Mind of a Christian - Chapter 2

To ponder - 1 Timothy 1 is richly gospel-centric and I love it

In a previous chapter, I mentioned that people can have favorite Bible verses that they emotionally resonate with or are otherwise attached to. I said that I have a whole bunch - and so this chapter will be about one of them! Without further ado, let me bring it up for us:

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

1 Timothy 1:15-17 (NASB)

I like to have alarms throughout the day with Bible verses in them, to keep them in mind as I go through things like waking up, or leaving work. I have this as my 4:00pm alarm, to mark that my work-day is over, so it's nice to ponder this after thinking about what has happened during that day.

What I really like about these verses is how gospel-dense they are. Here's three things that I'd like to dwell on:

1) It states the reason why Jesus took on humanity: to save sinners (hey, another passage in the arsenal to encourage celebrating Christmas!)
2) It emphasizes that it's for all sinners, especially the worst. You can't disqualify yourself by thinking you're not good enough
3) It rejoices in God and His wonderful attributes

So! Let's get into it.

These verses go immediately into the centrality of the gospel: that God the Son took on human form to save the unworthy.

During the worst of my depression, I often battled with the thought that I was never going to be good enough for God, or that He would never be pleased with me. Yeah, I'm a child of God, but I felt like the hard-headed kid who always breaks a plate, or always aggravates his parents. I felt like there has to be some reason to look at me with disgust. And so, St. Paul writes: among whom I am foremost of all.

And he doesn't let go of this idea that he was the worst of the bunch. It's not the case where Jesus offers salvation to this large crowd of people, and Paul just so happened to sneak in past the bouncers. No, Jesus' salvation is especially for the worst of peoples. As Paul wrote: for this reason I found mercy. He was made as an example, so that all of us can point to him, and say: If Jesus can forgive Paul, He can forgive us. If He lovingly receives Paul into an eternal, and secure relationship, He can do it with us. God delights in His children. He delights in Paul, and He will delight in us.

All of the things that I would think up to try to disqualify myself evaporates. That's the potency of the good news of Jesus.

I love how St. Paul writes a praise following this. It's so fitting to break out into celebration as one who was slated for death, but was instead given life and love. And it's really neat in how Paul praises God:

Paul calls Him the King eternal, praising that God is the ruler of all time, forever.

Paul calls Him immortal, as Jesus has defeated death in His resurrection, and defeats the death in all of us who trust in Him for eternal life.

Paul calls Him invisible, wholly bigger than and unbound by the limitations of creation.

Paul calls Him the only God, the true giver of life. No one else has the power or the heart to save as God saves.

And to this God, the conqueror of death, the ruler of all, and the justifier of the unrighteous, be honor and glory forever and ever. God is beautiful, and worthy of the praise we give Him.