As we open our Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 1, we are looking at a letter forged in the furnace of affliction, written to a group of people who were totally transformed by the Gospel.
Paul had an ambitious plan to evangelize and establish a new body of saints in just a month, and one theme runs through every verse: we are to be waiting for Jesus!
Paul was standing at the crossroads of the ancient world. The Roman Empire spanned one-ninth of the earth’s circumference and ruled a quarter of humanity through a complex network of military domination. Yet, against this backdrop of imperial power, Paul writes to a group of former pagans who had found a power greater than Rome.
The question for us today is: Has the Gospel had the same radical effect on us? Are we living the "new life" that characterized these early believers?
Let’s look at four life-changing truths from 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 and ask God to examine our hearts.
1. The Power of the Gospel: More Than Words
“For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance…” (1 Thessalonians 1:5)
The Background: Rome was built on power. As we see in the history of the emperors, from Augustus to the "extinction-level events" of Diocletian, the empire enforced its will through the legions and the law. They built marble and stone monuments to display their strength.
But Paul reminds the Thessalonians that the Gospel didn’t come to them as a philosophy or a political speech. It came in power (dynamis).
(251210; TH-05)
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