If you read the Acts verses in column three of the below table, you will understand much about the big picture of Acts.
The thesis or theme of Acts could be stated in this way:
Christ builds his Church through the Spirit empowered proclamation of the Word – – despite many conflicts in the battles of a fallen world — even in and through those conflicts.
Acts begins with Jesus’ charge to the disciples that, after the Spirit has been poured out at Pentecost, they are to go into all the world and make disciples (Acts 1:6-8). The book of Acts, then, tracks the disciples’ obedience to that mandate and the productivity of the Spirit empowered Word. Acts concludes with the point that the Word has victoriously arrived in Rome.
We forget how rapid the first church grew! The amazing news of the Gospel spread through Macedonia at an alarming rate, so much so that political Rome saw an immediate threat to it’s system of government. No wonder the Apostle Paul was a “marked man” and ended up in prison. Yet, even in prison the Gospel couldn’t be stopped and Paul’s letters made it the churches he had established. With his encouraging messages, penned by Paul inspired by the Holy Spirit and delivered, preserved for us to read 2000 years later. What an amazing feat accomplished by non other than the very God we worship today! Glory to Him. A big picture indeed-Thank you pastor Chris.
Ian, Thanks so much for the comment. It’s great to hear your interaction.
I wonder if that’s sort of the theme that we live in, today, also. We’re waiting for the Great Commission to be realized, so that the Gospel has reached every tribe and tongue.
My friend, whose 12-year-old daughter died of cancer last year, has new urgency for spreading the Gospel. She and her family are just getting back from a missions trip to Africa. Becca’s younger siblings ask, “When will we see her again?” And my friends say, “We have to reach the whole world–every nation must hear the Good News. That’s when we’ll see Becca again.”
Agreed. I think about Matthew 24:13-14 often.