but has in due time
manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to
the commandment of God our Savior;
Titus 1:3
Dear Heavenly
Father, as I close out the last full week of Bible study in 2018, help me to
stay focused on Your Word and let It instruct and encourage me. Help me to stay consistent in 2019. Help me to manage my time wisely and not get
distracted by the trappings of the world.
Lord, you are awesome. Thank you
for a wonderful family and an incredible Savior! In Jesus's name I pray, Amen.
This verse is still
in the "Sender" part of the letter.
Paul briefly describes his calling. To bring deeper understanding to
today's text, let's examine some key words and their companion or similar
verses.
"Due time"
in the Greek is kairos which means time,
season, opportunity, occasion, time as an opportunity, the suitable time, the
right moment, favorable moment, the time when things are brought to a crisis,
decisive epoch waited for. 1 Timothy 2:5-6
states "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man
Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." "Manifested" in the Greek is phaneroo which means to make visible, make
clear, make plain, graspable, known what is hidden or unknown, God giving
instructions through preachers of the Gospel.
The root word is phos which means
light. When the opportunity arrived at
the determined moment of time, God revealed what was hidden or unknown.
"Word" in
the Greek is logos which means embodying
an idea, statement, divine utterance, analogy, comparison of two things for the
purpose of explanation, expressing the thoughts of the Father through the
Spirit, sharing a message, doctrine concerning attainment through Christ of salvation
in the kingdom of God. It is from the
word, lego, which means speaking to
conclusion. "Preaching" in the
Greek is kerugma which means
proclamation, heralding the Gospel - especially the fundamentals (life, death,
resurrection), the announcement of salvation procured by Christ and to be had
through Him. Romans 10:14 states
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how
shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear
without a preacher?" God revealed his thoughts through the Holy
Spirit by the heralding of the fundamentals of life; Christ's life, death, and
resurrection.
"Committed"
in the Greek is pisteuo which means
believe, entrust, have faith in, trust in, persuading oneself to affirm God,
have confidence, to think to be true.
"According" in the Greek is kata
which means down, against, throughout, day-by-day, by the way of, bring down
exactly, complete, righteousness proceeding from faith. "Commandment" in the Greek is epitage which means instruction, order,
authority, an order that arranges things so they build on each other to achieve
the needed goal, stresses the authoritativeness of the command, injunction,
authoritative warning or order, mandate.
Commandment is made up of the words epi
(suitably on) and tasso (arrange). 1 Timothy 1:1 states "Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the commandment
of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope." This preaching persuaded Paul to acknowledge
and affirm God by faith by the authoritative order of God our Savior.
Let's examine how
Paul started his ministry. At first, as
Saul, he persecuted and jailed the believers.
It was when he was traveling Damascus that Jesus appeared to him. Paul became blind. Acts 9:10-15 states:
Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named
Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.”
And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”
So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street
called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of
Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named
Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his
sight.”
Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many
about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here
he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen
vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of
Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
Paul was chosen,
commanded to spread the story of Jesus Christ to the whole world, "which
was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior." What are we called to do? What is our purpose in life? Do other people know what we believe in? Do they know what drives us? Life isn’t supposed to be watching but
doing. Our culture drives us to watch.
We first watched live performances, then listened to the radio, then watched
TV’s, then used our computers, and now we are attached to our phones. There is more entertainment content in the world today than
ever. There is not enough time in one's life to watch all the
shows on networks or streaming services alone.
We are watching our lives pass by. We need to be doing. We need to
aspire.
People often
struggle with their life objective. The carnal boils it down to procreation.
The sinful world places it on happiness.
This leaves us empty and unfulfilled. That is by design, God’s design.
We will forever long for direction and be unsatisfied chasing the next
distraction (e.g. all the entertainment we have now) or high (e.g. legalize
marijuana). This emptiness is a life without God.
Paul directed his
life to remove a “false” religion to attain higher political position. God brings him to his knees to show his need
for a Savior. God called Paul to spread the Gospel. Our purpose is no different. Tell the
story: the fundamentals (Christ’s life,
death, and resurrection). Live the life: Like Christ, devoted to God, humble,
loving people. You don’t need to be
driven to your knees. Have purpose, believe Christ.
and at the appointed
time has made known His word and revealed it as His message, through preaching,
which was entrusted to me according to the command of God our Savior—
Amplified Bible
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