In reading or studying any part of the Bible, it is always necessary to find out what was in the spirit of the writer. Once we know the writer’s spirit, we can learn his purpose, intention, goal, and aim. In order to learn what was the burden in Paul’s spirit in 1 Thessalonians 1, we need to consider some basic matters in this chapter as indicated by the words Paul uses and by the way this chapter is constructed. This means that Paul’s spirit here is related to certain basic words he uses. Any chapter of the Bible is constructed of specific words that refer to basic elements. Let us now consider some basic matters in 1 Thessalonians 1 expressed in the words chosen by the Apostle Paul.
In chapter one of 1 Thessalonians the Triune God is revealed. First, we have the Father. In 1:1 Paul says that the church is in God the Father, and in verse 3 he again refers to “our God and Father.” In verse 10 Paul speaks concerning the Son: “And to wait for His Son from the heavens.” Furthermore, Paul mentions the Holy Spirit in verse 5, where he says that the gospel came to the Thessalonians in the Holy Spirit, and also in verse 6, where he says that the Thessalonians accepted the word with joy of the Holy Spirit. In this chapter we have the Triune God-the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
At the time of Paul, any typical Jew would have been offended by the expression “His Son.” This was offensive to Jews because they believed in the true God, but did not realize that He has a Son. To a certain extent, the Jews believed that God has a Spirit. However, they did not have the understanding that the Spirit is the same in rank as God Himself. Rather, they believed only that God has a Spirit and that this Spirit is subordinate to Him. According to Jewish belief concerning God, God is unique and yet this unique God has a Spirit. The Jews certainly did not believe that God has a Son; neither did they believe that both the Son of God and the Spirit of God are on the same rank as God. This is altogether contrary to the Jewish concept. Hence, for Paul to speak of the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit is to utter something very basic.
In chapter one Paul not only speaks of the Son of God, but also speaks of Jesus Christ. The Son of God is Jesus, and this Jesus is Christ. The name Jesus refers basically to the manhood of the Son of God, to the Son of God as a man. Through incarnation the Son of God became a man named Jesus. This name is an equivalent to the Hebrew word for Joshua, a name which means either Jehovah our Savior or Jehovah our salvation. The name of Jesus, therefore, is rich in its implications.
Like everyone else, Jesus, the Son of God, has a history. We know that He was born in Jewish territory, lived in that region for thirty-three and a half years, and eventually died on the cross. Now when we speak of Jesus, we need to recall His history, His biography.
The Lord Jesus is also the Christ. For the most part, the title Christ denotes that aspect of the Lord’s history related to resurrection, whereas the name Jesus denotes that part of His history related to incarnation and human living. Christ, the resurrected One, has been made Lord of all and Head of all. God has made Him Head of the church.
Home | First | Prev | Next