In Acts 10:36 Peter speaks of Christ as the One who is “Lord of all.” All refers here to all men, all peoples (1 Tim. 2:4). Christ in His ascension is the Lord not only of the Jews but also of the Gentiles. He is the Lord of all the different races and peoples on earth. With Him there is no respect of persons. As the Lord of all, Christ is the Lord of the Jews and the Gentiles for all of them to be saved.
Acts 10:39-43 indicates that Christ was done away with on a tree by the Jews, raised on the third day by God, and designated by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead; whoever believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins.
In verses 39 through 41 Peter speaks to Cornelius concerning Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection: “We are witnesses of all the things which He did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem; whom also they did away with by hanging Him on a tree. This One, God raised on the third day; and He has made Him manifest, not to all the people, but to witnesses appointed beforehand by God, to us, ones who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead.” In verse 40 Peter says that God raised this One, but in verse 41 he says that the Lord rose from the dead. Regarding the Lord as a man, the New Testament tells us that God raised Him from the dead (Rom. 8:11). However, considering Him as God, the New Testament tells us that He Himself rose from the dead (14:9).
In Acts 10:42 Peter says, “He has charged us to proclaim to the people and solemnly testify that this is the One who was designated by God to be the Judge of the living and the dead.” Here we see that Christ has been designated the Judge of all mankind. He will judge both the living and the dead. The resurrected Christ at His second coming will be the Judge of the living before the millennium on His throne of glory (Matt. 25:31-46; 2 Tim. 4:1). He will also be the Judge of the dead after the millennium on the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15). Therefore, the Lord will exercise God’s judgment over all men, over the living and the dead.
In Acts 10:43 Peter continues, “To this One all the prophets testify that through His name everyone who believes into Him will receive forgiveness of sins.” This proves that even though Cornelius feared God and worked righteousness and his prayers and alms had been accepted by God, he still needed God’s forgiveness of his sins through believing into Christ the Redeemer. Although he was devout, he was yet still sinful and could not say that he had not sinned. Thus, he needed redemption and forgiveness. Christ, who is the Judge of the living and the dead, can also be experienced and enjoyed as the Redeemer into whom we may believe to receive forgiveness of sins.