When Acts 2:36 says ‘God has made him both Lord and Christ’, does that mean he was not always Lord?
This text is from a transcript of a talk by David Gooding, entitled ‘Conforming our Spirits to the Spirit of God’ (2005).
The second person of the Trinity was always God. 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God' (John 1:1). Don't interpret that sentence as if it means the Word was God but isn't any longer. That would be a false emphasis. The emphasis in Greek is that the Word was God and nothing less. 'The Word became flesh and dwelt among us' (John 1:14); he became what he wasn't before, human, but without ceasing to be God. But now Acts is talking about his exaltation, and God has made him, that is, demonstrated him to be, both Lord and Christ (see Acts 2:36).
In the immediate context, it is by the fact that our blessed Lord poured out the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not so much stuff; I say it reverently. The Holy Spirit is the divine third person of the Trinity. If Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit, who must Jesus be? No other than one who is God could do it. In raising him from the dead, seating him at his own right hand, and giving him to pour out the Holy Spirit, God has made him both Lord and Christ—in the sense of demonstrating it to the world. He has given him a name which is above every name (see Philippians 2:9).