The Mission of the Triune God (eBook)

1

God the Father Orchestrates

For if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.

Acts 5:38–39

The Father and the Ensemble

One of my favorite classical songs is Gustav Holst’s “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jolity.” A long time ago, I found a YouTube video of “Jupiter” performed by the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra with Eiji Oue as the conductor. He likely spent countless hours on this project, working through the mistakes, the mistimings, and mismanagement.

Midway through the song, the string section arises in full force. Oue’s face fills with emotion as he directs them to be one with their instruments and one another. He conducts a masterpiece. He guides the song to its natural, prewritten, and beautiful end.1

If Acts is a song, then the Father conducts the ensemble. Similar to Oue, God the Father orchestrates all actions in Acts toward their prewritten and beautiful end. He has a plan. And it will be accomplished.

Though most theological works on Acts don’t begin with the Father (and sometimes don’t even include him in one of the themes), it is clear throughout the narrative that all the action finds its source in and stems from the Father.2

All other refrains in Acts flow from the Father’s orchestration. Acts is about Christ, the Spirit, and the church, but these—to use early church language—are begotten from, spirate from, and are born from God the Father. A theology of Acts must start with the Father, his plan and orchestration.

It is the Father who acts (2:11; 14:27; 15:4, 7–8, 14; 21:19); speaks (2:17; 3:21; 7:6–7; 8:14); attests to Jesus (2:22); raised Jesus from the dead (2:24; 3:15, 22, 26; 4:10; 5:30; 7:37; 10:40; 13:30, 37; 26:8); anointed Jesus (10:38); appointed him to be judge (10:42); swore an oath to David (2:30); is seated in the heavens (2:33; 7:56); made Jesus Lord, Messiah, Leader, and Savior (2:36; 5:31); calls people (2:39); deserves worship (2:47; 3:8–9; 4:21; 16:25; 18:7, 13; 22:3; 23:1; 24:14–16); is the God of Israel’s ancestors (3:13, 25; 7:17, 32, 46; 13:17; 22:14); fulfilled what he said in the Scriptures (3:18; 13:33); deserves obedience (4:19; 5:4, 29; 10:4); listens (4:24); reveals (4:31; 6:7; 10:28; 12:24); orchestrates (5:39; 10:15); delivers (7:25, 35, 45); punishes (7:42; 12:23); has power (8:10); gave the Holy Spirit (5:32; 8:20; 11:17); is glorious (7:2, 55; 11:18), great (10:46), gracious (11:23; 13:43; 14:26; 27:24), present (7:9; 10:33), and alive (14:15); helps (26:22); doesn’t show favoritism (10:34); appoints witnesses (10:41); is to be feared (13:16, 26); performs wonders (15:12; 19:11); calls (16:10); created all things (17:24); commands (17:30); demands repentance (20:21); deserves thanks (27:35; 28:15); has a plan (20:27); establishes a church (20:28); and provides salvation (28:28).

Darrell Bock rightly declares, “God is the major actor in Luke-Acts,” and Squires concludes the plan of God “functions as the foundational theological motif” for Luke-Acts.3

While many focus on the earthly sphere, everything in Acts moves according to the heavenly scepter. Luke’s principal theological, philosophical, logical, geographical compass is the heavens. All earthly action has prior orchestration and plan.

This chapter will cover the Father’s orchestration in three parts. First, I will look at the plan of God, then the word of God, and finally at the kingdom of God.4 As Rosner summarizes,

The message in Acts is described as the “word of God” (see Luke 3:2–17; 5:1; 8:11; Acts 4:29, 31; 6:2, 7; 8:14; 11:1; 12:24; 13:5, 7, 44, 46, 48; 16:32; 17:13; 18:11), its content concerns “the kingdom of God” (1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 28:23, 31) and “the salvation of God” (28:28; cf., 7:25), and its progress depends upon the “purpose,” “will” and “plan” of God.5

However, complementing Rosner, I will focus on the word not only as a message but also as an agent. God is the conductor, whose agent is the word (orchestra), and the music is the kingdom (“Jupiter”).6 To put it in the frame of Genesis, God’s creative will is performed by his word, which brings life (the kingdom). This is the song God has been directing from the beginning of time.

Table 1.1 The Father Orchestrates

The Plan of God

Luke arranges the story of the early church in the broadest possible theological context: the plan of God.7 He begins his two volumes by speaking of “events that have been fulfilled among us” (Luke 1:1 CSB) pointing to the plan of God behind it all. Enhancing this picture is Luke’s use of terms such as “plan,” “foreknown,” “foretold,” “predestined,” “promised,” “ordained,” or “worked” through God’s choice.8

Boulē in Acts

Every theme is somehow connected to the Father’s plan (boulē), and thus Luke employs this term as a theological ballast. The Father’s plan can be seen by Luke’s emphasis on the activity of the Son and Spirit, manifestations of divine agents, and even miracles. Human characters are subsidiary to the larger story of divine activity.9

The word boulē is a political and governmental term employed in cities of the Empire.10 It was a management expression, an administration of a polis led by some governmental official. The Father’s plan in Acts is to fulfill his promises by creating his new community that will bless the world.

The Father’s agents are the Son and Spirit. Peter specifically uses the word boulē to speak of God’s “appointed or ‘definite plan’” in terms of Jesus’s being delivered up to death (Acts 2:23). God’s plan is centered on Jesus’s passion and glorification. Jesus creates a new people and brings about a new era.11

Then Jesus himself announces this new era when he appears to his disciples after his suffering to tell them the plan is on track. The next phase is about anticipation: they are to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father (Acts 1:4–5; 2:33; cf. Luke 3:16; 24:49). If Acts is about the Holy Spirit, it is first about the Father’s promise.

In Acts 2, the plan unfurls as the Spirit falls on God’s people. The Father’s promise comes to fulfillment as the Spirit is poured out on all flesh (2:17) and the Spirit is then given to Samaritans (8:14–17) and Cornelius (10:44–45), signifying Gentiles are also welcome and thus fulfilling the Lord’s words from Acts 1:4 (cf. 11:16).

However, the plan of God for his people that centers on the Son and Spirit does not advance unopposed. Neither earthly nor spiritual powers will comply with the divine decree. Ironically, every effort to thwart only furthers his plan.

A particularly clear example of this comes in Acts 4:23–31 when the apostles gather and pray for boldness after they have been castigated for performing a resurrection miracle. They reflect on this opposition, noting even that this suffering is the boulē of God. The people gathered against Jesus “to do whatever...