Mensa Otabil - A Messenger of Christ (11/06/2025)
First Timothy, and we will do First Timothy throughout this week, chapter 1, and we read verses 1 and 2. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope, to Timothy, a true son in the faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. This is Paul's first letter to Timothy, and it's a pastoral letter. It means that it is addressing issues that are related to pastoring and all the work of the church. Paul wrote two letters to Timothy in the New Testament scriptures.
In the introduction, Paul uses a familiar introduction if you're used to his writing. He addresses himself in very similar ways. He calls himself an apostle. An apostle is from the Greek word " apostolos," which means one who has been sent or simply a messenger, a person who's been sent on a mission. It's not a very big title; it's a very humble title that Jesus Christ himself gave to the people he had trained. When Jesus called his disciples or people to follow him, he called them disciples; that means students. Then, when he was ready to send them out, he called them apostles-messengers who had been trained, people who had been trained as disciples and now were going out with his message.
Paul saw himself as also trained by the Lord Jesus Christ and sent by the Lord Jesus Christ. Interestingly, this is how Paul saw himself: he was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn't an apostle for himself; he wasn't self-sent. He was sent by the Lord Jesus Christ, and Paul was always careful to mention that he was a messenger of the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, he addresses Timothy, whom he calls a son in the faith. Timothy was one of Paul's most well-known proteges or people he trained in ministry. Timothy was a young man that Paul met in a city called Lystra on a mission trip, and he had come from a Christian family. Paul took him, discipled him, and he became a companion of Paul. He later became the pastor of the church in Ephesus, and at the time that this letter was being written, he was the pastor of the church in Ephesus, which in the New Testament era was one of the largest churches. It was supposed to have reached a number of about 10,000 people at a time, so Timothy was a very effective person and a very effective protégé of Paul.
So that's our introduction to First Timothy. He speaks grace, mercy, and peace from God to Timothy and to the church in Ephesus, as well as to all of us Christians. The lesson we learn is that God is the one who trains us, and he's the one who sends us. When we are on a mission, we should be conscious that our work is for him, for his glory, and to do his purposes. So that's how we introduce ourselves to First Timothy, right from chapter 1, the introduction. We'll continue this tomorrow.
Let's share a word of prayer together. Say with me, "Heavenly Father, I submit myself to you. Teach me your ways; send me to be a blessing to my generation. In Jesus' name, amen and amen."