Christ’s ascension was God’s exaltation of Him. In exalting Christ, God made Him both Lord and Christ. The pouring out of the Holy Spirit is a proof that God has exalted the Lord Jesus and has made Him both Lord and Christ.
Acts 2:33 says, “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He poured out this which you both see and hear.” This is not the promise given by the Lord in John 14:16-17 and 15:26, but the promise given by the Father in Joel 2:28, quoted by Peter in Acts 2:17, and referred to by the Lord in Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:4, concerning the Holy Spirit. The exalted Christ’s receiving of the promise of the Holy Spirit is actually the receiving of the Holy Spirit Himself. Christ was conceived of the Spirit essentially for His being in humanity (Luke 1:35; Matt. 1:18, 20), and He was anointed with the Spirit economically for His ministry among men (Matt. 3:16; Luke 4:18). After His resurrection and ascension, He still needed to receive the Spirit economically again so that He might pour Himself out upon His Body to carry out on earth His heavenly ministry for the accomplishment of God’s New Testament economy.
In Acts 2:34 and 35 Peter continues, “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” This proves that up to the time of Pentecost David still had not ascended into the heavens. This annuls the inaccurate teaching based upon Ephesians 4:8-10 that when Christ resurrected He brought Paradise, with all the Old Testament saints, from Hades into the heavens.
In verse 34 David is quoted as saying, “The Lord said to my Lord....” The first “Lord” refers to God, and the second, to Christ, whom David called “my Lord” (Matt. 22:44-45).
Acts 2:34 speaks of the Lord Jesus sitting at God’s right hand. Here “right hand” denotes the position of glory, honor, and power (Exo. 15:6; 1 Kings 2:19; Mark 14:62).
According to 2:35, the Lord is to sit at God’s right hand until His enemies are made a footstool for His feet. This indicates that after Christ’s ascension God still works to defeat Christ’s enemies so that He may come back to reign in the universal kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:25; Rev. 11:15).
In 2:36 Peter concludes, “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” In this verse “you” is emphatic.
As God, the Lord was the Lord all the time (Luke 1:43; John 11:21; 20:28). But as man, He was made the Lord in His ascension after He brought His humanity into God in His resurrection. And as God’s sent and anointed One, He was Christ from the time He was born (Luke 2:11; Matt. 1:16; John 1:41; Matt. 16:16). But as such a One, He was also officially made the very Christ of God in His ascension. The Lord was made Lord, as the Lord of all (Acts 10:36), to possess all; and He was made Christ, as God’s Anointed (Heb. 1:9), to carry out God’s commission.