”Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to [the] commandment of God our Savior and of Jesus Christ the hope of us...”
-So, we have a typical address here to begin this letter, with one glaring exception. In every other letter, Paul identifies himself as either a prisoner of Christ Jesus or an apostle of Christ Jesus. And when he chooses to identify himself as an apostle, he states that he is such “by the will (or desire) of God”. But here we have the one place he does not state that, the one time he says that he is an apostle “according to the command of God (the Father) and of Jesus Christ”. The commandment of God. This is a direct order - by one in authority - which has every expectation of being carried out (cf Luke 4.36; Mark 6.27, 9.25; 1Corinthians 7.25; Titus 2.15; Philemon 8). But so that tells us who’s writing this letter. Here’s who is addressing (Timothy, as we read in the next verse, and) us. He is one who has been sent out (which is the meaning of the word, apostle - a sent one) by direct order of almighty God. God the Father AND God the Son not only wanted Paul to go out and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles (which again is what we read in almost every one of his other letters), they gave him a direct order to do so. They specifically authorized it. Which also means that there is no getting around it, unless you are willing to try and pull some kind of a Jonah (but of course we know how that turned out).
-Okay, so here right at the beginning of this letter we are reminded of just whom we are dealing with. This is not just a trusted friend or a mentor (altho he is certainly that and we along with Timothy could certainly see him that way) - this is God’s emissary, His special envoy. Very few people have ever been able to make such a direct claim - we would do well to pay attention (and yes, even tho our name is not specifically on the envelope). We NEED to pay attention.
-This is also the only place where Jesus is specifcally referred to as “our Hope”. He gives us hope, a blessed hope, a living hope, we look forward with this hope to the grace we will fully realize at His appearing, but truly, He IS our Hope. We do hope in Him. All of life, any prospect for eternity, is hope-less apart from Him. Hope is the desire for something good, the belief that something good will happen. Nobody hopes for something bad. An evil person might have nefarious hopes, but for them they are only working with a broken and twisted definition of what is good. No, all of humanity longs for, strives after, pursues goodness (to the extent that they are able), and when it is not present in whatever form may be desired, we fall back on this thing called hope. Hope shows us that we were wired for paradise, for something better than this, for perfection - ultimate goodness. Nobody in paradise is hoping for something better. But here in paradise lost, we all find ourselves trying to get back to the garden. Hoping to get back there someday, somehow. And if and when we ever lose hope, when we are facing situation hope-less, no prospect for good, life is over. Despair. This is why some choose to end their life - the loss of hope. Goodness gone - or so they believe. But now, we have this One Who IS Hope. He is OUR Hope. In fact, life finally BEGINS when we fix our hope on Jesus. It IS, literally, a new birth. Born again. Life as it was always intended (or back on track, towards ultimate goodness). Prospects are good! As soon as, and for as long as we fix our hope on Him, this One Who is consummately good and Who works all things together for good, life is good. And no, in this world we are never completely free of the brokenness, but that is the essence of our hope. We have goodness in bitesize nuggets in this life, and the blazing expectation of mind-blowing goodness in the next. Hope. Living hope in Living Hope. Daily, real hope in and because of Jesus. Thank you, Lord...
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