Every Thursday starting January 8, 2009
Location: SUB 212A
Time: 12pm
We need to ask this question: where does the book of Acts stand among all the books of the Bible? The book of Acts is between the four Gospels and the Epistles, which include the book of Revelation. Hence, the book of Acts is a dividing line. Before Acts, we have the four Gospels as the continuation of the Old Testament. After Acts we have the Epistles with the book of Revelation as a conclusion.
The book of Acts can be compared to the backbone in the human body. The backbone divides the human body into two parts, the right side and the left side. Many problems in the body are caused by weakness in the backbone. If a person's backbone is weak, he cannot be strong. We may say that the book of Acts is the backbone of the New Testament dividing it into two parts: (1) the Gospels and (2) the Epistles with the book of Revelation.
The four Gospels speak of the Lord Jesus on earth. But where is Christ in the book of Acts? In this book Christ is not only in His believers, but He is also in the heavens. Acts does not merely unveil to us a Christ on earth; it reveals a Christ who is in the heavens.
How wonderful that Christ is now in heaven as the Lord of all enthroned! This is the Christ revealed in the book of Acts, the book that stands between the Gospels and the Epistles.
Luke's Gospel ends with the Lord's ascending into heaven (Luke 24:51), and his Acts begins with it. His Gospel is a narrative of the ministry of the incarnated Jesus on earth; his Acts is a record of the continuing ministry of the resurrected and ascended Christ in heaven, carried out through His believers on earth. In the Gospels His ministry on earth, carried out by Himself, only sowed Himself as the seed of the kingdom of God into His believers, with no church being built up yet. In the Acts His ministry in heaven, carried out through His believers in His resurrection and ascension, spread Him as the development of the kingdom of God for the building up of the church (Matt. 16:18) throughout the entire world to constitute His Body, which is His fullness (Eph. 1:23) for His expression, and which is even the fullness of God (Eph. 3:19) for God's expression.
Following the book of Acts, we have the Epistles. The Epistles, as the continuation of Acts, edify His believers so that the churches may be fully built up as the Body of Christ. The consummation of this edifying and building up will be the New Jerusalem. If we see the place occupied by the book of Acts in the New Testament, we shall realize that this book, the backbone of the New Testament, stands in a crucial position.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him. ~ Ephesians 1:17
...our Savior God, who desires all men to be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth. ~ 1 Timothy 2:3b-4