“Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” (Acts 2:36)
Once when I was young and naïve, I was surprised to hear an older apologist say that Christianity is a “reasonable faith” (I thought these words were an oxymoron, like “act naturally”). Eventually God turned me around and built up my faith in Christ as He does for all Christians, but this made me realize that faith is not blind trust in the face of contrary evidence. Rather, biblical faith is confident trust in God whose promises have been proven true from generation to generation. In the Old Testament, as the eternal God made promises and kept them, the people held the unfulfilled promises in faith, “the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen” (Heb. 11:1). By looking to the past for proof of God’s faithfulness, we can have reasons to trust in Jesus Christ today.
There are so many fulfilled prophecies from the Old Testament; I will mention only the ones cited in Acts 2. The first prophecy Peter mentions was foretold by Joel concerning the outpouring of the Spirit and great signs. The second prophecy Peter cites is a prophetic psalm of David that the one of David’s descendants would not “see decay.” Both of these prophecies came true in Jesus Christ, the only son of David who conquered death. God raised this Jesus, exalted him to his right hand, and poured out his Spirit (Acts 2:32). The Jews were witnesses to the Spirit working, and they could not deny it!
This masterful plan was as if God were trying to get their attention, saying, “Look at this Jesus! Remember the miracles he performed? You crucified him, but now I made him Lord and Messiah! You can be certain that I did this for you.” Today you can be certain: This Messiah and Lord rules over the universe, but He wants to rule over your life. He is good.
Many are going through hard times right now. But you can be certain about God. Look to what God has done in Christ, stand firm on His promises kept, and sing…“On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand.”