“And that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:20-21).

Jesus Christ is in heaven, ruling at God’s right hand (Acts 2:32-36). While there, “the times of restoration of all things” occurs. God spoke about the “times of restoration of all things” through His prophets. Let us hear God’s definition of this restoration. Peter begins with Moses, who told of a Prophet God would raise up and to whom every soul must listen or be destroyed (Acts 3:22-23; Deut. 18:15, 18-19). Peter applied this prophecy to Jesus. Next, he points out that “all the prophets from Samuel” onward “foretold of these days,” when the Prophet came bringing restoration. Peter and his contemporaries lived in “these days” and were witnessing “the times of restoration of all things” (Acts 3:24). Thirdly, God sent His Servant Jesus to the Jews to begin the restoration of all things that He promised to their fathers (Acts 3:25).

What was this blessing of restoration? It was redemption from sin (“in turning away every one of you from your iniquities,” Acts 3:26). Soon, Gentiles would be brought into this redemption, since “all the families of the earth” are blessed in Abraham’s Seed (Christ) (Acts 3:25; Rom. 1:16-17; Gal. 3:16).

The “restoration of all things” God foretold is now summed up in Jesus Christ. The gospel age is the “fullness of the times” when God sums up all things in Christ and administers redemption from sin with the eternal inheritance “according to the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:10-11). The “restoration” is the spiritual renewal of sinners in Jesus Christ (Acts 4:11-12).