| “Him (Jesus Christ) God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” – Acts 5:31 |
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| EXALTED in Heaven and in our HEARTS! As you read through the book of Acts you will find the apostles preaching four key things about Jesus Christ. They preached about His CRUCIFIXION; His RESURRECTION; His ASCENSION and His EXALTATION. For instance, as Peter preached on the day of Pentecost you will find in Acts 2:22, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, .. you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, (CRUCIFIXION) and put to death; 24 “whom God raised up, (RESURRECTION) 33 Being therefore exalted (EXALTATION) at the right hand of God (ASCENSION),…34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “’The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.”’ 36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.“ As you can see, one of the key points of the Apostle Peter’s Pentecost message was the EXALTATION of Christ. In our verse to DATE, Acts 5:31, he again includes with the crucifixion and resurrection the EXALTATION of Christ. Notice starting at Acts 5:30, “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. 31 “Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” The Apostle Paul would later write not only about His crucifixion but also His EXALTATION as he wrote to the Philippians in Philippians 2:6-11: 6 Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” What does the knowledge of Jesus Christ loving you so much that He becomes obedient unto death, dying for you and then conquering the grave by rising from the dead and then offering to you – you – a filthy, ungodly, unrighteous, wicked, evil person the forgiveness of your sins and the gift of eternal life do for you? I trust that there is within your heart a desire to EXALT Him!! To cry out worthy is the Lamb!!! Let us put into action Psalm 34:3 “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.” Verse to DATE the Word on May 31 (5/31) is Acts 5:31. It says, “Him (Jesus Christ) God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” If heaven has EXALTED Him then we should surely EXALT Him in our hearts! Continue Strong EXALTING our SAVIOR! And remember to DATE the Word |