Our hope & goal is to receive the mind of Christ as we study the New Testament book of Acts. This is how we become bold witnesses of Jesus Christ and devoted lovers to the Kingdom of God with kingdom hearts & kingdom minds.
Quick synopsis of Acts
Authored by Luke, a doctor, researcher, and physician. Acts was written as a sequel to the Gospel account that Luke first wrote. Making Acts much like the “part two” book or the continuation of the ministry of Christ. I recommend FIRST reading the Gospel according to Luke then shimming your way over to Acts to get the fullness of the new covenant story.
Acts was written when the church existed across the Mediterranean world. Written for both the Jews and the Gentiles, as the original audience was a guy named the most excellent Theophilus (the same guy that Luke wrote his Gospel account to). Acts is not written as the events that took place before the epistles (letters) were written. Most of the epistles chronologically fit into the books of Acts. For example, Paul wrote Romans while he was in Corinth on his 2nd missionary journey around Acts 20.
The Gospel according to Luke is a very theologically rich Jewish book starting and ending in Jerusalem.
Interestingly enough, the book of Acts transitions from Jewish emphasis to a Gentile focus. Starting in Jerusalem and ending in Rome with a proclamation to bring the Gospel to all the nations!
Luke’s Gospel account(part 1) records old covenant prophecies being fulfilled and a historical records of the first followers of Jesus while the book of Acts(part 2) reveals an account of the birth of the church and demonstrates how salvation came first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.
The entire Bible, Old and New Testament, was originally written by Jewish people, for the Jewish people, to point us to THE Jewish man, Jesus Christ. Born and raised in Israel, by His Jewish mother Mary, Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah of the Jewish people. He is THE One and only Savior of the Israelites, the One and only Savior of the entire world! Therefore, to understand any book of the Bible we must begin our journey to understanding our Saviors Jewish roots, our Jewish brothers and sisters, ancient and modern Judaism, and the rich culture that is reflected throughout the entirety of the Scriptures.
Up until this point, Acts 1, 99% of those that knew the God of Israel and Jesus Christ, those people were Jewish! Who knew the small nation of Israel like I know my home state of Michigan. They knew their culture like I know American trends, slang, and norms. These people knew what it meant to be Jewish and knew how to understand the Old Testament. Meaning, all of the assumed culture and tradition did not need to be overly explained as it is what the people knew.
So, if you haven’t picked up on it yet, Jesus Christ is a Jewish man and the Bible is a very Jewish eastern text originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and later Greek. The Old Testament is a combination of the many Jewish writings that make up the very Word of God: the Torah, TaNak, Prophets, etc…The New Testament is compiled and recorded by Jewish men and women.
So why am I going on and on? Because, Christians or those who are just embarking on their knowledge of Christ and the Word, we must know our roots and what we are getting ourselves into when we are reading the Bible. Especially those of us who are Gentiles, non jews, who don’t know Jewish culture or the Hebrew language!
SAY IT WITH ME: It is okay that I will not understand all of what I read in the Bible the first time around or even the seventh time around. SAY IT AGAIN! My grandma told me when she was 90 years old, that she had read the entire Bible every year for 70 years and every time Holy Spirit showed her something new! As Bible students, we are truly life time learners, unto eternity!
Any who, my main point is this: to understand the book of Acts in all of its nooks and crannies, we have to take extra time getting to know the author, the audience, the purpose, the original language, the culture, and family traditions of that time period. This goes for how we approach every book of the Bible!
Spoiler alert, if I can even spoil the Bible? Haha! This is the FIRST book of the Bible to where we see that transition from salvation being first to the Jewish and then… drum roll please… SALVATION TO THE GENTILES!
This is where the Gospel is first preached by followers of Jesus, the Holy Spirit is poured out, and missions is commissioned across the Earth. This is why we HAVE to never cut off a verse… because how sad for the rest of the Earth if salvation was only for the Jews? But our God, our Creator, our Savior is so good that He has plenty of room for ALL of us. To become ONE people, ONE body, ONE church, ONE nation.
This is what the book of Acts is all about. Acts is a historical account of how we get from the life and ministry of Christ in Israel to a global multicultural church.
The book of Acts reveals how salvation came to the Gentiles making the Church: a wide spread Movement across the Mediterranean world, Multilingual, Multicultural, Multinational, Multiethnic, and full of both Men & women, slave & free!
If you have never heard of the Bible Project on Youtube, GO CHECK THEM OUT. They have endless videos that are beautifully made and give great overviews on all the books of the Bible. Click here for their overview of Acts!
This was part one to the massive series we are releasing on the New Testament, brining you more on the Gospels, Acts, Epistles, Revelation, and topics like the Trinity, Spiritual Gifts, Hermeneutics, Women in Ministry, and more! Check out our Bible page and our Blog Archive for more! Leave a comment for any other books of the Bible or theological topics you’d love to read more on.
Keep Reading! Study Acts 1 HERE!
Happy Kingdom Building,
Cosette
