The Acts of the Apostles, is our first look into the blessing of the apostles and the birth of the church as we know it. Luke, a physician, is the writer. He writes the book in about 62 AD to Theophilus. Though it isn’t known exactly who Theophilus is, both the book of Luke and the book of Acts are addressed to him. He is thought to be someone of high rank.
Luke is Greek and will therefore be the only writer of the New Testament that is not Jewish. He also is responsible for more writings in the New Testament, than anyone else, even Paul. While Paul writes more books, Luke’s writings contain more words. Luke writes Acts and continues where he left off in the book of his own name, Luke, from Jerusalem to Rome. Because of this, it is often thought of as “Luke Volume II.”
The Acts of the Apostles begins in the year of Christs death, about 30 A.D. The first 12 chapters of Acts focuses mainly on the Christianity among Jews with Peter as the primary character. The last 13 chapters highlight Christianity among Gentiles, and Paul is the primary character. It covers about 35 years of the first history of the church. Acts is really a story about the beginning of church. It is about the blessing of the spirit upon the apostles, and the beginning of each of their journeys as preachers of the gospel.
Interesting Fact:
Acts depicts the last spoken words of Jesus before his ascension.