1 Thessalonians 1:1 - A Church in God

Notice that he does not introduce himself here as “Paul, anapostle of Jesus Christ,” as he does in several of his other letters. Why? Probablybecause he did not need to defend his apostolic authority with these believers.They knew him. They loved him. Paul had personally brought the Gospel to them. Thenhe mentions two men who had served alongside him: “Paul, and Silvanus, andTimotheus.” Silvanus is the longer form of the name Silas. Silas hadtraveled with Paul on this second missionary journey. He had been there inPhilippi when Paul was beaten and thrown into prison. He was there at midnightwhen they prayed and sang praises to God. And now he had helped Paul establishthis church in Thessalonica. Timotheus, of course, is Timothy. Paul had metthis young man at Lystra and invited him to join the missionary team. Timothywould eventually become one of Paul's most trusted fellow workers. What awonderful picture of ministry. God'swork has always been about one generation passing the truth to anothergeneration. Butthen Paul says something especially important: “Unto the church of theThessalonians which is in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ.” Theword “church” comes from the Greek word ekklesia, which basically means acalled-out assembly. These people lived in Thessalonica, but spiritually theywere in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about that. Geographically,they were in Thessalonica. Spiritually, they were in Christ. Thessalonica was apagan city filled with idolatry and immorality. These new Christians weresurrounded by a culture that did not share their faith or their values. Theywere already experiencing opposition and persecution because they followedJesus. But their environment did not determine their identity. They were in Godthe Father and in the Lord Jesus Christ. Andthe same is true for us today. We live in a world that increasingly seems to bemoving farther away from God. We are surrounded by temptation. We hearphilosophies that contradict the Word of God. We see values changing around us.But the believer's identity is not determined by the world in which he lives. Weare in Christ. Paul uses that little expression again and again throughout hiswritings. Second Corinthians 5:17 says,“Thereforeif any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” Romans 8:1 says, “Thereis therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” Oursecurity is not found in our circumstances. Our security is found in ourrelationship with Jesus Christ. You might say that these Thessalonian believershad two addresses. Their earthly address was Thessalonica. Their spiritualaddress was in Christ. And every believer has those same two addresses. We livesomewhere on this earth. We have a street address, a city, a state, and acountry. But if we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Savior, our most importantaddress is this: We are in Christ. ThenPaul gives them two wonderful words: “Grace be unto you, and peace.” Wejust finished our study of Philippians by noticing how often Paul begins andends his letters with grace. And here it is again. Grace. Then peace. Noticethe order. Grace comes before peace. We cannot experience the peace of Goduntil we have first experienced the grace of God. Grace is God giving us whatwe could never earn and could never deserve. Salvation is by grace. Forgivenessis by grace. Our relationship with God is by grace. Our strength for each dayis by grace. And when we experience God's grace, we can also experience God'speace. Grace and peace. Their circumstances might change.Their friends might turn against them. Persecution might increase. But theirposition in Christ was secure.  Andperhaps that is the great truth we should carry with us today. Our peace doesnot come from living in a peaceful world. Our peace comes from knowing that weare securely in Christ.