It's our last week in the book of 2 Thessalonians and I thought I would take the opportunity to share some reflections from our time in these two amazing letters from Paul.
1 Thessalonians 1. Thanksgiving is an essential part of life for a Christian and especially for the way we view the church. It is impossible to avoid that Paul was incredibly thankful for his brothers and sisters in the church of Thessalonica. He was thankful to God for choosing them for salvation. He was thankful that the Holy Spirit had illuminated them to the truth of the gospel. He was thankful for a simple faithfulness of this church in the face of opposition. He was thankful for the transformation in their lives. Our church can be thankful for all these same reasons today. Our God has done a wonderful work in his church in and through Christ. We have every reason to be thankful.
1 Thessalonians 2 The ministry of the gospel can be defended because it is not a human message, and even though it comes via human voices, it is God's message in God's power. The pointed fingers of the world will attempt to bring down the gospel and God's chosen voices, but at the end of the day the gospel goes out not because the church desires its own glory but desires to see the salvation of lost souls to the glory of Christ. We are willing to give all for the sake of the good news of Jesus. May this be a spreading reality.
1 Thessalonians 3 The gospel is a ministry of love. We earnestly seek to know that the church is growing in number and in faith and love. We know that the church is in a world of opposition and that is why we are always prayerful to seek God's continued work through his saints being faithful in trying circumstances. We should be both anxious to know about the work of God's church in the world and encouraged by any reports of steadfast faith and obedience to the call of the gospel. We love God's family
1 Thessalonians 4 The church is contrary to the world. We don't live like the world lives and we don't grieve like the world grieves. We have a reason to live in hope - our Savior is returning, and he has not forgotten any of us. When Jesus returns, he will bring our brothers and sisters who have died before us because they are with him now. When he returns with them, they will be resurrected bodily, and we also will meet them in the air to forever be with Jesus together. We have a great and glorious day to look forward. We have no reason to grieve in hopelessness.
1 Thessalonians 5 We don't know the day and hour that Jesus will return, but we are called to be ready for him in the totality of our lives. We live to stand before our Savior face to face and have no reason to be complacent about it. We also understand that the day of the Lord will bring devastating judgment upon all those who do not have faith in Jesus. More people need to hear his good news. We live in this life for Christ so that we are never taken by surprise at his coming. Until he returns, let us live diligently and faithfully and in patient love, one for another.
2 Thessalonians 1 The church lives in simple enduring faithfulness even though persecution is always threatening us. Our endurance through persecution shows that we are not living toward judgment, but that Christ has taken the consequence of our sins that we no longer wish to live in. The reality of judgment will come on unbelievers. This reminder is important for the church. We live according to final vindication in Christ, not the threat of a coming judgment. Because of that, we can make our lives a matter of faithful works as we believe in God's faithful word.
2 Thessalonians 2 It is so important for the church to always remember that the coming of our Lord is a future reality in Christ's physical return. Anyone who denies the coming day of the Lord is living a lie. Our life in this world as Christians is one in which we must be careful of the deceit all around us. The only way to be strong together on this is to be committed to the truth of the word of Christ as taught by the Apostles (everything we have in the Scriptures). By standing together on the truth of Scripture we will be best equipped to both notice the deception of men and be established in the work of the ministry of Christ. We will not be caught by the deception of Satan or any other lawlessness or antichrist delusions from men.
2 Thessalonians 3 We are simple ordinary Christians. Don't forget that this means that we faithfully live out our lives in confidence that God will bring us all the way to the end. We can be confident in each other because Christ is in us. We can also be careful not to take advantage of each other or leave any unnecessary barrier or burden for the gospel. Our simple lives of faithful work keep us from idleness and are God's powerful tool for the witness of his church all over the world as we use our lives for the advancement of the gospel. Let's not grow weary in this but keep each other accountable as we serve our Lord until he comes.
These beautiful thoughts from the letters of Paul to the Thessalonians help us to define life as ORDINARY CHRISTIANS!