Lover of God

Acts 1:1-5

The writer of the gospel of Luke, doctor Luke, penned the book of Acts and it is a sequel to the gospel of Luke.  It is addressed to the same person, Theophilus and the Bible does not give us any clarity on this person other that this, Theophilus means “lover of God”, or “friend of God.”  Since all scholars pretty much agree that Luke and Acts were written in Koine Greek there is no argument regarding what the name signifies. 

Since it is a sequel we would be wise to have a clear understanding to the first manuscript as to what the writer is addressing.   The gospel of Luke begins in this manner: “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.  (Luke 1:1-4 ESV)  So whoever this man Theophilus is, it seems clear that he was taught the ways of Christ, and that he was considered by doctor Luke to be a man who is living up to his name.

The Acts of the Apostles begins in this way; “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.  And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”  (Acts 1:1-5 ESV)

I must apologize for chasing this rabbit, but why did the good doctor tell us about the forty days.  What is the significance of 40 days in the Bible?  When you begin to explore the forty days these jump off the page, but there are many more than these: Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness after his baptism. In Acts of the Apostles, Jesus ascended to heaven 40 days after his resurrection; the number 40 in the Bible seems to be symbolic of a period of testing. Just as Noah's faith was put to the test for 40 days and nights of rain, the children of Israel being tested in the wilderness for 40 years, and Jesus' fasting of 40 days before he began his public ministry.  So could the test of Jesus 40 days with His disciples before going to the Father, be our test of faith?

From the fall of mankind to now, we have all been waiting for the same thing, and yet many in and out of the church do not understand what they have been waiting for?  Each of us from the fall have been in a spiritual hunt for our soul, we want to be made whole, and Jesus the Creator and designer of each and everything is the one we are told in Scripture holds all things together.  So we need Jesus to restore us back to the original design, the design that walked with God in the garden, who talked with God in the garden, and who had no fear of anything, and surely not of God, they were one. 

Now Jesus knew all about flesh, he dressed in flesh for 33 years and He understood that flesh lived in fear of God and man, and that flesh wanted to live independent of God’s authority.  So Jesus told His follower, those who by faith in what they had seen and heard believed that Jesus was the only Son of God, the second man to live, the second Adam.  Note: You must understand that all men died in Adam, not the physical death but the spiritual death and so when Jesus showed up without the sin of Adam, in that His Father was God, Jesus was alive in His spirit as Adam was before sin entered and killed him.  We live in a world of flesh, that is warring with the Spirit of God that lives in all who have by faith entered into Christ, we needed a “Helper” we needed the promise of the Father to all who are in Christ, His Holy Spirit.  In verses 6-11 we will read the eyewitness report of the ascension of our Lord to the Father.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice