Paul began his
final epistle by declaring himself to be “an apostle of Jesus
Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is
in Christ Jesus”, and in chapter one and verse two of this
letter Paul shares to whom the letter was written and gives a
blessing to his “dearly beloved son” where we read:
from God
the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
The
verse begins, “To Timothy, my
dearly beloved son:” Paul
began with the words, “To Timothy”
whose name means “honoring God” whom Paul called “my
dearly beloved”
which is the Greek word “agapetos”
and means “esteemed, dear, favorite and
worthy of love” “son”
which literally means “a male child or offspring” and
metaphorically means “the
name transferred to the intimate and reciprocal relationship formed
between men by the bonds of love, friendship and trust just as
between parents and children”. Paul considered Timothy to be as a
“dear and esteemed son”, and it was to him he desired to share
some of his final words on the earth.
The verse continues,
“Grace, mercy, and
peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul
continued with three blessings to his “dearly
beloved son”
Timothy by writing, “Grace” which
is “that which affords joy, pleasure,
delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, good-will, lovingkindness and
unmerited favor”, “mercy”
which is “kindness or good will towards the miserable and the
afflicted joined with a desire to help them” “and
peace” or “harmony, concord, security,
safety, prosperity and felicity”. The origin of these three
blessings was “from God the Father”
or “generator and male ancestor who is the originator and
transmitter of anything” “and Christ
Jesus” who is “the anointed one and
Messiah” whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” “our
Lord” or “he to whom a person or thing
belongs and about which he has power of deciding or our master”.
“God the Father”
and “Christ Jesus our Lord”
were responsible for the “Grace, mercy and
peace” which Paul extends to Timothy.
While we think
upon Paul's words, we should take note of a couple changes in this
letter from his first epistle to Timothy. Paul called Timothy his
“son in the faith” in his first letter, and in this
epistle Paul called him his “dearly beloved son”. We can
almost hear the tone of closeness that Paul feels for Timothy as he
knows the sentence of death is imminent. Secondly, Paul added,
“mercy” to his normal opening blessing which is “Grace
and Peace” in his other letters. Perhaps there was a special
need for “mercy” or “kindness and good-will” to be
added to this impassioned final letter of Paul. Nonetheless, if we
use our imaginations and put ourselves in Timothy's place, what would
it be like to read these final words of one we love so dearly? What
would it be like to write them as Paul did? When we meditate upon
these positions, let us keep in mind that the Holy Spirit of God
inspired these words, and He gives us insight to the love and
affection that can be between those who are in fellowship within the
church. May the Lord Jesus teach us the full meaning of the phrase
“dearly beloved son” as we continue with our study of His
word.
Next
time we will see the manner in which Paul served his “forefathers”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look
for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be
Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the
Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
http://www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment