In 3:22 and 23 Peter points out that the Lord Jesus is a Prophet: “Moses indeed said, A Prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you, from your brothers, like me; Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He may speak to you. And it shall be that every soul, whoever does not hear that Prophet, shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.” As the Prophet, Christ speaks for God, and He speaks forth God.
In 3:25 we see that the Lord Jesus is also the seed of Abraham: “You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God covenanted with your fathers, saying to Abraham, And in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” In this verse the “seed” refers to Christ (Gal. 3:16). Here Peter seems to be saying, “The man Jesus, the Nazarene, the One despised by the Jewish leaders, is the seed of Abraham in whom all the nations of the earth will be blessed. Not only is He God’s Servant, the Holy One, the Righteous One, the Author of life, and the Prophet—He is also the seed of Abraham, in whom the entire earth will be blessed.”
The Healer in Acts 3 is marvelous. We should turn from the healing and pay attention to the Healer. We appreciate the healing, but we appreciate the Healer much more. This Healer is the One in whom all the families of the earth, all races, colors, and nationalities, will be blessed.
In our reading of chapter three of Acts we need to pay attention to all the points related to Christ as the Healer. He is the Servant of God and the Holy One, the One who was absolutely for God. As the Righteous One, He is right with God, with man, and with every thing in the heavens and on the earth. Furthermore, He is the Author of life. He is not only life—He is the Originator of life, the source and origin of life. He also brings in seasons of refreshing. When we contact Him, we are in a season of refreshing. This Healer is also the Prophet speaking for God and speaking forth God. Finally, He is the seed in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed.
We may read Acts 3 without paying attention to the aspects of Christ as the Healer revealed in this chapter. How is it possible for us to read this chapter without seeing these things? It is possible because of the influence of traditional theology. In our reading of Acts 3, this influence may keep us from seeing all the different matters related to Christ as the Healer. We need to see that the Healer is the Servant, the Holy One, the Righteous One, the Author of life, the Prophet, and the seed in whom all the families of the earth will be blessed. What a Healer He is! Instead of caring for healing, we need to enjoy the Healer. As long as we have the Healer, we shall have the seasons of refreshing.
After presenting Christ as the Healer in a number of different aspects, Peter utters a concluding word in verse 26: “To you first, God, having raised up His Servant, has sent Him to bless you in turning away each one of you from your wickedness.” God has sent back the ascended Christ to the Jews first by pouring out His Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Hence, the Spirit God poured out is the very Christ God raised and exalted to the heavens. When the apostles preached and ministered this Christ, the Spirit was ministered to people.
At the time Peter was speaking the word recorded in verse 26, God’s Servant had ascended to the heavens and was still there. Nevertheless, Peter told the people that God had sent Christ to bless them. What does this mean? Actually, God has received Christ into the heavens. But here Peter says that God has sent this ascended One to the people. In what way did God send the ascended Christ to the Jews? God sent Him by pouring out the Spirit. That was God’s way of sending the ascended Christ to the people. This implies that the outpoured Spirit is actually the ascended Christ Himself. When the outpoured Spirit came to the people, that was Christ, the ascended One, sent by God to them. From this we see that the poured-out Spirit is identical to the ascended Christ. In God’s economy for the experience of His people, the ascended Christ and the poured-out Spirit are one. In God’s economy Christ and the Spirit are one for our enjoyment.
In presenting Christ to the people, Peter spoke of Him as God’s Servant, the Holy One, the Righteous One, the Author of life, the Prophet, and the seed in whom we receive God’s blessing. Then Peter concludes by saying, “To you first, God, having raised up His Servant, has sent Him to bless you....” Here Peter seems to be saying, “God has sent this One first to you to bless you. How did God send Him? He sent Him in the way of pouring out His Spirit to you in order to bless you. Now you need to receive this One. He is not far from you. Although He is in the heavens, economically He is among you as the poured-out Spirit to bless you. If you call on His name, you will receive His person—the Holy Spirit. The name is ‘Jesus’ but the person is the Spirit. Call on the name of the Lord Jesus and receive the Spirit. Then you will have God’s blessing.” This is the way for us to receive the blessing God intends to give us by sending the ascended Christ back to us as the life-giving Spirit.