Christ Daily

1 Timothy 2:1-5

¹ I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. ² Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. ³ This is good and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. ⁵ For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.

This is certainly one of my absolute favorite passages of scripture.  It covers so many things, that I thought it’d be a good idea to do an entire post dedicated to it.  Let’s look at it verse-by-verse, shall we?

¹ I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.

This is straight-forward and a truly vital part of any Christian’s faith.  Pray for others – wish them well.  Not just your friends when they have a prayer request, but for your enemies; like Jesus said.  Love your enemies.  This is a very difficult concept for many people to grasp, because we all deal with hate, rage, and general dislike of many types of people.  However, we are to pray for them.  Ask God to bless them.  They may make out lives hell, but Jesus loves them, and if we are to be like Christ, we are to love them, too.

² Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.

Whoo, boy.  This is a hard one.  If you frequent ChristDaily, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out we’re not the biggest fans of the current Presidential Administration.  Let’s face it.  It’s downright awful.  Our President has spent more money in his first few months in office then the previous 43 Presidents COMBINED, he’s forcing a Fascist Government on us all, and he’s apologized for our very Freedom in every international meeting  he’s had.  But this verse, 1 Tim 2:2 tells us to pray for our Kings and Leaders the same way we are to pray for our enemies, because nowadays, that’s pretty much what they are.  They have authority over us.  It may seem cool, romantic, and even the right thing to do to be a rebel or an ‘Anarchist,’ but we see that’s not what the bible says to do.  Romans 13:1 says:

¹Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

We seem to think more about the Government’s relationship with God, rather then God’s sovereignty when he picked that person for power.  Our Leaders might not always follow the plan God has laid out for them, but God is always in control.

³ This is good and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

Take THAT, Predestinationists!  I’m definitely going to be writing a blog post eventually about the wrong and evil doctrine of Predestination, because frankly, it’s a very touchy subject that will take much writing, and I’ve already hit 600 words as of this point.  Some other time.

⁵ For there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus.

This is one of the core beliefs of any Christian.  There is one way to God, and that is through Jesus.  We see here that Jesus was not 50% God and 50% man, but 100% God, and 100% Man.  He was tempted by Satan like we all are, and he COULD have given up.  In fact, the urge was probably more then any of us could ever endure, but he did not – thus being a suitable sacrifice for our sins.  He did what we could not do.  He ‘put on a body like we sinners have’ (Romans 8:3) and saved us all.  The slaves of the old South used to sing a hymn talking about Jesus ‘Puttin’ of skin, and walkin’ ‘mong men.’  I love that.  That’s exactly what he did, so we wouldn’t have to pay our debt to him, so long as we accept his ‘transaction’ for us, if you will.

That’s all for 1 Timothy 2:1-5.  The bible is so fresh, so relevant if (1) You read it in context, and (2) you apply critical thinking when reading it.  Daily time in God’s word is ESSENTIAL to the life of a Christian.  How are you going to say you know God well enough to spread the gospel if the only part of the bible you know is John 3:16?  What church dares call itself part of the body of Christ if someone can go an entire church service without opening the bible once?  What Christian author or writer dare call himself a Christian if they can write an entire book or article about God without even taking the time to crack a bible?  Remember, the Bible is God’s WORD – it’s him SPEAKING to you each and every day.  Take the time to LISTEN.  LISTENING to God is not just sitting, and inhaling.  That’s meditation.  Listening to God involves reading what he’s saying.

Whoo.  Nearly 1000 words.  Sorry so long, but I think this is a very relevent subject that a lot of people need to hear.  Thanks for reading, friends.  Be sure to check out the FIRST official ChristDaily podcast up sometime this weekend.

Lots of Love,
-Matt

written by Matt \\ tags: America, Bible, Christ, church, Doctrine, government, Jesus, Obama, politics, prayer, Predestination, Romans, Timothy, World

Josh, in his last post, brought up the topic of grace.  Grace is one of the most unbelievable aspects of who God is, and why he loves us so much.  A lot of people, though, wonder exactly what grace is.

Grace (n.) – Seemingly effortless beauty or charm of movement, form, or proportion.
a. Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people.

That’s a simple definition of grace.  Divine love, beauty, charm.  How does that apply to God, though?  I think it’s important to know a bit about who God really is, first.  One of the most amazing descriptions of God comes from the Book of Isaiah; the sixth chapter.  Here’s a bit of it:

¹ … I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.

² Attending him were mighty [angels], each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.

³ They were calling out to each other,“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

⁴ Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

⁵ Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

Okay.  Imagine, if you will, finding yourself in a huge, immaculate temple – the most amazing you’ve ever imagined.  Sitting in the throne on the opposite side is the God of the Universe, in ‘light so brilliant that no human can approach him,’ as 1 Timothy 6:16 puts it.  Exodus 33:20 says we can’t even ‘ look directly at [God's] face, for no one may see [Him] and live.’  So, there he is, in the throne, and you can barely even stand.

Surrounding the throne are these amazing, bizarre Angels whose voices are so loud and booming they shake the foundations of the Temple.  And what are the doing?  They can’t even show their faces before God!  And here’s poor Isaiah in the midst of all this, probably shaking in his sandals, saying, “I am ruined!  It’s over!” because he, like you and I, is a sinner, and he is standing before God.  I think that paints a better picture of who God is then any artist rendering or painting in the world.

Now, here’s something for you to do and consider.  When you pray, do you pray to THAT God?  If you were to knowingly pray to THAT God, would you pray the same way?  I know I challenge that a lot; sometimes I just go through the motions when I pray.  Some people just stand there and recite the Lord’s prayer, or Catholics recite a ‘Hail Mary,’ but do you think those rituals mean anything to THAT God?  That amazing, Holy being wants to have a PERSONAL relationship with you!?  Does it not blow your mind to pieces?  I know it does mine.

What does that have to do with Grace, though?  You’ll have to read my next post to see, and I guarantee you,  it’ll blow your mind.

Thanks for reading!
Lots of Love,
-Matt

written by Matt \\ tags: Angels, Exodus, God, grace, Holiness, Isaiah, Jesus, Timothy, Who God Is