As you may remember I have shared how Elaine and I start our days with a cup of coffee and God’s Word. In my readings today, I read both 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. Both letters begin with the greeting as shown in the NLT-
“This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the first letter the greeting ends with-
May God give you grace and peace.”
Where as in the second letter the greeting ends with-
May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.”
As you see in the second he adds the words-
…our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ…
I was interested in this, so I began to do some further study. Why did Paul identify God in the second letter as Father and why did he add the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, no one knows why. Only Paul and God know why. There is nothing that can give a reason or purpose that the words were added in the second letter. I was not surprised by that and there was certainly conjecture as to the words but nothing as to why they were added.
So, as I read and considered it all, I came to the conclusion that as happens with all of us. There are times when our minds are focusing and considering something. That then comes out in what we might say or write. How we might think or decide on a certain matter.
Another thought was that all of us might be experiencing something differently than we do before. That will then cause us to say or maybe write something with another thought in mind.
When you consider the 2 letters they begin with-
This letter is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy. We are writing to the church in Thessalonica, to you who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In both, it is clearly stated that the church belongs to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Now the letters were both written closely to one another. There is even some speculation, although canonized in the order found in Scripture, they may have been sent in opposite order. Although it is most commonly accepted they were both canonized and sent in the same order.
Reading these two letters offers wonderful teaching and instruction for a believer. Those to whom they write gain assurance and knowledge. So as they read the second greeting, there is that additional acknowledgement of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who both give grace and peace.
Philip Yancey said in “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” is that-
“Grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us more... And grace means there is nothing we can do to make God love us less... Grace means that God already loves us as much as an infinite God can possibly love..
The word for peace indicates the absence or end of strife. God the Father gives peace and through the Lord Jesus Christ is accomplished the reconciliation of man. The result of a new relationship between man and God brought about by the atonement.
Over 100 times in the Old Testament the word atonement (kaphar) is found. It is seen most noticeability in the Pentateuch. The word atonement is used, as a rule, as the in context of “a cover” by sacrifice, either a blood sacrifice or the payment of a certain amount of money. The simple idea is that a person or thing is unclean due to sin or some other defilement. So through a payment or sacrifice, atonement is made for that person or thing and it is now holy or acceptable.
What God did through Jesus Christ was not “a cover” as the word atonement would have meant. Thus, the word atonement does not appear in the New Testament.
1 Thessalonians 5:9-10 ESV Paul said-
9 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.
Then in Romans 5:9-10 NKJV-
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
As you read the two letters to the church in Thessalonica, you see that Paul, Silas and Timothy were writing to encourage those who had already experienced God’s Grace. Even though they had questions, they kept them focused on the truth of God’s love and provision.
You and I need that today in our lives. To read and study the words of these great men of faith. The truth was revealed to the first church and that same truth is real today. Truth never changes.
In God’s Grace,
Elbert Nasworthy
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