When
Paul wrote to Timothy his “son in the faith”,
he shared how the “exceeding abundant”
grace of the Lord was extended to him. He considered himself the
“chief” of
sinners, and because Jesus Christ showed “all
longsuffering” to him, it
served “for a pattern to them which should hereafter
believe on him to life everlasting”. In chapter one and verse
seventeen of his letter to Timothy, Paul seems to burst out in praise
as he exalts “the King eternal, immortal” and “invisible”
where we read:
Now unto the King
eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God,
be honor and
glory for ever and ever. Amen.
The
verse begins, “Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God,...” After
declaring the “exceeding abundant”
grace of the Lord toward himself, Paul gives four attributes to the
the Lord he serves.He began with the Lord's first trait by writing,
“Now” or “but,
moreover, and also” “unto the king”
which refers to the “leader of the people, prince,
commander, lord of the land” “eternal” which means “for
ever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time”. In other words, Paul's
God always was, is and always will be. Secondly, Paul adds,
“immortal” which means “uncorrupted, not liable to
corruption or decay, imperishable and unable to die”. Paul's God
will never be corrupted or go through the process of death. Thirdly,
Paul declares God is “invisible” or “unseen, or that
which can not be seen”. Though He cannot be seen at this point in
Paul's life, Paul knows He is still abiding with him and is with him
every day. Finally Paul wrote, “the only wise God” or
“alone (without a companion), forsaken, destitute of help or merely
skilled, expert, learned and cultivated one and only true God”.
There is no other god like Paul's God, and none can compare to the
wisdom He contains.
The
verse goes on to say, “...be honor and glory for
ever and ever. Amen.” After
declaring these attributes of God, Paul attributes worship and
adoration to Him by writing, “be honor” which
means “value, deference and reverence” “and glory”
or “splendor, brightness, majesty, a most glorious condition and
most exalted state” “for ever and ever” which in Greek
is “eis aion aion” and means “to an unbroken age, perpetuity of
time and eternity”. As a capstone to his copiousness of praise,
Paul added, “amen” which literally means “firm” and
declares “surely, truly, of a truth, so be it or let it be so”.
As we think through Paul's
words, let us consider whether we have ever been so excited about the
Lord Jesus' “exceeding abundant” grace toward us. Have we
ever shouted out with spontaneous praise and honor to our God?
Someone once asked, “Does everybody shout who gets this glorious
grace of our Lord Jesus?” The answer is, “they do if they get
enough of it”. In other words, Paul realized how glorious,
abundant, and overflowing the grace of God was in his life and to all
who will believe in Jesus, and his spontaneous reaction was to
declare the “eternal, immortal, invisible and only wise God”
is worthy of praise, honor and glory. When we consider this glorious
grace which was not only extended to Paul the apostle but to us as
well, we might possibly burst out with “To God be the glory” as
our theme song and tribute for indeed “Great things He has done!”
Next
time Paul shares about warring “a good warfare”, 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.
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