God's Show and Tell

1 Timothy 1:15-17 – God’s Show and Tell

Chief Sinner! That was Paul’s opinion about himself, and it is easily understood. He had fought God – literally rejecting the Truth and resisting grace. Beyond that, he had set out to destroy the early church by arresting Christians and having them imprisoned – possibly even having them killed. So he had to believe that he was the worst of the worse. But he wasn’t! I am. And you are. Since all sin is fighting against God and all sin is evil, all sin is the same. That makes me the chief sinner. And that makes you the chief sinner, too.

The good news is this: just as Paul obtained mercy, so, too, can we. We simply throw up our hearts and hands in surrender to His grace, and all that was before is wiped away. God removes our sin as far as the east is from the west. The blood of Jesus covers our sin, and God chooses to never remember it again.

But why does God do this? The correct answer is, “Because He loves us!” His unconditional love wants only for us to be in a love relationship with Him, so He makes it possible. “However,” Paul said, “I obtained mercy for a reason.” In other words, God had a purpose for saving Paul. Or perhaps better stated, God saved Paul for him to accomplish something. Here it is: to be God’s show and tell.

Do you remember show and tell? In the early years of elementary school you had to bring an item to school, stand in front of the class, and talk about it. It was your initial training in public speaking, but that’s not important here. For Paul, it’s like God wanted to take this enemy of the church, transform hi into a friend and powerful servant, and show everyone what He could do. It isn’t about Paul; it’s about Jesus. It’s about His ability to save and transform, but even beyond that, it’s about His longsuffering and immensely patient Spirit that pursued Paul even while he was persecuting Christians. God is saying, “If I can do this with Paul, know that I can do it with you.” Paul became a pattern for those who would come after him.

Know this: God pursues us. His Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin. He sends someone to us to show us how to be saved, and He does it all so that He might use us to accomplish something as well.

Salvation was the greatest moment of Paul’s life, and the same is true for everyone who comes to know Jesus. To know that your past has been forgiven, your present has been empowered, and your future has been assured is to know the meaning of love, peace, and joy. And notice what Paul did as he was writing this letter. Just remembering what that day was like caused him to break out in celebratory praise of the One who saved him. How do you feel when you think back to that day? Are you so overwhelmed by joy that you can’t contain it? God wants you to be so that you, too, can be His show and tell.