Today's Devotional is written by Martin Davids
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is sometimes called “The Epistle of Joy.” Together the words “rejoice” and “joy” appear over 150 in the New Testament. Both of these are found thirteen times in Philippians.
Yet this is not the giddy emotional form of joy rather when it appears in Philippians is it a particular kind of joy—the joy of contentment in spite of circumstances. Paul’s contentment—and his joy—shines vividly when we recall the background to his letter.
Background
Acts 16:6-40 tells us that the Philippian church was the first to be planted in Europe and was done so by Paul himself after the conversion of Lydia, a seller of purple. He went on to see the conversion of slave girls who was demon-possessed and earned a living for her owners by fortune-telling. Upon the loss of their “income stream” they had Paul and Silas imprisoned. This led to the third conversion; the Philippian jailer and his entire family.
It is believed that Paul would have visited the small but growing, faithful
band of believers at Philippi a number of times on his journeys and one can
feel a deep love he had for them as you read this letter.
The date of the letter is after Paul’s third missionary journey and his
imprisonment in Rome in about 62 AD. It
was written to thank them for a financial gift that he had received from them
but he wanted to inform them of the good news that Epaphroditus (a member of
the Philippian church) had recovered from a
serious illness (2:25-30), and that he would return to them so that he could
give them news of Paul.
Servant of Christ
We have all heard of or even met people who like to
‘pad the CV’s’ with half truths or downright lies to make themselves look
important. Paul, however, did not need
to do this
he had amazing credentials. However after his encounter with Christ and
conversion, he counted them as rubbish. What he once boasted on and could be
proud of he now considered worthless and loss.
He
had no doubt struggled under the burden of the law clinging to his own
righteousness and achievements to be right with God but now looking back he
knew that only righteousness he had came, from God; received by faith alone. Timothy
also had received a righteousness from God
Years later when writing to his ‘son’ in the faith Paul said both that he and
Timothy were servants of Christ Jesus.
The word “servants” (douloi)
means “one who is in a permanent relation of servitude to another, his will being altogether consumed
in the will of the other.”
That word would have been well understood in the Greek and Roman world of Paul’s day and would normally refer to someone who was a slave. Yet Paul uses it to describe his relationship to Christ Jesus, he meant to indicate that his service was one of everlasting appreciation and commitment to Jesus. So that Paul composed this letter in a Roman prison he was not a prisoner of Rome rather he belonged wholly to Christ his Saviour.
The audience.
Paul
writes this letter “To all the saints
in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons” Now
we must address this word saint as it is so often misused. For many the idea of a ‘saint’ is some super
holy person (perhaps sporting a halo) who is better or above ‘normal’
Christian. Yet this is not what the
Bible teaches. All Christians are “saints.” Biblically, a “saint” is simply a person who has
been set apart by God for God. It has nothing to do with how good a person is;
it has simply to do with the fact that a person now belongs to God.
Christians are saints simply
because they are now in Christ. It
is nothing that we have done or could do; rather we have the righteousness of
Christ applied to us and we are ‘in
Him’. Writing of being in Christ, John
MacArthur says this: “A Buddhist does not speak of himself as in Buddha,
nor does a Muslim speak of himself as in Mohammed. They may faithfully follow the teaching and
example of those religious leaders, but they are not in them. Only
Christians can
claim to be in their Lord, because they have been made spiritually one
with him”
Summing it up
Therefore, having looked at the opening verses of Philippians we rejoice that we are in Christ. As I mentioned earlier the words “rejoice” and “joy” are found thirteen times in Philippians. However, the word “Christ” is found thirty-seven times in Philippians. This should give you an indication of where Paul saw our priorities. No other noun occurs more than the word “Christ” in this letter. Philippians is about Christ. Christ is at the heart and centre of Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Philippians is about people in Christ. Philippians is about people who are in fellowship of the gospel because they are in Christ. Philippians is about people who have found contentment in Christ. Let us take encouragement from this as we embark upon our study through this book.
Song for the day
I think this song sums up much of the sentiment we will be looking at and I’m sure Paul will echo the line “No I but through Christ in me.”
It can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwc2d1Xt8gM
Prayer of the day
Father.
We your people have always fought against adversity. In our current situation we are faced with so many challenges and it seems that the darkness around is growing. Help us not to look to outside sources, people and politics to find our comfort and contentment but rather find out anchor and assurance from the fact that we are “in Christ” and upon that sure foundation let us face the days ahead.
We ask in Jesus’ name
Amen
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