Title Servant of Jesus/Philippians 1:1
Contents Servant of Jesus/Philippians 1:1
“Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints who live in Philippi in Christ Jesus, and to the bishops and deacons:”
The phrase to rejoice is repeated about 19 times in the book of Philippians. And it contains the secret to being so happy. I hope that you too will possess that joy through this exposition to the Philippians.
First of all, in verse 1, Paul reveals who he is. He introduces himself as a servant of Christ Jesus. There is only one answer to the question of how the Apostle Paul changed from a persecutor of Jesus Christ to a preacher, and how he changed from a persecutor of the church to a faithful person for the church. Because he met Jesus Christ and realized the love of Jesus Christ. For the Apostle Paul, his encounter with Jesus Christ was not just an event, but a moment of change that changed his entire life.
As such, knowing who Jesus Christ is and experiencing Him on the cross is essential in our life of faith. This is because true change occurs in his life only when he comes to know Jesus Christ deeply and properly.
Our problem is that there are so few people who simply say that they have met Jesus Christ, take Jesus Christ as the Lord of their lives, and change their lives because of Him. It is not a true life of faith to change into a person who believes in Jesus only in appearance while possessing the previous values as it was, the old outlook on life has not changed at all, and greed for material things and the world still remain.
The correct translation of the word 'servant' is 'slave'. A slave does not own everything. Even if they give birth to children, they are not theirs, but theirs. At the time of this writing of the Philippians, slaves who were abused and tormented by their masters could be seen on the streets.
In other words, what was contained in Paul's confession that he was a slave of Jesus Christ was his determination to live faithfully like a broken bone for the Lord who saved himself, who deserved death, by the blood of the cross and made him a new person in this amazing way. It was a confession with the heart that if he could please Jesus, who bore the cross for him, he would be fine.
In addition, Paul wrote the first part of this book to the Philippians because he wanted him and Timothy, the son of his faith, to be understood and remembered together with Jesus Christ. In fact, the life, ministry, and even death of Paul and Timothy were all centered on Jesus Christ. We also need this kind of faith. Jesus Christ is not a life we have, but only Jesus Christ is in our lives, and our life is not a life we live for Jesus, but a life we live only for Christ.
A church that is awake before God and a living church is a church that the Lord speaks of from time to time. It is a church that accepts the word of the Lord. The existence of the church does not just mean that a lot of people come and go, that the church is actively moving according to the many programs of the church, or that many people zealously serve the church. Bishops, deacons, and all the saints can always hear the word of the Lord so that they can understand the Lord’s will, change their lives, receive the Lord’s heart, understand God’s heart, live the church life, and fulfill the duty of the church for the world A church that can do that, a church like this is a church that is awake before God.
So, this morning, we must pray that God will make all of our saints into Jesus' people, and that this church will always be a waking church where God's voice can be heard.