“With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Be saved from this crooked and perverted generation.” Acts 2:40

Save yourself from the crooked and perverted generation.

According to the dictionary, Crooked means dishonest or illegal. This refers to people who would do any dishonest or illegal things to get their plans and goals accomplished. Perverted means having been corrupted or distorted from its original course, meaning, or state which means people distort the original truth so that they can justify their course of action.
Today’s insight is part of Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost in the city of Jerusalem. People from all over the world were there on that day of the Jewish harvest festival. This happened about 50 days after the resurrection of Christ from the dead and about a week after His ascension into heaven. As Christ promised earlier, He sent the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, to abide in the believers forever to help, convict, remind, counsel, teach, guide, and empower them on this world to fulfill the mission of Christ.

You see, Jesus Christ Himself experienced both crookedness and perversion of the generation in the most severe form when he went to the cross to die in our place for all of our sins and to reconcile us to God the Father in heaven. In the same chapter in verse 23-24, Peter said to his listeners the eternal counsel of God behind the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Listen to what he said, “Jesus was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”

Beloved, did you notice Jesus was handed over to us by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge? In other words, Jesus, the Son of God was sent by God from heaven according to His eternal plan and counsel. However, it says you (the people who were listening to Peter) with the help of wicked men put him to death by nailing Him to the cross. Then God turned the coin for the fulfillment of His eternal plan and ultimate victory. God raised His Son, Jesus Christ from the dead because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. Why? Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, and He was sent by God in a rescue mission to save people from their sins and deliberate them from the power of the devil and demons. Then he preached this- “let all of you be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection was not an accidental event. Christ’s birth, ministry, death, burial, and resurrection were prophecied beforehand more than 300 times in the old testament scriptures, and all these Bible prophecies were fulfilled literally with pinpoint accuracy. Refer https://www.teachbible.org/prophecies-fulfilled-christ-jesus/ for more information about the prophecies already fulfilled in Christ.

When people heard the preaching of Peter, they were cut to their heart and said to Peter and other apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? To this question, Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. He also said, the promise of God in Christ Jesus is for you and your children and for all who are far off- this promise belongs to all whom the Lord our God will call. Did God call you to repent and be baptized? Did you obey it? Then all of God’s promises including the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit belong to you personally.
Then Peter said warned them with many words. Our daily insight appears at this time in chapter 2:40. It says, “He pleaded with them, “Be saved from this crooked and perverted generation.”

Dearly beloved, God is pleading with you to be saved from this crooked and perverted generation because He loves, has mercy and grace on you. Do you know God loves you? The pleading is an act of making an emotional or earnest appeal to someone. God pleads with us today in our daily insight. We should turn ourselves away from the crooked and perverted generation who continuously use dishonest and unjust ways to accomplish their goals and suppress the truth of God to justify their empty ways of life inherited from their ancestors. How can we get saved from this crooked and perverted generation? By repenting of our sins and get baptized by believing in the name of Jesus Christ, the savior of the whole world. Jesus is the savior of the world as a whole because He came and shed His innocent and divine blood for the world as a whole. He died and rose again for all people living everywhere at any time- near and far away. In response to the preaching of Peter, about 3000 people believed in Christ as the Lord and Savior and got baptized and joined the Church.

Beloved, crookedness, and perversion are the norms of today’s world culture. However, God is asking us to come out of the darkness, crookedness, and corruption by coming to the light of the world- Jesus Christ, the Son of God. God also plead us to walk in light on an ongoing basis as He Himself is light and no darkness in Him (1 John 1:5)

Got a moment for today’s prayer? Father in heaven, I know I live in the midst of a dark, crooked and perverted generation that continuously does dishonest and illegal things and suppress the truth of God by following the empty way of life handed down by their ancestors. When darkness is around me and crookedness and perversion are the norms of today’s culture, I want to get connected to the source of light, truth, and eternal life- Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I believe Jesus died and rose again for my sins. I accept Him as my savior and Lord. Please save me from this crooked and perverted generation Lord. In Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.”