Title: The Most Meaningful Way to Live
Contents
Acts (1) The most meaningful way to live (Acts 1:1-3)
< The Significance of Acts >
The Acts of the Apostles is a book that shows the history of church expansion in the early church. It is written in the most beautiful Greek style among the New Testaments written in Greek along with the Gospel of Luke and Hebrews. The Acts of the Apostles is the most action-oriented Bible among the New Testament, and when you read the book of Acts, you will feel courage and feel the dynamism of the life of witness. In that sense, the book of Acts shows the essence of Christianity that Christianity is not a religion of help and meditation, but a religion of action. The book of Acts also silently teaches that “truth must have historical continuity” by showing that the gospel does not end with the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, and that its work continues unabated.
< Author of Acts >
Section 1 of the text begins like this: “Theophilus, in what I wrote first...” In this verse, ‘I’ means ‘Luke’, and ‘the first’ means the Gospel of Luke (Luke 1:3). Luke is a doctor who met Paul during his second missionary journey and became Paul's constant follower. Paul had cataracts, and one theory said he had epilepsy. God assigned Luke, a doctor, to Paul so that he could examine Paul's health and act as a vivid witness to the history of the church. No matter how excellent a person is, there are some shortcomings, and God allows those around him to satisfy those shortcomings. In the end, you need to care for the people around you in order to live a successful life. Paul was able to become Paul because he had co-workers around him like Barnabas, Silas, Lydia, and Luke.
< Structure of Acts >
The book of Acts is divided into two main parts. Chapters 1-12 of the first half dealt with the growth of the church in Palestine with Peter as the protagonist, and chapters 13-28 of the second half deal with the history of the expansion of the church to the Gentiles with Paul as the protagonist. In the first half, the main target of the evidence is Jews, and the key message is “Repent!”, and the second half is the Gentiles, and the key message is “Believe!”.
<Theme of Acts>
In verse 3 of the text, the word ‘evidence’ appears. That word is the subject of the book of Acts. The word witness and witness is recorded more than 30 times in the book of Acts. Also, only verse 3 of the text says that Jesus was on this earth for 40 days after his resurrection. During those 40 days, the Lord was on the earth and testified of the kingdom of God. According to the life and will of the Lord, Peter and Paul and numerous disciples testify about the kingdom of God. The book of Acts is the book of Acts.
The evidence ends abruptly in Acts 28 without any particular conclusion. We do not know the exact reason, but the sudden end of Acts has a message that challenges us. That is, the unfinished work of worldwide evangelization and witnessing must continue through us today to unfold the history of Acts 29 and later. After all, the most important thing for believers is ‘evidence’, that is, ‘evangelism’.
When the mission of evangelism is accomplished, the Lord will return (Matthew 24:14). This means that the preaching of the gospel is the final mission of the saints and the conclusion of life. Therefore, set the reason for your life on 'evangelism', and set the ultimate goal of your dreams and visions on 'evangelism'. It is important for believers to repent well, believe well, receive a lot of grace and blessings, and live happily ever after. The most meaningful way for people to live is to preach the gospel.