LIFE SCRIPTS

While the man held on to Peter and John, all the people were astonished and came running to them in the place called Solomon’s Colonnade. When Peter saw this, he said to them: “Fellow Israelites, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see. “Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Messiah would suffer. Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’ “Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”
Acts 3:11‭-‬26 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/act.3.11-26.NIV.

Peter took the healing of the lame man as an opportunity to point people to Christ. Picture this: a man living with disability from birth all of a sudden rises up and walks again. People congregate and marvel at the sign and wonder. What will I do if I was the custodian of the miracle? Well, Peter chose to point people to Christ. He spoke of the life of Christ on earth…how He was betrayed by His own people the Israelites. How He was tortured and killed by the same people Peter was speaking to. Tortured and killed by them but He also died for them. Christ has offered Himself for us in that while we were yet sinners He died for us. Though we walked in sin and disobedience, He still reaches out to us offering us the opportunity of salvation. The healed man stood next to Peter and John. Something had changed so drastically in his life: his circumstances. He was lame, but now he could walk. The shackles that had bound him from birth were broken and he was free. When we encounter Christ, we do not remain the same. He transforms us into better people. We might not experience physical healing but spiritual restoration. Our realities change and we become new creatures. Just as Isaiah says, ‘behold I am doing a new thing’ (Isaiah 43). When we encounter God through His Spirit, we are never left the same again. We are transformed into Christ-like people. We are made new. Peter and John didn’t need to emphasize this fact. All could see it and behold. Do people see the newness in us after an encounter with Christ?