DUDLEY HALL — “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent …’” (Acts 2:36-38)

When an announcement is made declaring an event that affects everything, it is expected that all will want to know what to do. Doing the right thing in response is crucial. This is what happened on that special Pentecost. The Apostle Peter stood before the crowd and explained to them that what they were seeing was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophesies. He declared that the same Jesus many of them had misidentified was truly the Messiah and that through his life, death and resurrection he had turned the shadows of prior days into the substance of God’s invading kingdom on earth. God had acted in history in fulfillment of his promise and nothing would ever be the same. The same one the crowds had judged as an imposter, God had made Lord over all. Though rejected by Israel’s theologians, God declared him as the Jewish Messiah. Now they had a decision to make.

Contrary to the moralistic preaching of the American gospel, the New Testament gospel doesn’t begin with us. We are not told that if we will do the right thing God will respond to us. We are told that God has done something we could not do and it has fantastic ramifications for us. He has brought his historical narrative to a climax. All the plots and plans of history have their fulfillment in Jesus as the last Adam, the greater Moses, the ultimate high priest, the son of David, and the Lamb of God. In his life he demonstrated what intimacy with the Father was like. In his death he canceled the debt of our sin, redeemed us from slavery, and defeated the Serpent who deceived Adam and Eve. In his resurrection, he defeated death, gave hope for transformation, and began the new creation. In his ascension he rules over all that his death purchased and sent the Spirit to empower his people to live the life he have them.

What are we to do? If this is the new reality what does it mean? Nothing short of total trust in him will do. We trust him for the forgiveness of sins. Those old accusations that have taunted us for years can be displaced by our acceptance of his grace. We trust him for guidance. We cannot trust our own thinking. He has given us his Spirit to guide us according to the truth. We trust him for power to love. We have been loved by the transforming power of his life, and that gives us the privilege to love as he loves. In fact we trust him because he alone is trustworthy. In that trust we find the peace and rest for which we have long searched.

We are not focused on trying to do better so God will somehow bless us. We are repenting by believing a new reality and learning how to live in it. Something grand has happened! What shall we do? Repentance is a good thing.