This morning, as I was reading the opening verses of this
powerful letter, God impressed on my heart three things. Paul wrote in these
opening verses about God our Savior. He called the Lord Jesus Christ our hope. And
then he referred to Timothy as a true son in the faith. I’m not sure why these
three phrases called to me like they did this morning. I’ve read them hundreds
of times – usually just skimming over them so that I can get to the “more
important” stuff. At least that’s the way most of us feel as we read these
verses. But there was just something about these words this morning. So let’s
look at them for a few minutes.
First, Paul spoke of “God our Savior.” That is not a phrase
that we use often. Usually, we talk about Jesus our Savior, and He is. Yes, it’s
true that God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son are two of the three persons
that make up the Trinity. Yes, they are One being, so it is acceptable to use
the terms interchangeably. But I don’t think that Paul was trying to remind his
readers that Jesus is God. I think He is trying to tell us that God the Father
has always been the Author of salvation. Perhaps that is too fine of a
distinction, but I don’t think so. God has always been called our Deliverer,
our Healer, Our Sustainer, and so many other names that refer to our salvation.
He brought the children of Israel out of their bondage in Egypt, and He has
saved us from our sin. He is our Savior.
I read recently about another possibility: a comparison of
two different saviors. In Roman thought and politics, the emperor was often
called the savior of his people. In fact, the emperors considered themselves to
be gods. As Paul fought against this false religious/political system, I think
he wanted to show these Roman citizens who the true Savior and God really is.
Second, Paul used the full name and title of God the Son. He
is the Lord Jesus Christ. Understand it this way: Jesus is His given name and
it means “salvation.” Lord is His “earthly” title, and it indicates that He is
our Master. Christ is the Greek version of Messiah, and it demonstrates His
purpose in coming to the earth. Salvation has come in the form of the true
Messiah, and all who submit to His Lordship will be saved. My friends, this is
the only hope that the world has to avoid eternal damnation, and He is the Hope
of Christians. Know this: hope in this context is a certainty, not wishful
thinking. It isn’t like we would say, “I hope I didn’t miss the bus,”
acknowledging the distinct possibility that we have. It is the certainty that
we who know Jesus will live eternally with Him.
Like Timothy, a true son in the faith, we can know we are
saved. The word “true” is used to refer to a legitimate son, but Paul was not
claiming to be Timothy’s father either physically or spiritually. We know that
Timothy was the son of a Greek father and was raised up in a Christian
environment by his mother and grandmother. No doubt they led him to faith in
Jesus. What Paul was saying is that Timothy was the real deal – a genuine Christian
devoted to Jesus and His church. Truthfully, there is no greater compliment
that could be paid to a Christian. Are you a true son/daughter of the faith?
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