Sermons are rarely thorough enough nor do they address every issue in full detail.  Sometimes it’s hard to discern what is most important to present and what should stay in the warehouse.  My sermons start the process on Monday, a rough draft by Thursday, and editing continues  until 9:30 on Sunday morning.  This past Sunday I covered most of Acts 3.  What I didn’t address but surely could have were the issues of dispensational vs covenant theology. I edited it out because of the practical reality of time, context, and larger points of the text.  Here is some of the retracted study that didn’t make the sermon cut but might be of interest to some of you.   I do believe Acts 3:20-21 speaks strongly for a covenantal view.

Christ must remain in heaven “until the times of restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21a). The word “until” shows Christ will remain in heaven, where he is since being “received” there at his ascension. The force of “until” makes the times of restitution simultaneous with Christ’s mediatorial session in heaven. When he returns he will complete, rather than initiate, the times of restitution.

This “restoration of all things” has already begun, having been instituted during the ministry of Christ. In fact, Peter informs his auditors of the events begun in their time: “Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days” (Acts 3:24). This is also clear from Matthew 17:11, where John the Baptist functions as an Elijah introducing the restoration of all things.

The restoration is a reformation that supplants the old order (Heb. 9:10). It is a process leading to “the regeneration” of the fallen world as a system (John 1:29; 3:17; 4:42), where Christ’s will shall be done in earth (Matt. 6:10), as His kingdom grows and spreads (Matt. 13:31-33; 1 Cor. 15:20-27). It is the fulfillment of all things “which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21), as in Isaiah 2:2-4; 9:1-7; 11:1ff. Acts 3:24-25 demonstrates that “these men of Israel who stood listening to Peter were ‘sons of the prophets’ — not in the OT sense of the words which denoted the professional prophetic guild, but in the sense that they were heirs of the promises made by God through the prophets — promises which had found their fulfillment before their very eyes. So, too, they were ‘sons of the covenant’ made by God with Abraham, and that in a special sense, for they had lived to see the day when that covenant came true in Christ: ‘In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed’” (Bruce, Acts, p. 93).

This fulfillment progressively grows during “the times” of the “restitution of all things.” “The gospel blessings that were to flow from His death and resurrection must spread abroad throughout the world, and then He would return from the right hand of power” (Bruce, Acts, p. 91). Even rebellious Israel will be re-incorporated into the kingdom (Acts 1:6; Rom. 11). Christ will not return in His Second Advent until this reformation / restoration/ regeneration/ redemption has overwhelmed the earth.

The Davidic hope is not put on hold until the future millennium, as per “revised” dispensationalism. Neither is it but partially here, only to be fully established in the future millennium, as per “progressive” dispensationalism. The Davidic promise as found in Acts 3:20-21 provides hope for the future, to be sure. But it is a growing developing hope in the present; a hope that results in a glorious time in earth’s history that is continuous with the present.

Why does this matter?  Because when IK speaks of her mission as not only to be redeemed by the Gospel but to proclaim the Gospel of Christ for the redemption of all things, we are not wringing our hands and waiting for this life and world to end so we can get to the party. We believe that indeed the party has already started, so let the good times roll!

And for the record I do use Bock’s (Dispensational) and Bruce’s (Covenant) commentaries as references on Acts. For further reading on some of these issues (hermeneutics regarding the new heavens and the new earth) I recommend Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright.