The Blueprint
Acts 1:1-2 … 1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles
whom He had chosen. Acts bridges the gospels and the epistles. Believed to be written about 62 AD, the physician’s work traces fulfillment of the Great Commission.—recording the rapid expansion of the gospel according to Jesus’ outline from Jerusalem until it spread throughout the Roman Empire to the ends of the earth. The emphasis on the ministry of the Holy Spirit makes it a record of the acts of the Spirit of Christ working in and through the apostles. It covers the three sections of Jesus’ Great Commission. First, there is the witness in Jerusalem, demonstrating the power of the church and the progress of the church. Second, there is the witness in Judea and Samara with Philip’s witness, Saul’s conversion, and Peter’s ministry. Third, there is the witness to the end of the earth, Paul’s missionary journeys and the trip to Rome. Look at text … “all that Jesus began both to do and teach”—that work is not yet finished! Jesus’ work and words continued through His apostles and other faithful Christian witnesses, and it still goes on in the work of the church today. How does the Holy Spirit fit in? The Old Testament records the Holy Spirit coming upon many of the Lord’s servants. During His earthly ministry, there is no reference to the Holy Spirit being upon anyone except Jesus. The Great Commission, a plan to spread the gospel throughout the earth, by a process of transition from Jesus to His followers, with power by the indwelling presence of the Spirit. Where do you fit in?
Sin cera, Erik
Erik O. Garthe is Associate Pastor at Canton Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland.