2 Thessalonians 3:16-18 says...
Today's verses are 2 Thessalonians 3:16-18 which read,
"Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."
This is the closing words from Paul to the church in Thessalonica and there are some really neat things to observe here.
1. Paul calls and prays for them to have peace and he names the author of peace, "the Lord of peace" and then adds the element of the Lord personally supplying that peace on a regular basis. Also, Paul doesn't pray for the circumstances to go away but that peace of the Lord would be given to them in and through the circumstance.
2. Paul lets them know that he, himself is writing this letter with his own hand. Many times Paul communicated with another writing down his words but this time they could look at the hand writing and know from now on if they saw this, they could tell it was Paul, himself writing the letter. So Paul prays first for the Lord of peace Himself and then he tells them that he, himself wrote this letter. I see Paul following the example of his Lord.
3. Paul starts with "the Lord of peace" and then ends with "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." Peace and grace. Grace, meaning something given to one who deserves just the opposite. Grace of who? "The Lord" - to whom you belong. "Jesus" - a historical figure whose name means God is salvation. "Christ" - anointed, Messiah, Son of God. When you say His name that way, the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saying you belong to the One who brings salvation that was proclaimed by God as Salvation.
As much as I get out of Paul's writings the deep theological help to understand more fully the life and death and resurrection of Jesus and how that relates to us, I also get out of Paul's writing this personal touch from him. He truly loves the people he is writing to and many that he has visited in their towns. He makes it a point to let them know even by taking the time to write this letter and to identify that is was he who was personally caring for them.
Is there anyone today or tomorrow at church that you need to go to personally and let them know of your love and concern for them? I had that happen last night at our Thanksgiving Dinner at the church and it hit me like someone writing me a letter in their own hand and then I got to turn around and do the same for someone else. Be asking the Lord Jesus Christ for who you are to make sure they know that you care about them.
Pastor Adam
"Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand, and this is a distinguishing mark in every letter; this is the way I write.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all."
This is the closing words from Paul to the church in Thessalonica and there are some really neat things to observe here.
1. Paul calls and prays for them to have peace and he names the author of peace, "the Lord of peace" and then adds the element of the Lord personally supplying that peace on a regular basis. Also, Paul doesn't pray for the circumstances to go away but that peace of the Lord would be given to them in and through the circumstance.
2. Paul lets them know that he, himself is writing this letter with his own hand. Many times Paul communicated with another writing down his words but this time they could look at the hand writing and know from now on if they saw this, they could tell it was Paul, himself writing the letter. So Paul prays first for the Lord of peace Himself and then he tells them that he, himself wrote this letter. I see Paul following the example of his Lord.
3. Paul starts with "the Lord of peace" and then ends with "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." Peace and grace. Grace, meaning something given to one who deserves just the opposite. Grace of who? "The Lord" - to whom you belong. "Jesus" - a historical figure whose name means God is salvation. "Christ" - anointed, Messiah, Son of God. When you say His name that way, the Lord Jesus Christ, you are saying you belong to the One who brings salvation that was proclaimed by God as Salvation.
As much as I get out of Paul's writings the deep theological help to understand more fully the life and death and resurrection of Jesus and how that relates to us, I also get out of Paul's writing this personal touch from him. He truly loves the people he is writing to and many that he has visited in their towns. He makes it a point to let them know even by taking the time to write this letter and to identify that is was he who was personally caring for them.
Is there anyone today or tomorrow at church that you need to go to personally and let them know of your love and concern for them? I had that happen last night at our Thanksgiving Dinner at the church and it hit me like someone writing me a letter in their own hand and then I got to turn around and do the same for someone else. Be asking the Lord Jesus Christ for who you are to make sure they know that you care about them.
Pastor Adam
Comments
Post a Comment