Trust the God Who Gives Life to Everything

I Tim 6:13-16, 20-21

¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

 

²⁰ Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, ²¹ which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.

Grace be with you all.

 

This will be our final message in I Timothy. Paul has written this letter because false teachers have infiltrated the church at Ephesus and have introduced opposing ideas to the gospel. Just as in our day and time, there are opposing ideas to the gospel. There are real differences in world views and if we adopt false ideas, then we lose aspects of the life of God. So Paul tells Timothy to guard the truth. To fight for the faith. To turn away from the godless chatter. And in our passage today Paul focuses on the real reason to trust in God and it is the very nature of God Himself that makes Him the appropriate foundation for a person’s worldview who is seeking to live the best life possible.

 

1. God Alone Gives Life

        The source question relative to life is everything! We have choices to make. Life is a journey and we have no map. God claims to give direction and know everything that we need to know about life as a concept, ourselves and the world. Why?

1. God is the Creator

This is the message of Genesis 1 and 2 and everywhere else in    the Bible that the creation of the world is addressed. (John 1)

³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

In the arguments of our day that relate to the creation story, the central message of creation: God is the creator. All that He creates is good. Life is meant to be good. These messages are obscured at times by arguments about days, length of the creation process and the age of the earth. There is ambiguity about time. There is ambiguity about time and God. There is ambiguity about how to measure days without a sun. There is no ability to communicate with Hebrew slaves in the time of Moses a scientific description of creation. And there is no space for that description in any account. And there is no proper paper to be able to get it written down. There are things that are so much more important than how old the earth is and how exactly God managed to form things into being. I have been told that there are fewer atheists in science departments than there are in the students in science departments. I believe this is due to the fact that scientists are discovering God’s truth and finding a creator in it. The universe could be 10,000 years old, but it doesn’t look it.

1. God sets the laws that govern life

God’s character defines righteousness.

God’s laws reveal His character.

God establishes the consequences of not replicating His       character. (In the day that you eat it, you will die.)

God makes living and dying a process most of the time. Death is a downward spiral of bad behaviors that create bad desires and thinking which continue to create more bad behaviors.

 

God gives His law that shows the pathway out of the destructive desires, thinking and behavior. He shows us the pathway to abundant life! And He blesses those who trust, love and obey Him with His presence, power, purpose and provision.

 

If God establishes blessing, then He also establishes cursing. This is why there is a snake in the Garden. If there is to be a real choice, then there are real consequences!!

 

1. God gives life to those who have died spiritually

13b Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,

 

John 18: ³³ Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴ “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

³⁵ “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

 

        Jesus’ confession relates to His identity. This reveals God’s identity. This reveals our salvation!! It is much better that Jesus not be a king of this worlds kingdoms!!

Ephesians 1: ³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.⁴ For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace ⁸ that he lavished on us.

 

1. God gives life to those who have died physically

¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time

 

John 14:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴ You know the way to the place where I am going.”

⁵ Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

⁸ Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

⁹ Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

 

1. God is Uniquely Qualified for Our Trust

God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords,¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

      

1. God is the ultimate authority

        Blessed and only Ruler. King of kings. Lord of lords. Matt 28:18 All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Jesus)

The ruler is the one who sets the standards for behavior. God is the ruler of all. Jesus’ message is that the Kingdom of God was near. And it is. All you have to do to be a citizen in the kingdom of God is to trust and submit to the king.

This also makes God the judge. And He will judge all. Satan will be judged by God. You should remind him and the demons of this.

 

1. God alone is immortal

        God is the first cause, He has created all that is. He is not subject to the processes of time and aging. He alone is immortal. He is able to give immortality to others.

Immortal: Athanatos: Thanatos= death. A means not subject to. God is deathless. Because God always lives, He is the source of life. He has it in Himself and gives it to others.

And we should see this in a spiritual sense as well as physical. God is full of life. He is all life. We can be swallowed up in life! That is true Resurrection!!

I Cor 15: ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

When does this happen? When you die.

1. Lives in unapproachable light

There is a natural connection between light and life. Just as there is a natural connection between darkness and death.

When Judas leaves Jesus and the 11 to go and betray Jesus John says, “And it was night.”

When Jesus is crucified on the cross, darkness comes over the land.

When Jesus is born a bright light in the sky testifies that the “light has come into the world.”

John 1: ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

John 8: ¹² When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

 

I John 1: ⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

 

Unapproachable light: If light is too bright, that makes it like the sun right? I mean, you cannot look at the sun without it damaging your ability to see. It is unapproachable. God is like this.

If we use the light of God, then we will be able to see. But there are many things about God that we don’t know. We don’t understand what it means to be eternal, to be omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. We don’t know what it means to be purely good. We think at times, well if God is all of these things, then how can evil, suffering and pain exist in the world? How can God allow it? Some things are unapproachable. I remember reading in Calvin’ Institutes that it was not wise to look too deeply into the issue of God’s predestination, which the Bible clearly presents. Because we don’t understand it. How does the will of God interact with the will of men? Are they both free? Are either free?

Or the triune nature of God. God is one. God is three persons. What does that mean? How does it work? I know the theology and I will hold to it, but in reality, I think that I think of three Gods. But those three Gods are completely united, they are one in essence. I don’t understand it. But at Jesus’ baptism, Jesus is there, God the Father speaks, and the Holy Spirit comes down in a form of a dove.

God dwells in unapproachable light, therefore…

 

1. You must decide to trust God

        whom no one has seen or can see.

You must decide to trust God when you cannot see. No one can do it for you. And your actions demonstrate your trust. Fight the good fight of faith!

The unapproachable light of God means that we can use His light to see and have light, but we will not see Him. No can see God. No one has seen God. Jesus is the solution to this. What is our response?

1. Make friends with faith. Decide you are going to trust God even though you do not see Him. You are going to be like Job, not his wife.

Job 2: ⁹ His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”

¹⁰ He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

 

Job 13: ¹⁵ Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him;
I will surely^[a] defend my ways to his face.
¹⁶ Indeed, this will turn out for my deliverance,
for no godless person would dare come before him!

Hebrews 11: ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

As you wait for God to act in your life, realize that in the waiting comes great reward.

1. Always mighty, sometimes honored

And the closing phrase: To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

God is never experiencing a power shortage. God deserves all glory and honor. Every few months at least you should read Isaiah 6 and the passages in the Book of Revelation that exalt and honor God. This is the rightful response to the God of the universe. He is our Father, but so much more. When we decide to trust and obey His instructions for life, then we bring honor to Him.