God alone is the Creator. Man is the image-bearer of his Creator.
God alone regenerates. Man is in desperate need of regeneration, of being made alive when spiritually dead(Ephesians 2:1-4)
So you would never ask a mere human to perform a divine act like creation or regeneration, or would you?
You may have done what many in evangelism have done. That is, after presenting the truth of the Gospel, you invite the person to make a response to the Gospel. The response you ask for: “Make Jesus Lord”. After all, you do not want to invite the person to just make Him their Savior.
But think for a moment with me. To invite a person to make Jesus Lord is to enthrone self over the one true Lord and Sovereign. Jesus does not need anyone to make Him Lord. He is Lord!
In a monarchy, the citizens in the kingdom are subjects of the king. The king rules. The subjects submit to his rule. So, the invitation to respond to the Gospel should not be, “Make Jesus Lord” , but rather “Submit to His Lordship”.
So if Jesus is Lord, the question is: who has made Him Lord? The apostle Peter gives us the answer in the culmination of his sermon at Pentecost.
“Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Acts 2:36
The Lordship of Christ is established by the Father because as we can clearly see in Peter’s declarative statement, it was God the Father who made Jesus Lord. That is a divine act that God alone can do. No mere human can make Jesus Lord. He is Lord due to the fact that God the Father has made Him Lord.
Peter says that it is something his audience can “know for certain”. How can they have such certainty, such confidence, such assurance that God has made Jesus Lord. The answer to that question weighs upon the word “therefore”.
What is the “therefore” there for? It is there to force us to look at the context, specifically what comes before in the text. Well right before is the exaltation of Jesus(Acts 2:33-35). It is God the Father again who has exalted God the Son.
Peter uses Scripture to support this very point.
“For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies your footstool.”’Acts 2:34-35
He quotes from the most quoted Psalm in the New Testament, Psalm 110:1.
The Greek term for “sit” indicates that the Son is indeed seated next to God the Father and is told to continue to do so.
And where is Christ seated? At the right hand of the Father, a position of honor, power and authority. Notice it is the Father who puts the Son at His right hand, and this by His own initiative. It is the Father’s prerogative to appoint the Son to sit at His right hand in a position of honor, power and authority.
And until “I make your enemies your footstool.” Conquering kings emphasized their triumph by placing a foot upon the neck of some conquered king. A victorious king or general would place his feet on the neck of a defeated king.
“And when they brought those kings out to Joshua, Joshua summoned all the men of Israel and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, “Come near; put your feet on the necks of these kings.” Then they came near and put their feet on their necks.”
Josh. 10:24
“God thinks so much of His Son that He cannot set Him too high; He has placed Him at His own right hand…The great God thinks heaven and earth too little for Him, and magnifies Him exceedingly above all, as King of kings and Lord of lords. The place at the right hand of God, to which He is now exalted, is the place of power. There sits the Mediator, the Son of God, the man Christ Jesus,…”
Charles Spurgeon
Peter’s sermon at Pentecost is so theocentric, not anthropocentric, because he continually highlights what God has done. God has made Jesus Lord(Acts 2:36). God has exalted Jesus to His right hand(Acts 2:33-35). God raised Jesus from the dead(Acts 2:24, 32). Even Jesus’ crucifixion was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God(Acts 2:23).
Jesus is Lord! God the Father has made Him Lord. Will you submit to His sovereign rule today?
