Good Monday to you my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Do you find it difficult sometimes, to imagine a day when there will be NO evil, ONLY good; NO injustice, ONLY righteousness; NO immorality, only God honoring morality? It was that way once on earth, in the days of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden utopia, and one day it will be that way again as God restores a New Earth as described in Revelation 21.
But did you know there will be another time of remarkable peace and absence of evil, and Paul is describing that in 2 Thessalonians 1? So, let’s join Paul, Silas and Timothy again as Paul is writing this letter.
Yesterday we looked at the powerful judgment Jesus will bring with Him when, as Paul writes: “the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with His powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” (2 Thess. 1:7,8) This graphic description of the risen, victorious Jesus, unleashing His mighty power on the evil of our world, is more fully revealed in Revelation 17:12-14, which describes a gathering of 10 great kings and their armies preparing to fight against the Lord Jesus, who has come from heaven to defeat all of this evil. This one summary statement tells us what will happen: “They will wage war against the Lamb (Jesus), but the Lamb (Jesus) will triumph over them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings – and with Him will be His called, chosen and faithful followers.” (Rev. 17:14) Who are those who are with King Jesus? Angels who have remained faithful to God since the first rebellion in which Lucifer was cast down out of heaven. (Luke 10:18) And also, all those who have been raptured up in the first return of Jesus. (1 Thess.4:13-18)
Paul continues his description of this judgement with these words: “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord…” (2 Thess. 1:9) That is a good summary of the judgment we see described in Revelation 20:7-15, when Satan and all the demons, and all who have never bowed their knee to Jesus, and proclaimed Him Savior and Lord, will be sentenced to their eternal punishment and sent to Hell forever.
But Paul also wanted to encourage the Christians in Thessalonica and all Christians who have read this, his second letter, with these next words he wrote: “…and from the glory of His might, on the day Jesus comes to be glorified IN His holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.” (2 Thess. 1:10) This great verse means there will not only be a glorious victory over evil when King Jesus returns in all His power and glory, accompanied by the heavenly army, but for those who have trusted in Jesus during these terrible times of great suffering and persecution, THEY will find a great outpouring of the glory of Jesus upon them, and the great celebration of Jesus by His people will be beyond anything we can imagine!
Here’s a picture of this described in Revelation 20:4 “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the Word of God. They had refused to worship the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ one thousand years…”
Paul continued in his letter to the Thessalonian Christians: “With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling, and that by His power He may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you…” (2 Thess. 1:11,12)
Do you see three powerful statements of hope and abundant living even in the midst of persecution?
Here’s the first: “we constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of His calling”
That’s a concept that was frequently on Paul’s heart. (Eph. 4:1; Col.1:10) Paul longed that Christians would live their lives dramatically different from who they had been before they came to know Jesus, but also very different from the other people in town who didn’t know Jesus. The contrast of lifestyle and attitudes, therefore, should be a tangible, living evidence of the refining, cleansing, transforming work of the Holy Spirit in these Christians. That is precisely why in Antioch, Syria, the city came up with a new name for these followers of Jesus, because their behavior was so much like Jesus… Christians! (Acts 11:26) Is that true of us, my friends?
Here’s the second powerful statement in Paul’s prayer focus: “that by His power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your ever deed prompted by faith.”
Paul knew the Holy Spirit would be planting in the hearts of these Christians various innovative, wonderful ideas of how they could be a blessing to Thessalonica. These Christians were looking for ways to make a difference, a positive, helpful difference in this great city. Paul knew it would be by the power of God unleashed in these Christians that these blessing ideas would become reality and Thessalonica would become a better place because these Christians were living out their life purposes and ambitions there! Can that be said of your town,my friends?
And one last powerful statement from Paul: “We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you…”
If you claim to be a Christian… let’s hold this line up as a mirror and let’s take a close look at our lives. Is the NAME of the Lord Jesus Christ honored, glorified, revered by our words, our attitudes, our choices, our relationships, our behavior? Is that not the ultimate life purpose and desire of every Christian everywhere in the world? Here’s how Isaiah the prophet wrote it: “They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor.” (Isaiah 61:3)
Now that’s a very powerful first chapter of Paul’s second letter to the Christians in Thessalonica isn’t it? Lots of challenges and words of encouragement, but also some warnings. So, as always, we need to reflect before we rush into chapter 2. And here’s a worship song to help us my friends as we consider how all this is possible as Jesus unleashes His power in us, His people…
Today’s Scripture is 2 Thess 1:7-12.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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