The Trustworthy Gospel - Part 2 (Who is He? - the Chosen One)

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

--- 1Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)

1.     Who is He? (v15b)

How would you trust the person unless you know him? The following phrase “Christ Jesus came into the world” teaches us four uniqueness of Jesus Christ

i.                   Christ – The Anointed

Firstly, He is the Christ! The name Christ has its meaning. Just like my name, Solomon means “peaceful” from Hebrew word shalom. Timothy is a Greek name meaning, “honoring God.”

Christ is a Greek word from ‘Christos’ which means “anointed one.” It is derived from the Jewish terminology Messiah, which means the same thing, “anointed one.” What is anointed one? In the times of the Bible when a specific person is chosen or appointed to do a specific task, the term ‘anointed’ is used, and often done with an oil! Therefore, it means, chosen one, appointed one.

It is a Jewish/Biblical concept, long established from the very beginning, Eden Garden when Adam and Eve first sinned. God promises them that a child would be born to bruise the head of the serpent (Gen 3:15).

“And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her Seed;

He shall bruise your head,

And you shall bruise His heel.”

This promised child was not born then, and you know that child is this Jesus born on Christmas day, 2000 years ago!

This concept of the coming Messiah by the times of Moses was more developed when he said a Prophet is coming after Him in Deuteronomy 18:18. Moses was just like an advertisement for this Messiah!

“I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.”

By the times of Judges in Israel, it is more developed as expressed in 1 Samuel2:35, that God will raise up a Priest.

Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.

And by the time of Kings, it is more developed as seen in 2 Samuel 7:11-17 that God will raise up a King.

“since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel, and have caused you to rest from all your enemies. Also the LORD tells you that He will make you a house.^[a] “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you.^[b] Your throne shall be established forever.”’” According to all these words and according to all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David.”

And by the time of the fall of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, this is far greatly developed as seen in Jeremiah 23:5-6, Isaiah 9:6 that the Messiah will be a wonderful Counselor, mighty God, everlasting Prince of peace.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, ​“ That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; ​A King shall reign and prosper, ​And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In His days Judah will be saved, ​And Israel will dwell safely; ​Now this is His name by which He will be called: ​THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Jeremiah 23:5-6

“For unto us a Child is born, ​Unto us a Son is given; ​And the government will be upon His shoulder. ​And His name will be called ​Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, ​Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6

And then by the time of Daniel (Dan9:26), even the way how the world would treat the Messiah is prophesized.

“And after the sixty-two weeks ​Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; ​And the people of the prince who is to come ​Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. ​The end of it shall be with a flood, ​And till the end of the war desolations are determined.”

So who is this Messiah? It has been the promised one from the very beginning – the One to kill the serpent, the Prophet to represent God, the Priest to take away sins, the King to deliver and rule righteously, the Prince of peace to give peace and prosperity!

It was not yet born until Christmas day. The world particularly Jews, the Israelites, the covenant people of God through Abraham were waiting. That was why when Herod heard about the news of the birth of Christ in Matthew2:4, he knew what to do. He gathered all the priest and scribes, and asked where the Christ/Messiah would be born? And they told Him, “Bethlehem,” because Prophet Micah (Mic5:2) predicted it already.

All of them were waiting for Messiah, even that adulterous Samaritan woman was waiting for it in Jn4:25, because the sacrificial systems to take away sins for forgiveness are just the model for the true Sacrifice, Jesus would pay at the Cross! Without the true Sacrifice of God, there is no forgiveness of sins!

The name Christ rings out loud that God’s promise of Salvation is fulfilled. God has been in this program from day 1 when sin corrupted the world. Gospel to save you has been long before you were born! God’s desire and plan to save you is not random, nor hasty. It has been planned carefully, fittingly, graciously, and gloriously! And that plan is – the man Jesus, born on Christmas day whom you need to trust for your salvation!

The Trustworthy Gospel - Part 1 (The Importance of the Gospel)

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

--- 1Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)

The Importance of the Gospel

Gospel is not just about the news to escape hell to heaven! Gospel is everything! Gospel is God’s Grace reaching to Human beings! We all need God’s grace at all time. The fact that we are breathing now is God’s grace!

If you think, you have understood the Gospel enough, or if you think you have outgrown the need for the Gospel, I have to tell you that you are wrong! I am afraid that you have misunderstood what Gospel truly is.

We never understand the Gospel enough! We never outgrow our need for the Gospel! That is why Paul repeated his Gospel repeatedly! He wrote that he was determined to know nothing and preach nothing except Gospel. He was not ashamed of the Gospel nor ever gets tired to proclaim repeatedly! Therefore, whoever we may be we need Gospel all the times!

However, this does not mean that the Gospel is difficult or not understandable. (Jesus says that even children can understand!) It just means the Gospel is great! To illustrate, it is just like you live in Delhi as Indian. You do not need to have a home in every village of India to call yourself an Indian. The point is not to tell you that you do not understand the Gospel, rather it is to say that the Gospel is beyond our comprehension, just as India is bigger than your village!

Paul summarized the great Gospel in one line, just nine words in 1 Timothy 1:15

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

This is a magnificent verse. It is deeper than the Pacific Ocean, higher than the Mount Everest, wider than the North Pole to the South Pole, grandeur than the Taj Mahal!

Now, I want to tell you up front, the main thing we want to learn from this trustworthy Gospel is this: “TRUST JESUS CHRIST AND BE SAVED!” It means if you would put your trust in Jesus, you will surely be saved! That is what this verse means in simplest understanding!

In fact, this is one of the key messages of this book! Look at the very beginning of this book (1Tim1:1). How does Paul begin? He describes God in the business of saving people – “Savior.” 1Tim2:3 – “God as Savior.” Look again at 1Tim4:9 – “Savior of all men.” 1Tim2:4 – “all men to be saved.” He wants you to be saved! This is the message of the Gospel, our message today! Not to postpone for tomorrow for you could die anytime; death gives no warning and no excuses!

There is a real danger, and need of being saved, and as we think through this verse to trust Jesus for our salvation, Paul answers three basic questions, which we are required to know here! The first question is, Who is Jesus? “Christ Jesus came into the world.” The second question is, What did he do/What is He? to save sinners.” The third question is, What to do with Him “of whom I am chief.”

Paul begins by saying “this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance” The word “this” refers to what he is about to say, that is the proceeding phrase “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

Why is Paul saying this? Does that mean the other verse are not worthy of full acceptance! No! This is a way of getting attention! This is a way of highlighting the truth of the greatest importance! It means we should never, never, never miss this! In fact, the word “worthy” in Greek has the idea of being weighed in the weighing scale as if you put a kg of potato in one side and the 1kg stone in the other side before you buy. It is weighed, evaluated. This is not just feeling or opinion; it is a fact. You can bet your life on this. This is trustworthy!

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.” It is all, not some, not half, but all, full, and complete. This word in Greek has an idea of not just believing it to be true but also to respond accordingly! Paul is saying, this, you’ve got to believe it, you’ve got to respond to this trustworthy Gospel!

How I develop an Expository Sermon from Jeremiah 45

Image Scripture: A Devotional Reflection of Scripture

(These are some of the screenshots of my sermon preparation on Jeremiah 45. One does not need to know Hebrew to come up like this! It just needs a diligent study!😊😊😊)

Deriving exegetical and expositional outlines from the passage

Sermon Outline

I with UESI (SSEU 2010-2012)

(Note: I wrote this piece of article in 2013, and does not contain my present assessment of SSEU. Btw, SSEU has become SSICEU now!)

Why I join

I started to fall in love with Bible in 2005, and the word of God transformed me radically no sooner. God gave me a gift of faith to trust His word even when I was just a child. I always believe Bible to be inerrant and infallible, therefore has supreme authority over my life.

In 2010, I came to Shillong for my college education. There I was introduced to Shillong South Evangelical Union, a unit of UESI. I started attending SSEU Meetings regularly because I identified myself with the movement, ‘UESI is Bible Believing.’ I found myself so satisfied to read the third Doctrinal statement of UESI, that says, “The divine inspiration and infallibility of Holy Scripture (by which we mean the sixty-six books of the Bible) as originally given, and its supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.”

How I join

However, as time went by, I realized after reading the Manual book of UESI, “Witnesses for Me” that most of the members who attended SSEU has lost its vision. After deep thought, I decided never to attend its meeting again. I had been attending over 5 Christian fellowships (one after another) on every Sunday. I had to skip breakfast and lunch the whole day - right from dawn until night. It was so exhausting but I was so desperate to grow exponentially in my Christian life. I thought to skip the SSEU program from then on.

However, before I could ever miss the next EU meeting, the then Secretary of SSEU surprisingly approached me to take up the leadership as a Committee Member. I was startled then accepted willingly, having in mind to let SSEU what it supposed to be. That was how I joined UESI in 2010. For the next 2 years, I have strived and devoted to let my EU function in the Vision and Mission of UESI. We took out a few things and introduced a few things to be what we have been claiming to be.

What UESI (at least our SSEU was) is (from UESI Manual Book)

Evangelical Union is a fellowship of Born Again Students, who are Bible- believing and accept the authority of the Bible for their faith and conduct. Its aim is to make Jesus known to fellow students (post-matric students in India), nurture them as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they may serve the Church and Society.” The life of EU members is expected to exhibit core values such as Quiet Time, Personal Evangelism, Fellowship, Life of Faith, Prayerful, Discipling, Giving, Leadership, Study of the Word and Centrality of Scriptures.

"UESI has Three Relevant Principles: That we are called to be witnesses, that we are called to preserve and defend the truth, that we are commanded to avoid those who teach doctrine contrary to apostolic teaching." It has 10 Doctrinal Statements. Unless there is agreement on the fundamentals of the faith as outlined in the UESI doctrinal statement, there cannot be organizational co-operation.

UESI is an Evangelical, who believes salvation is through faith alone by grace alone in Christ alone. It strives not to engage in unprofitable, negative criticism of those who differ from them. They rejoice in the witness of every college student truly born again by the spirit of God and desire that the love of God may characterize all relationships with other members of the family of God.

UESI has four aims: Evangelism, Fellowship, Testimony, and Mission. The first three aims of EU are on the campuses, the fourth ‘Mission’ is outside the campus. Mission and Evangelism are the fruits of Fellowship and Testimony. So, Fellowshipping is the backbone of the aims. Fellowshipping is done by two means: Bible study and Prayer. In short, UESI is all about Bible Study and Prayer.

"We, however, live in the world though not of the world and therefore must seek and strive to maintain the Principle of a Student with faithfulness to the call of God. Mark 12:17 says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God.” Since we are created in the image of God, we belong to God and must live accordingly."

How I left

I was with SSEU as Secretary of the unit with interesting experiences. Organizing camps, raising funds, leading Bible studies and prayer groups, outreaching to various hostels, preaching, mentoring, visiting EGF homes, outing, participation in meetings and training programs, planting cell groups in hostel and college, evangelism and fellowship were some of the joyful experiences. I graduated from St. Anthony’s College in 2013, and it was a high time for me to leave SSEU and Shillong. I read out this poem on the farewell day as a valedictory message.

My time is getting over soon

I must go back to the land I belong

Have I been a bane or a boon,

Throughout my stay in Shillong?

One thing I desire is to kindle fire-

In your heart to love God more

May this be your heart's pleasure

To glorify God as never as before

I have lived and spoken diligently

Which I want you to do the same

May you too be in SSEU faithfully,

Without looking for a name or fame!

I have learned never to mind

Though sometimes, it really hurts

I have won some people's mind

May you win their souls and hearts!

Prayer

Lord, give me hope

That I may be Prayerful!

Also, Lord, make me prayerful

That I may have hope!

What do I desire to see

My God, than this from Thee!

Image Scripture: I John 2:28-29 (Diagram and Outline)

A Devotional Reflection of Scripture

Block Diagram of I John 2:28-29

Outline of I John 2:28-29

God of the Moon

I look at the bright moon,

As if that’s all I need to see,

The heaven looks so far,

I bow my head and close my eyes,

Tears roll down as I pray,

The God who made this moon,

Surely, my poor soul, He sees,

Even if I may have gone so far,

I trust He will someday open my eyes.

Image Scripture: Psalm 37:4

A Devotional Reflection of Scripture

Does the Devil make you sin?

“But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”  James 1:14-15

Summarize in a Word: Does the Devil make you sin?

Main point of the Passage: You are responsible for your sin!

Illustration: Young man struggling with Pornography

Exhortation: Be humbled knowing you are responsible for your sin. But be encouraged knowing you can overcome in the Spirit.

TMAI  Promotional Issue: By John Doe

These verses lay out for us the complete cycle of personal sin—from beginning to end. To defeat sin, we must understand it properly and, yet, sadly there is much false teaching today on the nature and origin of our sin. So where does my sin come from? Does God tempt me to sin? Or maybe the saying is true that “the devil made me do it?”

James 1:13 tells us that God never tempts us to sin and our verse today starkly refutes the false notion that Satan can make us sin. Instead, the only person responsible for your sin is…you. Satan cannot make you sin. He can tempt you, he can accuse you, he can dangle the fish hook of sin in front of your mouth, but he cannot force you to take the bait. This verse puts the responsibility for sin squarely on our own shoulders. But it also clarifies a major misunderstanding for many believers.

I personally witnessed the hopelessness and fear that a young man had because of his wrong understanding of sin. Struggling with pornography, he believed that Satan had the power to force him into this sin. He was fearful of what he saw as a sovereign devil. However, when he understood that the sin in his life was a result of his own lust, he then could deal with the issue at its root—his own heart.

Be humbled by the reality that your sin is born out of your own lust. But be encouraged knowing that if you walk by the Spirit, you will not carry out the desire [lust] of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).

Thanks for the time of Reflection,

R. Solomon

(Today’s Friday Issue is taken out from upcoming TMAI Devotional Writing from Pastors across the Globe. If you enjoy the styles and contents, you may want to buy when it is released.)

Image Scripture: A Maschil of David (Psalm 55)

A Devotional Reflection of Scripture