A Letter to the Lover of God was written based on These 2 things
(“The former account I
made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach” Acts 1:1 NKJV)
Luke cannot help but to share the love that is burning in
his chest. Words and thoughts are ways to express his desire to get this person,
whose name is called in Greek as “The Lover of God”, closer to the God. Just as
Psalms 2:7 says “I will declare the decree: the Lord has said to Me, You are My
Son, Today I have begotten You.” So Luke also, declaring Jesus beginning from the Gospel
that is Jesus' Biography, to this epistle which covers the church history.
This letter is the second part of the Biography of Jesus
and it emphasizes upon the history of the church. The epistle commenced the
resurrection, ascension of Jesus to the prevalent of the Gospel to the end of
the world. However with all the resources gathered including personal interviews
with people mentioned in Acts, direct or indirectly, the purpose of this letter
is to bring spiritual blessing to the reader to trust Him more. Just as Psalms
2:12 says “…Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him”.
There are two things that impressed Luke to write the
letter of Acts to Theophilus and both of them is centered on Jesus. The two
qualities that the church is rooted upon are none other than:
- Jesus as a doer: Luke is the author of the Gospel of Luke. He covers the story of Jesus before He was born, His death on the cross and His resurrection. Luke pay much attention of Jesus as the doer of the law by painting on the details of how Jesus was tempted and rejected in Luke 4, questioned by the Pharisees in Luke 5, challenged by the Pharisees and tested by the Sadducees in Luke 20, betrayed, denied, mocked and beaten in Luke 22, and eventually crucified in Luke 23. Jesus walked the talk and as Hebrews 2:18 says “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.” Application for us is that: He can relate to our sufferings and trials and He shows more empathy to us because of all that He has gone through
- Jesus as a teacher: His teaching relates to the inner most of human being. He connects the heart of sinners and counteracts them with the will of God, He deflects man’s desire to sin and attract the desire of God in their life and He explained the law of God in parables and illustrates them so they can understand. As a teacher, He goes to the level of His listeners to connect Himself with the hearers. Mark 1:2 says “And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” That verse proves that His teaching is productive and bearing fruits to the hearers.
Luke, by and large, asserting the ministry of Jesus that
rapidly spread throughout the whole earth. From the disciples to the apostles
and the church by the empowering of the Holy Spirit the ministry has continued and
will continue until His coming on the air. The two qualities of Jesus that is
unchanging and still reverberate the church today is both the teaching and
being the doer of the law. Do you think both qualities are still practiced in your
church today?
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