Acts 3:21
Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Heaven received Jesus at His ascension to the Father's throne and must retain Him there until the time of restoration when God will send Him again. That restoration was foretold by God through all His holy prophets since the world began, from Moses and Samuel onward, pointing to Christ and the blessing of all nations in Him. It centers on Christ's second coming in glory to bring the kingdom, break the long rule of evil, and establish the peaceful kingdom of the Messiah over the whole earth. It means the removal of the curse, the restoration of humanity and the earth to the perfection of Eden, the renewing of the earth as the everlasting inheritance of the saints, and the complete and eternal destruction of Satan, evil, and all his work. Therefore Peter urges repentance and conversion so that sins may be blotted out when times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord before Christ is sent.
Words and Setting
Heaven received Jesus at His ascension to the Father's throne after His burial. Heaven must receive Jesus Christ who was before preached and retain Him there until the times of restitution of all things, when God will send Him again. That retaining lasts until the time when all things are restored as God foretold through the prophets from the beginning of the world.
Peter proclaimed this promise as the climax of Spirit-filled gospel preaching after the crucifixion, the resurrection, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He and the other witnesses testified with fervor and power, with Christ in them as an irrepressible well of water springing up to everlasting life. Their preaching gave the trumpet a certain sound in marked contrast to theatrical methods, while witnessing to Christ's death and resurrection.
That preaching charged the hearers with denying the Holy One and the Just, desiring a murderer, and killing the Prince of life whom God raised. It declared that His name through faith in His name had made the lame man strong and given perfect soundness. It joined the call to repent and be converted that sins may be blotted out.
The testimony astonished and grieved the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees because it preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. They laid hands on the preachers and imprisoned them. Yet many who heard believed to the number of about five thousand men in a day, including those who had feared to confess before the humiliation and crucifixion but now came out boldly.
The restitution was spoken by God by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. This included Moses foretelling that God would raise up a Prophet from the brethren like him to be heard in all things on pain of destruction from among the people. Samuel and all prophets after him likewise foretold these days, and the covenant with Abraham that in his seed all kindreds of the earth shall be blessed belongs to the same promise whose children inherit it. The prophets and patriarchs spoke of His mission and pointed to Him, for He is the key to the Old Testament whose prophecies and ceremonies reveal Him.
Promised Restoration
The restitution centers on the second coming of Christ and its glories, when He comes from heaven in the clouds with the glory of His Father to bring to the just the times of the kingdom. That coming was the faith and hope of saints and martyrs in dungeon, stake and scaffold, cherished also by the Waldenses and by Wycliffe, who being assured of His personal resurrection and consequently of their own resurrection at His coming despised death and were willing to go down to the grave that they might rise free. It means the breaking of the long-continued rule of evil, when the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of the Lord and of His Christ and He reigns forever and ever. Then the glory of the Lord is revealed and all flesh sees it together, the Lord causes righteousness and praise to spring forth before all nations, and He is for a crown of glory and diadem of beauty to the residue of His people.
It means the establishment of the peaceful and long-desired kingdom of the Messiah under the whole heaven. It means the comforting of Zion and all her waste places, the making of her wilderness like Eden and her desert like the garden of the Lord with the glory of Lebanon and the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, the end of being termed Forsaken and Desolate, and God rejoicing over His people as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride. At that time God restores Zion's waste places to beauty and peace.
Christ will remove the curse and its effects and restore humanity and the earth to Eden's perfection and glory. The Eden home of the first parents is to be restored to man through the sacrifice of Christ, showing the love of God. The cross restores to believers what was lost in Adam, as God foretold through the prophets from the beginning of the world. The completion includes the final triumph of God's people, the renewing of the earth as the saints' everlasting inheritance, the destruction of Satan and his followers and all that belongs to his work, the complete and eternal removal of evil from the universe, and the final end of the controversy between Christ and the powers of darkness.
The restitution is a restored creation and a redeemed race that has conquered sin and can never fall, flowing from Christ's completed work of redemption. God and angels saw this future as glorious even while Jesus rested in Joseph's tomb through the Sabbath hours, and the day on which He rested is forever linked with that scene. When the restitution comes the creation Sabbath will still be a day of rest and rejoicing, because His work is perfect and lasts forever, with heaven and earth united in praise as the saved nations bow in joyful worship to God and the Lamb from one Sabbath to another. Then the redeemed will live and speak and walk and talk with God, Christ, and the holy angels in Eden restored.
Repentance and Application
Heaven retains Jesus until the time of the restoration of all things spoken by God through all His holy prophets since the world began, and with that future restoration is joined the promise that the Lord will send Jesus who was before preached. The call now comes with striking force to repent and be converted that sins may be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord before Christ is sent. That urging of repentance and conversion is made in view of the judgment, in which people are judged according to the record of their deeds. The disciples proclaimed this prophetic testimony while witnessing to His death and resurrection.
The times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord is the time of the latter rain in the last days of the work of the third angel's message. Then through the gifts of the Holy Spirit there come diversities of operations in the outpouring of the Spirit, and the gift of prophecy continues in the church as a living voice to counsel, admonish, and instruct. At that same time Satan works with increasing power because he knows his time is short. This restitution was foretold by Moses that God would raise up a Prophet from the brethren like him to be heard in all things on pain of destruction from among the people, by Samuel and all prophets after him who likewise foretold these days, and by the covenant with Abraham that in his seed all kindreds of the earth shall be blessed, whose children inherit the promise.
Until that final restitution, separation from God's visible presence because of sin leaves humanity in need of the light of the spirit of prophecy. The continuing place of prophecy is supported throughout the ages, from the fall until the final restitution. When the redeemed again live and speak and walk and talk with God, Christ, and the holy angels in Eden restored, and God dwells with His people and they are with Christ, that need will end. His coming was the faith and hope of saints and martyrs in dungeon, stake, and scaffold, and the same faith was cherished by the Waldenses and by Wycliffe. Being assured of His personal resurrection and consequently of their own resurrection at His coming, they despised death and were willing to go down to the grave that they might rise free.
The promise that the Eden home of the first parents is to be restored to man through the sacrifice of Christ, showing the love of God, is to be taught to the sick for comfort and healing. Restitution also includes making right the wrong done when funds sent for the advancement of the Southern Field were used for other purposes. The neglected work must receive the means intended for it, and God is displeased with responsible leaders who failed to recognize its need and did not heed warnings.