Written by Luke (see Luke 1:4 and Acts 1:1), the book of Acts gives us an account of the
transition from the Jewish nation to the church for spreading the Good news that God has kept His first promise (Gen. 3:15) to send a savior to redeem humans from sin and death. Imagine the traditions that had to be set aside by the Jewish Christ to understand the all-inclusiveness of the gospel message; that is what we find in Acts. Little-by-little their prejudices were overcome to prepare the church to take over when the Jewish nation was destroyed in their war with Rome 67-73 AD.
The theme for Acts is found in Acts 1: 4-8. “Once when He was eating with them, He
commanded them, ‘Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift He promised, as I told you before. John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking Him ‘Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?’ He replied, ‘The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth’.” They were to wait for power and that power made them successful in spreading the message of the Kingdom of God. How did they wait? They spend their time in prayer and studying the Word of God, and we find reference to this throughout the book of Acts. They realized the power they needed was not a one-time event but a daily quest. Chapters 1-12 deal with the transition among the Jews; chapters 13-28 deal with the evangelization of the Gentiles (the rest of humanity).