Forgiven Once For All
Forgiven Once For All
EP 15 The First Letter
Ever wondered what the first written book of the New Testament has to teach us about facing life's challenges? On today's episode of Forgiven Once for All, I, Shannon, unravel the profound messages within 1 Thessalonians, a letter crafted by Paul in the midst of adversity to uplift the fledgling church in Thessalonica. Discover how Paul's heartfelt connection with Sylvanus and Timothy serves not only as a historical anchor but as a testament to the enduring power of community and faith. As we explore the opening verses, you'll gain insights into the transformative power of prayer and the unwavering faith, love, and hope that defined the Thessalonians as God's chosen ones.
Our journey today is not just about understanding scripture; it's about feeling the weight of God's call in our own lives. I share Paul's encouraging words that remind us of our unique purpose and God's fervent love for each of us, even when life's trials seem overwhelming. This episode urges you to read the first four verses of 1 Thessalonians and reflect on how they resonate with your personal spiritual journey. Let this exploration be a reminder that you are set aside for something extraordinary, supported by the prayers and love of a community that stands with you.
Welcome to the Forgiven Once for All podcast. My name is Shannon. Thank you for joining me. Today we're going to start looking at the book of 1 Thessalonians, and what I wanted to do here was really just kind of take a deep dive into this book. This book was written by Paul and according to scholars, it is the first book written in the New Testament. According to date, it was written somewhere around 45 to 52 AD. Now, christ, you know, jesus, went to the cross. The crucifixion and the resurrection happened somewhere around 33 AD, most scholars believe. So this puts the book of 1 Thessalonians roughly 17 years after Jesus rose from the dead.
Speaker 1:Now I wanted to start studying the New Testament in order. Now we don't know the exact order of every book, but we can get pretty close. So we're going to start with 1 Thessalonians, which was written by Paul, and Paul wrote this to the church of Thessalonica. Now some of the information I'm pulling from the Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible, which is a great resource. In here it says that Paul had sent Timothy to encourage and strengthen the church. So Timothy was already a disciple that was working closely with Paul. He was one of Paul's trusted men and Timothy sent Paul to go check on this new church, and Timothy came back with such a report that it inspired Paul to write this epistle, to write this letter to the church. He wanted to comfort them and to strengthen them. The church at Thessalonica was founded by Paul on his second missionary journey. He met with violent opposition there in his work, but he exceeded in winning some Jews and many Greeks to the kingdom of God. And so this is where we find Paul as he's writing this letter.
Speaker 1:Now let's go ahead and start reading the first couple of verses here. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1,. Starting at verse 1, it says Paul, silvanus and Timothy to the Church of the Thessalonians. In God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace. We always give thanks to God for all of you, making mention of you in our prayers, constantly keeping in mind your work of faith and labor of love. Keeping in mind your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence of our God and Father, knowing brothers and sisters beloved by God, his choice of you.
Speaker 1:Now, when reading scripture, we have a habit of reading the Bible just by verse at a time Verses here, and then we put them together with verses somewhere else and, to be quite frank, that is not how it was written. That's not how it was intended to be read. These were letters. Each book was a letter. It was a continuous thought written to a group of people.
Speaker 1:So there's a couple of things that we can do, and I'm not saying it's wrong to read verses there's actually power in that. That we'll find out here. But what we should not forget is that this is a letter. So what I like to do, and what I encourage you to do, is, when you're reading a book, read it all the way through. Read first Thessalonians all the way through, maybe read it through several times, and then come back and look at the words, look at verses and go verse every couple of verses at a time and make sure you're not missing something. But we should never just pick a verse and then move on to another book and another verse. That method has done more harm than good to the spiritual growth and well-being of Christians. Today we need to focus on what the author was saying, and in order to do that, we've got to read the letter. So here we have in the first verse we have. I thought it was very interesting.
Speaker 1:Paul name drops Sylvanus and Timothy. Now, timothy had just came back from visiting them and he, so Paul, drops Timothy's name because he knows that they are familiar with him and he says you know that you're the church of the Thessalonians in God, the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace. So here he establishes who has called them to be a church or an ecclesia, a gathering together of believers. So here Paul is establishing an identity and he's saying yes, I identify with you. We have Timothy, you know him, he knows me, and we all serve the father of our Lord, Jesus Christ. And Jesus, he is the Lord of Lords, he's the King of Kings and this is your identity.
Speaker 1:Then he goes on to say that we give thanks to God for all of you making mention of you in our prayers. Now here, this would be interesting. This would be the first time in New Testament canon that prayer is mentioned. Paul is saying I am praying for you because this is so important. Number one, we got to know who we're praying to and number two, we got to know that we need to pray and we need to know the importance and the power of prayer. If Paul is going to mention that I am praying for you, this offers them encouragement, but also offers them instruction that they need to pray as well. He says I am constantly keeping in mind your work of faith and labor of love and perseverance of hope in our Jesus, in our Lord Jesus Christ, in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the presence of our God and Father. And so here he mentions their faith and how they're working towards loving one another. This is Jesus said. They will know that you were my disciples by your love for one another. So here Paul is referencing back, saying that you work to love and you persevere in hope and you have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In verse four it says knowing brothers and sisters beloved by God, his choice of you. Now I want you to contemplate those words beloved by God and his choice of you.
Speaker 1:I like to read scripture in different translations to kind of get a broader picture. As we've discussed before, the Bible was not written in English. It was written in a language that none of us understand, in Greek. So the message version, which is a paraphrased version of the Bible. In verse 4 it says I like how it puts it. It says it is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much, but also has put his hand on you for something special.
Speaker 1:So here we can take this to heart.
Speaker 1:God has called you, he's put his hand on you. Not only does he love you, but he's put his hand on you for something special. See, paul is encouraging the Thessalonians here, saying that you have a purpose and you have a destiny, and God is going to use you for something special. Now, what that is, we don't know. We don't know what it is that God has his hand on you for. But be rest assured that there's unchangeable truth no matter how many lies, the enemy brings Number one God loves you and he has set you aside for something special. And also, as a bonus, there's somebody praying for you and somebody lifting you up. I couldn't have thought of a better way to start the New Testament than by these four verses by Paul. Please read the book of Thessalonians. We're going to continue to go through this book. Read it all the way through. Go back and contemplate these first four verses and see what God is saying to you. I want you to remember that God is madly in love with you. Until next time, thank you.