Christ in 1 Timothy -- Our Hope

Timothy was the son of a Greek Gentile father and a Jewish Christian mother, Eunice.  He was taught the Old Testament scriptures by his mother and his grandmother, Lois, both of whom became devout followers of Christ.  He was from Lystra, a city in the Roman province of Galatia which is a part of modern day Turkey.  Paul led Timothy and his family to Christ when he was on his first missionary journey, during his stop in Lystra.  When he was on his second missionary journey, Paul stopped again in Lystra and chose Timothy to accompany him.  Timothy was still a young man, but Paul obviously respected his spiritual maturity and devotion to Christ and his good reputation among the Christians there.  He remained a true friend, companion, and co-laborer with Paul for the rest of Paul’s life, accompanying him to Berea, Athens, Corinth, Jerusalem, Rome, and Philippi.  Paul often sent him as his representative, carrying messages to churches they had planted.  At the time of Paul’s writing of this letter, Timothy was serving as the pastor of the church in Ephesus.  Paul wrote 1 Timothy from Macedonia, after his release from prison in Rome, probably 62 – 64 a.d.  One of the purposes of the letter was to address some problems that had arisen in the church at Ephesus – false doctrine, disorder in worship, the qualifications of leaders, how to discern who is truly in need of charity, the treatment of elders, relationships between masters and slaves, and materialism.  Those problems continue to plague the modern church, however we will not dwell on those problems in this study.  Rather, we will continue in our mission to look for Christ in every book of the Bible.  In 1 Timothy we are introduced to Christ in the very first verse as Our Hope:

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope (1 Tim. 1:1).

This is how Paul addressed his letter to his spiritual son, Timothy.  He knew that Timothy, a young man, was in a very difficult position of leading a new church, a church that was being bombarded with false doctrine and all the problems that come along with church work.  He had to deal with arguments between believers, he had to choose leaders who could be trusted to help him every day, and he had to continue in his own spiritual growth.  Paul was wise to continue to minister to Timothy personally.  In this letter, he reminded Timothy of who Christ is and why Timothy was serving Him.  We need to remember to pray for our pastors and all our church leaders for the very same reasons.  We also need to be sure that they have time alone with God – time to reflect, to study, and to pray.  Theirs is a big job.  No matter the size of the church, the pastor today is faced with many of the same issues that Timothy faced.  We need to encourage our pastors rather than making demands upon their time, and we need to pray for them rather than criticize.

In addition to the verse above, 1 Tim. 1:1, Paul had the following things to say about Christ in this book:

• Jesus is Lord (1 Tim. 1:2).
• He gives us strength to do our work (1 Tim. 1:12).
• He is generous and gracious to fill us with faith and love (1 Tim. 1:14).
• He came to save sinners (1 Tim. 1:15).
• He is our Mediator (1 Tim. 2:5).
• He gave His life to purchase freedom for everyone (1 Tim. 2:6).
• He was revealed in human form, declared sinless by the Holy Spirit, seen by angels, announced to the nations, believed throughout the world, and taken to heaven in glory (1 Tim. 3:16).
• He gave an honest testimony before Pilate (1 Tim. 6:13).
• He will come again ((1 Tim. 6:14).

Paul knew that if Timothy ever forgot who he was serving, he would fail.  But Paul also knew that if Timothy continued to try to comprehend the very nature of God, he would be motivated to continue to serve Him, no matter how hard the circumstances became.  Christ would truly be his Hope.  That is true for us, too.  If we are to avoid all the pitfalls and stumbling blocks that we will face in our lives, we must seek to know the nature of God.  Unless we know His nature, we can be fooled by counterfeits, by the false doctrines, the myths, and the lies that the world will throw at us.

This letter, with all its practical advice, is ensconced between two doxologies, songs of praise to the nature of God.

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen (1 Tim. 1:17).

He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen (1 Tim. 6:15-16).

Paul knew that Timothy’s motivation was firmly grounded in the nature of God.  It is because God is who He is that Paul, Timothy, and all God’s true servants do what they do.  It is because He is who He is that Abraham was willing to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.  It is because He is who He is that Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt.  It is because He is who He is that Jesus willingly died for our sins.  And it is because He is who He is that we will live with Him in eternity.  He is our Hope!

If our faith is small, it is because the god we worship is small.  I don’t know that we can ever fully comprehend the full nature of God, this side of heaven, but the more we know of Him the greater our faith becomes.  Paul knew that.  He knew that was exactly what Timothy needed to face the troubles in his life.  Paul probably had no idea that we would be reading over his shoulder, two thousand years later.  But his letter to Timothy is as meaningful to us today as it was then to Timothy.  I hope you will read it for yourself, dwelling on every verse, especially those verses that describe the nature of God, allowing the truth of His word and the truth of His nature to take root in your life, spurring you on to greater faith and greater works in obedience to Him.

My prayer for you and for me this week is adapted from the very last part of this letter, 1 Tim. 6:20, 21 –

O (God)! Guard what (You) committed to (our) trust, avoiding the profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge. (Keep us from straying from faith.) Amen.

All scripture references are from the New King James Version.