Living in God

1 Thessalonians 1v1

23^rd April 2021

The church at Thessalonica was only the second church ever planted in Europe, and it had only been in existence for about two years when Paul, Silas and Timothy wrote this letter. This inexperienced church was already suffering persecution, and it was making some doctrinal errors. How would you begin a letter to church in that situation? Paul and his friends say three important things in their introduction:

1 Thessalonians 1v1
Paul, Silas and Timothy,
To the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Grace and peace to you.

Firstly, they address their letter to "the church of the Thessalonians" as a community, not to the individual Christians there. The word "church" translates the Greek word "ekklesia", which can mean "community" but is best translated as "called out to an assembly". God has called us out of worldly thinking, into His kingdom, and we're called into the church, the community of His people.

Young Christians don't always understand this, but Christianity is a corporate religion, not an individual one. We only really function well as Christians when we're together, supporting and encouraging each other, and praying for each other. We're the community of God's people, and we're called to meet together in His name.

Never underestimate your need of the fellowship of God's people, and never underestimate their need to fellowship with you. Let us work to make each local church a community where everybody is included, everybody is heard, and nobody thinks their opinion is always right.

And these things become even more important when the church is being persecuted, although they also become more difficult. We must find ways to encourage and help each other, whatever the circumstances. Lockdown has made it difficult, but many of us have made real sacrifices to encourage our fellow Christians, one way or another.

God unites us but our enemy wants to divide us. When we separate ourselves from each other, we become less confident in God, less fruitful in His service, less loving to others, less spiritually healthy. None of us is complete on his own; as Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 12, we're a different parts of one body. We need each other. Paul and his friends wanted the Thessalonian Christians to see themselves as members of one church. This togetherness would help them to face adversity, and it would help them to sort out their doctrine. No Christian can come to a mature understanding of the Bible alone.

Secondly, the three apostles describe the church as being "in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ". This is a very important idea. We live in two places at the same time. These Christians were living in the city of Thessalonica in Greece, and they were also living in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

As William Barclay writes in his commentary, "God was the very atmosphere in which the Church lived and moved and had its being. Just as the air is in us and we are in the air and cannot live without it, so the true church is in God and God is in the true church, and there is no true life for the church without God."

The church in Thessalonica, like many churches, was suffering persecution, but they were secure because they were in God: in the loving Heavenly Father and in Jesus Christ the Son, our Lord. Nobody knows what'll happen tomorrow, but we do know that we'll still be in God tomorrow. That's the only real security there is.

Paul and his friends, too, were often persecuted. They'd been thrown into jail in Philippi and attacked by a mob in Thessalonica, and many more persecutions were to follow, but they knew that God is for us. As Paul wrote in his letter to the church in Rome some years later:

Romans 8:31-39
…If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: ‘For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul was convinced that this is true.

Whoever is against you, God is for you, and He always will be. You're in God. And it's what God says that matters! No-one can change God's decision to adopt you into His family. Whatever you've done, God will always forgive you. However far you've wandered, God will always welcome you back. Whoever accuses you of anything, God justifies you. No-one can alter God's justice. He has proclaimed you forgiven for your sins, eternally accepted and loved. No-one's unkind, judgemental words can change that.

Sadly, some Christians have been deeply hurt, even by other Christians, made to feel unloved and unlovely, criticised to within an inch of their lives, excluded, belittled, made to feel like they're not good enough to be in the church. Maybe that's happened to you. On behalf of God's church, I apologise. And God justifies you. God says you're welcome. God says you're clean. God puts His arm around you and says "This is my daughter, this is my son." God affirms you. God celebrates you.

If anybody tells you you're inadequate, dirty, hopeless, or unlovable, then they're in disagreement with Almighty God. God says you're clean. God says you're wonderful. God says you're His child. To disrespect you is to pick a fight with your Father God. God sees the perfect human you will one day become.

The church is in God, and you are in God. We belong together. Nothing and no-one can separate you from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

We experience trouble and hardship. Some of us experience a degree of persecution. Some of us may have experienced hunger. We may not be able to afford the clothes we'd like. We may experience war, die in battle, or be bombed out of our houses. These things happened in Northern Ireland in our lifetimes, and continue around the world. Christians are imprisoned, tortured and executed for their faith. But nothing in this world or the next will separate God's people from God's love.

Sometimes, when things are tough, we can find it difficult to feel God's love. Our emotions change all the time, and when we're hurt enough, discouraged enough, excluded enough, poor enough, our prayers can feel unheard. We can separate ourselves from God's people. We can feel like we've lost touch with God. But God never loses touch with us. He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). We're in God.

We can feel bewildered when suffering comes, but the fact that God loves you doesn't mean that you won't suffer, and the fact that you suffer doesn't mean that God doesn't love you. We're in God. Jesus suffered more than any of us.

We can worry about what the future might hold. We can worry about finances, or health, or career, or anything. Some people may be very unkind to us, and we can fear that their cruelty will get worse. But God can give us grace not to worry:

Hebrews 13:6
The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?

Even if we're murdered for our faith, our future is secure:

Luke 12:4
"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more."

The fact that will determine your future is not your bank account, or your house, or your friends, or even your church. It's your position. Are you in God, or aren't you? If you're a Christian then you're in God. This is true whether you feel like it or not. It may be that sometimes you do, and sometimes you don't, but you always are in God. And because you're in God, you're safe. Your eternal destiny is secure.

Thirdly, the apostles pray that the church at Thessalonica will experience grace and peace. This phrase, "Grace and peace to you", or something very similar, is in the introduction to all Paul's letters. Surely that's what we all want for our brothers and sisters. Of course, God has already given us grace and peace, but I pray you experience more and more of His grace and peace.

Grace is the unmerited favour of God. That is, grace is the fact and the experience that God is for us. Even though we don't deserve His love, He will love us for eternity. Peace is what we experience when we accept His grace.

God's grace is real. Whatever you think of yourself, God cherishes you. God protects you. God prospers you (although not necessarily financially). God has a perfect plan for your life and for your eternity, and He can make it happen. It probably isn't a comfortable plan, an easy plan, or even an understandable plan, from your perspective. But it's perfect from God's perspective (Romans 12:2). May God give you grace to believe that. And may you experience God's grace day-by-day, protecting you, providing for you, guiding you, strengthening you, teaching you, and making you more like Jesus.

God's peace is real. God is in control of your life, and of the entire universe. He makes no mistakes. He knows what He's doing. His plan for your life and your eternity is working out perfectly from His perspective. If you can accept that, then you can be at peace. A wise man once said "We find peace when we stop trying to control the future". It's much better to trust that God will control the future. He will. It won't be what you expect. It won't be what you want. But it will be perfect from His perspective. And He knows best. And He will more than compensate you for everything you suffer in this life.

What you might call our external circumstances will not always be peaceful. The Thessalonians were persecuted. We've experienced cruelty and neglect. Paul was in a Roman jail when he wrote "I have found the secret of being content in all circumstances" (Philippians 4:11). May God give us grace to be able to say the same. Can you believe that's possible?

You're not alone. You're part of God's church, part of His family, one of His chosen people. You're in God, and therefore you're safe in His love. There's no better place to be in all the universe. And God extends His grace and peace to you. I pray you will know His grace and peace in abundance, every day of your life.