1 Timothy 1:12-17

1 Timothy 1:12-17  I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me faithful, appointing me to his service.  Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.  The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.  Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.  Amen.

Hallelujah, Paul, the worst of sinners, was given abundant grace, abundant faith, abundant love.  Sometimes in our lives each of us feels Paul has to relinquish his claim that among sinners he was chief (KJV), for we feel we deserve that designation, but Paul definitely once tried to destroy the body of Christ here on earth.  His intentions were to completely eliminate Christ's church, his body.  His fierceness and zeal to destroy the church definitely placed him at the head of the line of sinners.  Therefore, Paul could say with certainty that he was the worst.  Of course he did these offensive deeds out of ignorance, but as everyone knows, ignorance of the law is no defense.  Paul was headed toward a horrific, eternal judgment of damnation, for Paul was kicking against God himself.  But God in his mercy headed Paul off at the pass.  On a road to Damascus, Jesus interrupted this head-strong man's journey by confronting him with a bright light and these words: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  (Acts 9:4)  Here we see Jesus addressing the chief of sinners in a compassionate, concerned voice.  He was asking this legalistic man, this Pharisee of the Pharisees, this faultless man in the law, "Why are you fighting me, Paul?  Why are you aligning yourself with sinners, with the wayward and the destructive?"  To emphasize the seriousness of this encounter, Jesus struck Paul blind.  Paul became totally helpless: his strength, his zeal, his independence dissipated immediately.  Paul, the man of power, the man who determined his own destiny, was now at the mercy of others.  He was no longer in charge; he was merely a disabled, helpless, washed up man, needing the hands of others to lead him to Damascus. 

But Jesus comes to all of us when our strength has failed us, when our lives are hopelessly broken, and when the help of others is needed.  Then, when we call on his name, He restores us.  Jesus said to Paul, "I will not leave you helpless, dependent.  I am going to make you a powerful witness for me.  However, I am going to require that you follow me with all your heart, mind, spirit, and soul.  You will no longer go where you wish, but where I wish.  You will no longer be a free man, a Roman citizen, but you will be my man, purchased by my blood, a citizen of heaven.  You will be my goodwill ambassador to the world.  Now, Paul, get up; your sight has been restored, not for your purposes, but for mine."  This of course is the testimony of obedient, faithful Christians.  We were once blind--we were once living our lives with all the energy that we could muster.  But then Christ interrupted our life's journey.  He intercepted us on the road to Damascus, and we heard him say to us: "Why are seeking those things that bring death?  Don't you know, I am the way the truth and the life?  I am He who brings eternal life to the lifeless, abundant life to the emaciated."  

Even though we may not think we are chief of sinners and may think we are even better than the average person, we still need Jesus and his restoration in our lives.  We need his power, his revelation, and his understanding resident in us to serve faithfully an eternal, immortal, invisible God.  We can understand God through Jesus, for He is the perfect representation of God.  Without knowing Jesus, we are as a dead man who has never lived, yet is trying to envision life, an impossible task unless he has a representation before him of that other life.  We have Jesus; we know our heavenly Father through him for He has been with the Father.  Therefore, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, to save the lost, to save the dead.  He came to us to reveal God in all of his glory.  He came to us that we might know God and have fellowship with him as sons and daughters adopted into his family.  For each of us, we were really the worst of sinners, for being without God is absolute darkness, absolute hopelessness.  We were completely dead.  But praise God, the story did not stop there.  Grace and mercy were poured out to us, a lost and dying people through Jesus Christ the Lord.  Therefore, the Good News remains--CHRIST HAS COME TO SAVE SINNERS, AND EVERYONE WHO BELIEVES ON HIS NAME WILL BE SAVED AND ENTER INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD.  AMEN!