1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope, 2To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul opens with a full introduction of himself and his credentials. He is conscious of the authority invested in him by God. Interestingly, when mentioning God in the same breath as Jesus, usually the term “Savior” is attached to the later. Some liberal scholars have suggested that this along with other “polished” phrases and “advanced” church concepts are not typical of Paul’s writing at such a primitive stage of the church development. However, such thinking is entirely subjective. This letter was included in the earliest extant collection of Paul’s writings dating from the end of the second century, which indicates the letter existed for some time before that. When we consider the concern that he had for authenticating his letters (2 Thess. 2:1–2), it would be difficult to explain the early church accepting 1 Timothy if it were a forgery. In fact, the early church did recognize it as genuinely from the hand of Paul.
The apostle sets down the non-negotiables on which he is about to build his teaching: he is under God’s command, our hope is in Christ who is the sent One from God, and Christian ministry is to be bathed in the grace, mercy, and peace of God.
The apostle does not waste words, so we see his repetitive description of God, maybe with nuanced differences, but with fascinating exaltation:
God our Savior . . . Christ Jesus, who is our hope
God the Father . . . Christ Jesus our Lord
There seems to be no end to the apostle’s variations in describing God. He does not give in to rote repetition as though he were using some mystical incantation. These are the spontaneous expressions that flow from a person who centers his life on a dynamic relationship with God. Each utterance suggests a subtle difference in emphasis. If we could hear Paul’s oratory, it might sound like the restatement of a sentence, each time with a different word being given an accent or heightened volume. We might picture light that passes through a prism, resulting in a fascinating rainbow display of the full spectrum of visible light. Who can count or describe the various specific colors? That is how Paul sees God. The possibilities are endless.
Paul wants to pass on this image of God to his “true child in the faith” (meaning that Timothy became a believer through Paul’s preaching).
Lord, help me to increasingly see the full spectrum of Your glory.
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