Today’s reading: Leviticus 13; 2 Timothy 1
With yesterday having been Easter, what stands out to me in 2 Timothy 1 this morning is Paul’s talk of not being ashamed of the gospel we have believed. He first tells Timothy not to be ashamed about the testimony of Jesus, and then says that he himself, despite suffering for it, is not ashamed of it because he knows whom he has believed.
The first reason Easter led me to focus on this today is why Paul tells Timothy not to be ashamed. He summarizes the gospel for Timothy, reminding him that from eternity past God had planned to reconcile us to Himself through Jesus, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to to through faith in Him apart from our works. On the cross Jesus paid for our sin, and in rising from the dead He defeated sin and death on our behalf and proved that His payment for our sin, taking death on our behalf, was sufficient. So because Jesus rose from the dead, there is an assurance and reality to our faith that gives us solid footing and leaves us no reason to be ashamed.
The second reason Easter got me thinking about this as I read this morning is an illustration that our pastor pulled out (literally) yesterday morning. He walked over behind a curtain and pulled out the end of a long white rope with a couple inches of red tape on the end. The rope continued on behind the curtain, and he was using it to represent our life. The red part is our life here and now, the maybe 60-90 years we get on this earth, and the white part, the rest of the rope that continues on indefinitely behind the curtain, is our life as it continues on forever. It was a visual illustration of just how little time we have in this life compared to eternity after.
Thinking about that little bit of read tape, when Paul says he is not ashamed because he knows whom he has believed, and is convinced that He is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to him (i.e. the gospel of reconciliation), it just strikes me as that much more true. To the Lord of eternity, the God of all creation, who planned from the beginning to reconcile the world to Himself in Christ, that little bit of red tape is nothing. He is able to guard this work and carry us through into eternity with Him in a few short years, but He has also, before those few short years have passed, entrusted to us the gospel of reconciliation. God desires all people to come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved, and we, the church, are the means by which that message is declared, argued, and defended, and, by the conviction and work of the Holy Spirit, ultimately believed.
We have been redeemed. We have been rescued out of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light. We have been adopted and given a future inheritance in Heaven, waiting for us who are, by faith, in Christ. And that same redemption, rescue, and future are available and waiting for every person who believes. That truth and reality is too important to allow the world around us to convince us to be ashamed of it and keep quiet. It may be an intangible rescue, but it is the most real rescue there is, and there are still so many people who need it.
Lord, convince us so completely of the truth and reality of your grace and forgiveness in Christ that, no matter what the world around us says or does, we will stand firm in your love, unashamed of the truth that has set us free.
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