So I decided I would join many others in the studying of 1 Thessalonians. It is worthwhile for us to study 1 and 2 Thessalonians because they render us particular help concerning the young Christian life and church life. Today’s portion covers just three verses, so I decided I would include them here:
“Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace. We thank God always concerning all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering unceasingly your work of faith and labor of love and endurance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, before our God and Father” (1 Thes 1:1-3)This introductory message covered two basic points: “first, that the church is composed of human beings in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have the life of God and who are in the organic union with Christ; second, that the church life is the Christian life constructed of the work of faith, the labor of love, and the endurance of hope in the coming Lord.”
Read on if you want to hear more detailed points.
The first point I enjoyed from this message was that the CHURCH is OF MEN, yet IN GOD and IN THE LORD organically:
What is the church? The church is a group of human beings who have been born of God and who have been brought into the organic union with Christ. Both epistles were addressed to the local church in Thessalonica, composed of all the believers in Christ in that city. Such a local church is of men (such as the Thessalonians), yet in God and in the Lord organically. Such an organic union in the divine life and nature is the vital base for the believers to live a holy life for the church life.The second point I enjoyed from this message was that the CHRISTIAN LIFE and the CHURCH LIFE is of FAITH, LOVE, and HOPE and such a life originates not from the ability of the believer’s natural being, but from the infusion of what God is:
Our Christian work should be of the nature of faith, not of the nature of human knowledge, ability, or power. Then this work becomes a labor of love. Love is the motivation and the characteristic of our Christian labor. This means that love is the expression. Our Christian work eventually becomes a labor, something that is deeper and more difficult. For this labor, faith alone is not adequate; we also need love, a love that is lasting. From labor, we go on to the endurance of hope. In the church life as well as in the family life we all need endurance. We must be trained, educated, first to work, then to labor, and eventually to endure. Endurance involves suffering, not enjoyment. Shepherding always involves an amount of suffering. This endurance comes from the hope in the Lord’s coming, or from the hope in the coming Lord. Hope is the source of endurance.
The faith, the love, and the hope in 1:3 depict the structure of the genuine Christian life, constructed with these elements. Faith receives the divine things (John 1:12) and realizes the spiritual and unseen things (Heb. 11:1). Hope reaps and partakes of the things realized by faith (Rom. 8:24-25). Love enjoys the things received and realized by faith and partaken of by hope for nourishing ourselves, building up others, and expressing God. Such a life originates not from the ability of the believer’s natural being, but from the infusion of what God is, in whom they believe. It is carried out by their sacrificial love toward their loving Lord, who loved them and gave Himself for them, and toward His members, whom He has redeemed through His death in love. This life lasts and stands unchanging by the sustaining power of the hope that looks for their beloved Lord, who promised that He would come to take them to Himself. Such a life is the content of this epistle.
The proper church life is a life of three dimensions in the light of the Lord’s coming back: faith as the beginning, the foundation; love as the process, the structure; and hope as the consummation, the topstone. Faith is toward God (1:8); love is toward the saints (3:12; 4:9-10); and hope is in the Lord’s coming (2:19). The first Epistle is for encouragement and comfort; the second is for correction and balance. The believers should live, walk, and work by faith and love in the hope of the Lord’s coming back.
Finally, I also enjoyed the all-inclusive title of THE LORD JESUS CHRIST:
To say “the Lord Jesus Christ” implies a great deal. First, it implies that Jesus Christ is our Lord. Second, it implies that He is our Savior, for the name Jesus means Jehovah the Savior. Third, it implies that Christ, God’s anointed One, is bringing us into the riches of God and is accomplishing everything with us for God.
Small fact I learned: Thessalonica was a city of the Roman Empire in the province of Macedonia, north of the province of Achaia.
See others who are also studying the same epistle: http://livingtohim.com/2012/01/msg-1-ls-of-first-thessalonians/
I want to end with Paul’s greetings to the church in Thessalonica to you all: Grace to you and peace. We thank God always concerning all you, making mention of you in our prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment