of those sins and a restored relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
The breadth of God’s grace – to all who are afar off
Jesus told His disciples they would be His witnesses “in all Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ reaches across the globe and throughout time. It remains today the only hope of salvation and reconciliation with God, and it remains as effective and complete today as it did on that day of Pentecost two thousand years ago. Jesus Christ declared that His kingdom will be made up of those “out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” and the truth of that promise is undeniable as we look at the reach of His gospel across the world today.
The power of God’s grace – as many as the Lord our God will call
God has provided the means of salvation through His Son. He breaks the hardness of the heart through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit which draws the broken sinner to the Saviour, and He does it with a power that cannot be resisted or thwarted to the glory of His name.
Have we experienced the power of God’s grace, do we know the gift of His grace, can we testify in our lives to the depth and the breadth of that grace?
Taken from a sermon preached at Zion Baptist Church in May 2018.
