Peter called the crowd to repentance, promising “that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets” (3:19-21; emphasis added). Several features of this striking sermon command our attention.
The inauguration of the kingdom in Christ’s death, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of the Spirit directed believers’ hopes toward a coming consummation of the kingdom, when the King now enthroned in heaven would return to earth as the rescuer of his people and the judge of all. This is the promise that two “men” in white robes, angelic messengers from God’s heavenly court, announced to the dazed disciples as they stared upward after their departed Master: “Men of…
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