This is the eighth in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.

---

Peter employs many terms to describe the return of Jesus, among them: “the time of restoration of all things,” the appearing of the “Chief Shepherd,” and “the day of the Lord.”

Acts 3:19-21 – Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out, that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send Jesus, who has been appointed for you as the Messiah. Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning.

The Lord has just used Peter to heal a lame man on the steps of the temple – a miracle that attracts a crowd and gives Peter an opportunity to preach about the Jesus in whose name the miracle occurred. 

Having suffered for our sins, Jesus is now at the Father’s right hand, an exalted position from which he rules with all authority and even heals lame men on earth. However, “the time of the restoration of all things” is on the horizon. 

The world is not as God created it, nor as he intends it to be. The whole creation groans beneath the weight of sin (Rom. 8:22), waiting for the return of Jesus, the creator and redeemer, to set things right. God has revealed all this through the Old Testament prophets, and Peter encourages his listeners to see how the Suffering Servant is also the soon-returning King.

Continue reading →