Certainty concerning the things you have been taught. That’s Luke’s reason for painstakingly researching and then recording a detailed account of Jesus life. Not that this “certainty” becomes such a proof that faith is no longer necessary . . . not at all. Less about proving the faith, it is about proving that Jesus was born the way it was claimed . . . that He lived the way it had been reported . . . that He taught what others claimed He taught . . . that He did what many eyewitnesses said He did. Luke had “followed all things closely for some time” and now he determined to write “an orderly account.”

But as I read these opening verses, I’m reminded that not everyone who has read Luke’s careful account has come away knowing Jesus “beyond a shadow of a doubt” (MSG). For many, even some who had been taught the truths verified by Luke’s gospel, that “certainty” just doesn’t happen. How come? I’m wondering if it doesn’t come down to something found within the name of the one for whom Luke wrote his account. Theophilus.

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
(Luke 1:1-4 ESV)

Theos, means “God.” Philos, translates “friend.” God-friend. Luke wrote to one known as “friend of God” that He might have certainty concerning the things he had been taught and had believed.

And I pause and noodle on that for a bit . . . friend of God. What a magnificent name . . . what a marvelous reality . . . to be a friend of God. And it’s with such, that the Word of God finds it’s most fertile soil and bears its greatest harvest . . . with those who are friends of God. It’s these friends who seek the kingdom . . . who hunger and thirst after the things of righteousness . . . who desire to shed that which hinders them from pursuing the prize . . . who boast in their weakness . . . and glory alone in His power. Yeah, for those who are friends of God, there is an eager anticipation as they open up the gospel of Luke, or any other God-breathed portion of Holy Writ. For therein lies the word of life.

And as I continue to reflect . . . and count myself also a God-friend . . . the awe sets in as I recall that it is nothing of my desire or doing. For once I was an enemy of God . . . caring nothing for the things of the kingdom . . . thinking nothing of using the name of Jesus in a manner so unfitting His holy name. But God, in His sovereign purposes, and through His overflowing grace, makes God-friends out of those who were once enemies. While we were still weak . . . Christ died for the ungodly. While we were still sinners, Jesus bore the wrath our sin deserved. While we were still enemies, God determined to reconcile us to Himself through the once-for-all atoning sacrifice of His Son. And, born again through faith in Christ’s finished work, we became new creations in Christ . . . and those who were once enemies, became God-friends.

The Holy Spirit of God was poured into our very soul and spirit . . . rewiring our spiritual DNA . . . taking that which was of no interest and elevating it to our greatest priority. Removing our blindness and opening up the eyes of faith . . . allowing us to see more clearly than we’d ever seen before. Because we were made God-friends.

That’s why I hunched over 1Kings 1 this morning trying to figure out the significance of Abishag. That’s why I saw in the priest, Zechariah, a type of the Holy Spirit who would “make ready for the Lord a people prepared” as I read in Luke. That’s why, as I took in again the Ephesians 1 spiritual inventory which is mine in Christ, I was again blown away. That’s why, as I read the first eight verses of Psalm 119, I did so with great anticipation of the next 22 readings in the Psalms as I revisit, with the Spirit’s help, this great love song for the Word of God. Because, by His great grace, I am Theophilus.

For His glory . . .