Believe It or Not, God Fits Us into His Story

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                              Acts 1:1

Believe It or Not, God Fits Us into His Story

by Robert T. Cooper

The Story of what God was doing here on Earth was going on before my part in that Story came along. He was working in the lives of my great-grandparents, my grandparents, and my parents. From the time of my birth there were some other people around me that God was working in their lives. God began to fit me into His Story.

By God’s grace I placed my faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I became a disciple of Christ. By the teaching of the indwelling Holy Spirit and by His use of folk who invested in my life, I learned to walk with Jesus day by day. He even used me in ministry and made me fruitful to the praise of His glorious Name.

The Story goes on. Perhaps it will continue after I have been taken from the Story.

Luke begins the book of Acts talking about his former book, the Gospel of Luke. God’s Story began even before then. It began “in the beginning.” Luke wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach. The book of Acts was to be a continuation of God’s Story. That’s the same Story that has continued down to the present day.

Have you thought about what God was doing here on Earth before your part in His Story came along? Whose lives was He working in? Which people has He put around you to work into your life? How has God begun to fit you into His Story?

I look forward to your comments.

Acts of the Apostles

Royal Priesthood, Holy Nation                                       Acts 1:1 – 5

Acts of the Apostles

by Robert T. Cooper

It is commonly accepted that the author of the book of Acts is Luke, the traveling companion of Paul the Apostle. Luke enters the Acts narratives in Acts 16. When Paul has seen the Macedonian vision, Luke writes that “we” got ready and went to Macedonia. From there to the end of the book, many of the passages are written in the first person plural, as though Luke is a full participant in those passages. No explanation is ever given as to why Luke comes and goes from the narrative, although it is clear that Paul deploys his associates according to the needs of the ministry and it is assumed he would have done the same with Luke.

The first thing Luke does in the opening of the book of Acts is to refer to his former book. That would be the Gospel of Luke. There is continuity in the narrative and in the story of what God did as a result of the life and ministry of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Just as Luke carefully researched and wrote the Gospel narrative, so he carefully wrote and researched the narrative in the sequel.

Luke dedicated his Gospel to Theophilus, and Acts is dedicated to Theophilus as well. This might be an actual benefactor, a person paying for the publication of the works. It might be a person Luke is attempting to disciple through the works. It might be an actual name. Meaning “lover of God,” Theophilus might be a pseudonym for a single person or even for a group of people.

In the Gospel, Luke “wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach.” The implication is that what is going to happen in the book of Acts is a continuation of the actions and teachings of Jesus. It might not be Jesus in human form, but it is Jesus by His Holy Spirit Who is acting and teaching.

Luke mentions that

• Jesus ascended
•  He gave instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen
• Jesus suffered
• He showed Himself to the apostles
• Jesus gave many convincing proofs that He was alive
•  He appeared to them over a period of forty days
•  He spoke about the kingdom of God
• Jesus commanded the apostles not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit

All these things will play a role in the development of the book.