Title Dynamic Faith (Acts 01:1-3)
Contents If you look at Acts 1:1-3, you will find important hints about what purpose and for what purpose the book of Acts was used. It seems that returning to the early church is not a big trend in the churches these days. It will be the focus of seeking once again the same pure faith and passion as at that time, and the victory as a true man of God.
But in saying that, I think it is because we do not fully understand the contents of the book of Acts.
The most important thing we should be careful about while looking at the book of Acts is that these records are not books that record the miracles and victories performed by those who sincerely believed in God. This can be seen in Acts 1:1.
“Theophilus, in what I first wrote, everything that Jesus did and taught,
He commanded his chosen apostles by the Holy Spirit and
I wrote it (Acts 1:1-2)”
If you go to Luke 1, there is an explanation of the previous writings.
“Those who have been witnesses and workers of the Word from the beginning concerning the facts that have been accomplished among us.
There were a lot of people who took up their brushes to write their personal stories just as they had been told.
After examining the matter in detail from the beginning, I, too, write to Sir Theophilus in turn.
I thought it was good to learn, so that you may know the certainty of what you have learned
This is it (Luke 1:1-4)”
Luke and Acts were written by the same person. The first recorded the events from the beginning of Jesus' doing and teaching until the day he ascended into heaven after commanding his chosen apostles by the Holy Spirit. And the book of Acts comes after that.
“After He suffered, He also showed them that He lived by many convincing proofs,
He appeared to them ten days and spoke of the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).
It is said that the Lord's death on the cross and the resurrection of the Lord "after being harmed" is not the end, but a process of some great work. The Lord had a work left to do, and he commanded the apostles to complete it. I also entrusted the apostles to do it with confidence, which is written here in the preface. The rest is a record of how things have progressed. Here we need to make a small correction to one very important part of our faith from the opening words of the Acts of the Apostles.
Many believers hold the Christian faith as a static faith. Static faith is a style of faith that thinks, “Now that I have been saved through the grace of Jesus Christ and the cross, if I pray to the Lord, anything will be answered, and I will be able to solve my problems and be protected by God.”
However, what kind of perspective the book of Acts explains about important things about faith is like, 'I became a child of God because I believed in Jesus, and when I asked God for help in all my needs, crises, and difficulties, I became a person who answered them.' is not It means that there is a God, that God made us, that He loves us, and that He is working for a purpose. The idea is that one of the ultimate purposes of that work is to free us from our sins and to receive eternal blessings, and to do so we are called to be partners in a work of perfection.
The two beliefs are clearly different. If I have a static faith, I have the goals I need and the goals I need, and there is a risk of appearing as God's helper in that. On the other hand, dynamic faith has God's will and plan, and we are the object of God's blessing and love, and we are called to be co-workers in God's plan.
Therefore, the goal, method, and needs of life are not determined by my needs, but by God's will, and my change as a person who conforms to it is an important battle of faith. Look again at verse 3. “After he was harmed,” he also reveals his life to them by many sure proofs. Jesus Christ testifies of His resurrection, so if you use the resurrection as the basis for what and what evidence you use, you are mobilizing to speak about the things of the kingdom of God.
Although the death of the Lord and the resurrection of the cross are important parts of the eternal purpose, the ultimate goal, and the completion of the kingdom of God, which God will eventually achieve, we do not say ‘that is it’. Of course, the work of Jesus Christ on the cross is the completion of our salvation. But God doesn't say that getting us out of sin is the whole of His plan. There are still things left. There is a bodily resurrection, and there is an eternal kingdom, to be prepared for us, and there is a work to be done with Christ and our God for eternity. God is not going to do it alone, but he wants to accomplish it with us, who have been saved through the redemption of Jesus Christ on the cross.
God is completing the kingdom of God now, and he is calling more people just as he has called us to that kingdom. He makes us go and evangelize and call them. He is making a nation by shedding our blood and making us kneel in prayer. We are, of course, incompetent. Nevertheless, God invites us.
Why does the Bible record so much history? Almost all of the Old Testament is a history book. The New Testament Gospels are both a biography of the life of Jesus Christ and a kind of history book. Acts is a history book and Revelation is a history book about the future. What this means is that God is still at work. It means that you have a purpose and work towards it.
In the account of Acts, Peter appears so wonderfully, but what happened after that, his end is not explained. Everywhere he went, the apostle Paul repented and argued with people, raised a young man who had fallen asleep and died, and was bitten by a snake but did not die, but was arrested again while preaching the gospel. Then, in Acts 28:30, the end is trivial.
“Paul stayed in his rented house for two days, and welcomed all who came to him.
To preach the kingdom of God, to teach about the Lord Jesus Christ, but forbid
There was no one.”
It's not about chasing Peter and chasing Paul. It is how God made the kingdom and sent Jesus Christ to that kingdom to call us as blessed citizens, to die on the cross and to resurrect him, so that he expanded the kingdom with his people whom he had called and expanded the kingdom with those whom he called again. The purpose is to show whether the kingdom of God is being developed in a wider, bigger, more perfect way by having them participate in the work.
Traces of the apostles' faith in the book of Acts reveal two very important common points to remember.
The first is the fact that we have a historical perspective that we are moving forward with God's goals and progressing history.
“He appeared before God and before Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead.
As for the fruit and his kingdom, I solemnly command you to preach the word, in the season
Always strive even if you fail
Do it (2 Timothy 4:1-2)”
belief in historical facts. It is the fact that they have a view that they project their lives into that history, immerse themselves in it, and graft the two together, knowing that God continues and expands in history, always leading and ending history, and can only be concluded with eternal and holy history. .
One of the important ideas the second apostles had was that they are now citizens, children, and blessed people of an eternal kingdom, not only what they received after death in a house adorned with golden jewels after that kingdom came, but that God is now in history. He said that it was a great blessing to be participating in the Kingdom of God.
This is something we must not miss and must see in the book of Acts. It's not just a place you go to when you die, it's a place you go now. Of course, this is not a house of golden jewels, nor is it the perfect kingdom of God without death, without sorrow, without harm or bruising. But it is true that it is only being built. We are called to the place now, and we can carry bricks, shovel, and carry sand. That in itself is a joy. Paul's explanation of that joy.
“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, that
He has entrusted me with the ministry (1 Timothy 1:12).”
Paul rejoices in this, not because he treats me. It's not about admitting you're better than others. Because it was assigned to God's work. If you go to Acts 5, you will find this kind of explanation as a failure.
“What we think is right, calling the apostles and scourging them, speaking in the name of Jesus,
was forbidden and released, and the apostles were worthy of being reproached for his name's sake.
They departed from the council, rejoicing in their conviction (Acts 5:40-41).”
He said that he rejoices in being beaten for what God assigns to this work. It is a joy to have attached us to this country that will be completed, a country that will surely be created. It did not end with just belonging to that country, but it was attached to the task of completing the country. was delighted with it The perspective must be different. It's not about how I am different from others, but how gracious and loving God is, and how certain the country he will achieve is. So their outlook on life changes.
“According to my earnest expectations and hopes, I am not ashamed of anything, only
Even now, with full courage, whether I live or die, Christ may be honored in my body.
for me to live, and to die is gain
But if living in the flesh is the fruit of my work, I do not know what it will cover.
I do not know; I am caught between the two;
It is better that it has a network, but it is for your sake that I dwell in the flesh.
It will be more profitable (Philippians 1:20-24)”
Now, the apostle Paul is not at all personally