Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your wonderful ways. From the very beginning, Your plan was that all the nations of the earth should seek and come into Your habitat. Your plan was that we would be co-rulers over Your creation, under Your authority. We give You all the glory. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
The next matter that Peter brings across as he closes his message to his audience is that the gift of the Holy Spirit is for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.
Acts 2:38-40 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (39) For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” (40) And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.”
From the very beginning, the Lord’s plan is that all of creation should be in His habitat. Man was created distinctively, for we were created both as matter as well as with His Spirit. We were thus uniquely positioned to be co-rulers with Him, in His image, under His authority, to have dominion over all His creation.
We call this, ‘God’s cultural or creation mandate’. Genesis 1:26-28 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” (27) So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (28) Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The Lord, therefore, set in place a beautiful road map for us. This direction was given for us to exercise and experience His glory and joy as we would be co-rulers with Him, in His kingdom.
We lost our way from this beautiful plan of God because of our rebellion against the authority of God. We were groping in darkness, not knowing our way. God, because of His great love for us, came searching for us to restore us back to His original plan and purpose with which He began His love story with man and all of creation.
Through one man, Abraham, God was calling a family, community, and nation to reveal His glory, His plans, and purpose to the nations of the earth. Genesis 22:18 In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Paul amplifies this truth for us. Galatians 3:8-9 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” (9) So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.
This message of God that He is reconciling all the nations of the earth to Him was given to the Israelites repeatedly. Isaiah 49:6 Indeed He says, ‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ “
In drifting away from their faith walk with God, the Jews lost sight of God’s intent for them. Now, as the gift of His Holy Spirit was being poured, God’s plan to reconcile all peoples to Him was being refreshed. Acts 10:45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
This was a fulfilment of prophecy. Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear The name of the LORD from the west, And His glory from the rising of the sun; When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.
It is only in the fullness of His Holy Spirit that we can reveal the image of God. II Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
In coming back to the image of God, we would then be able to fulfil the original creation mandate, which is to have dominion over all of creation, in His kingdom. Thus, the Lord was once again reconciling all the nations of the earth to Him and restoring man to once again be co-rulers with Him, as the gift of His Holy Spirit was being poured on all people.
It takes our breath away as we dwell on the love of God to restore us to Him through the gift of His Holy Spirit.