As Paul the
apostle came to the final words of his second letter to the
Thessalonian church members, he wrote a “salutation” with
his own hand. Before this time he dictated his letter but wanted to
assure the Thessalonians of the authenticity of this epistle being
written by him. In the eighteenth verse of the third chapter, Paul
shared his final words with the church members as he prayed “the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” be upon them. We read:
The
verse begins, “The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ...” Paul
began with the phrase, “The
grace”
which means “that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness,
charm, loveliness, lovingkindness and unmerited favor” “of
our Lord”
which refers to “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which
he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the
Messiah” “Jesus”
whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God,
the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “Christ”
which means “the anointed one” and is “the Messiah and Son of
God”. Paul's desire for the Thessalonian church members was the
“unmerited favor” of the Lord Jesus.
The
verse continues, “...be
with you all. Amen.” Paul
added, “be
with you”
which means “after, among the church members” “all”
which means “each, any, all, the whole and everyone”. Paul ended
his letter with the word
“Amen” which
means “so it is, so be it and may it be fulfilled”. There was to
be no one excluded from Paul's desire for the “grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ” to
be upon them.
When we consider these final words of Paul, we find
there is no greater desire that he could have had for the
Thessalonians. Paul knew the “unmerited favor” “of the Lord
Jesus Christ” would be the reason for their relationship with
God and their entrance into eternal life with Jesus. We should
understand the value of desiring that “grace” would be
upon all people. For those who receive Jesus Christ as their personal
Lord and Savior, there is a special recognition of invaluable worth
of God's “grace”. May we come to appreciate the “grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ” not only for ourselves, but for
others as well.
Next
time we begin a new book located in the Old Testament and seek to
learn from “Haggai” the
prophet, 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
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
No comments:
Post a Comment