Paul's Exhortations & Instructions to Brother Timothy 1st Letter Volume 12

Paul Gives Glory to God for His Grace Part 6

1 Timothy 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. KJV

Paul's final declaration of his complete gratitude for and awesomeness of the grace of God that came to him by way of obtaining mercy from God, despite him being so hell bent and bound to destroy the Church of God as he desrcibed with these words in his letter to the Galatian believers, "You have heard of my earlier career {and} former manner of life in the Jewish religion (Judaism), how I persecuted {and} abused the Church of God furiously {and} extensively, and [with fanatical zeal did my best] to make havoc of it {and} destroy it." (Galatians 1:13) (Amplified Bible), now leads him to write to Timothy and to all of us today trying to put into words or human language how mighty, magnificent, and marvellous our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ truly is by saying this concerning Him, "Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:17) (KJV). There are no human words that can accurately express all that God is, nor can there be any human language that can truly capture just how powerful He is and His works are in all the earth, just as David wrote concerning Him in the lyrics of these two songs the first is, "O LORD, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory on [or above] the heavens." (Psalms 8:1) (Amplified Bible) and the second is, "Let all the earth fear the Lord [revere and worship Him]; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him." (Psalm 33:8) (Amplified Bible).

Every sinner that has been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb our Lord Jesus Christ and has tasted of His mercy and grace worked out in their/our lives, like Paul and David are motivated to reach into our weak human language and grasp at words trying to communicate how much we are in awe of God and fear Him, that is, reverence the beauty of His power, purity, and purpose in His earth. Paul's first word used to describe our God Jesus Christ is the English word 'King' which is translated by the Greek word basileus meaning (through the notion of a foundation of power); a sovereign (abstractly, relatively or figuratively): - king. In other words, Jesus Christ is the lone ruler of the earth and everyone and everything in it. Just like in our human world down here some nations have one man as ruler, but as we have seen over the course of human history many times these earthly kings and dictators have been overthrown by an uprising of the people within the country, however, our Lord, Master, and Savior Jesus Christ will not be overthrown ever because unlike earthly kings, King Jesus is The Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6). The English word 'eternal' is translated by the Greek word aion meaning perpetuity or forever or without end. The English word 'immortal' is translated by the Greek word aphthartos meaning undecaying (in essence or continuance): - not corruptible, immortal. In other words, by faith we understand and we believe that our God Jesus Christ had no beginning and has no end and it is He that has made humanity to see that there is more beyond the earthly life as Solomon wrote with these words, "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He also has planted eternity in men's hearts {and} minds [a divinely implanted sense of a purpose working through the ages which nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy], yet so that men cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11) (Amplified Bible).

The English word 'invisible' is translated by the Greek word aoratos which means exactly what we think and that is incapable of being seen by the human eyes or sight. In other words, God is a Spirit, therefore, He is unseeable to the human eye, but when our Lord Jesus Christ chose to leave the Ivory Palace of Heaven and be born into a human Body, then and only then was the Mighty, Powerful, Eternal God able to be seen by His creation humanity, so when you look at the God/Man Jesus Christ born to the virgin Mary then you have seen God, just as this same Apostle Paul wrote in two other letters describing this very fact to the Hebrews with these words, "Hence, when He [Christ] entered into the world, He said, Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but instead You have made ready a body for Me [to offer];" (Hebrews 10:5) (Amplified Bible) and these words written to the Colossian Church, "[Now] He is the exact likeness of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible]; He is the Firstborn of all creation. For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created {and} exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in {and} for Him. And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together)." (Colossians 1:15-17) (Amplified Bible). When Paul writes the phrase 'the only wise God', it is not in dispute that Jesus Christ is the One True and Only God, but Paul writes this as a rebuke to those who worship the demons or fallen angels along with the devil who claim themselves to be 'gods' to unregenerate men and women vulnerable and susceptible in wanting to and believing their lies. The little English phrase 'be honor' is translated by the Greek word time meaning by analogy esteem (especially of the highest degree), or the dignity itself. The English word 'glory' is translated by the Greek word doxa which has almost the exact same meaning as honor/time and that is dignity, honor, praise, and worship. Our Lord Jesus Christ is to be praised, worshipped, honored, and highly esteemed for all eternity as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords above all that remains of His creation.

"With this burst of irrepressible praise the Apostle ends his reference to his own conversion as a transcendent, standing instance of the infinite love and transforming power of God. Similar doxologies accompany almost all his references to the same fact. This one comes from the lips of 'Paul the aged,' looking back from almost the close of a life which owed many sorrows and troubles to that day on the road to Damascus. His heart fills with thankfulness that overflows into the great words of my text. He had little to be thankful for, judged according to the rules of sense; but, though weighed down with care, having made but a poor thing of the world because of that vision which he saw that day, and now near martyrdom, he turns with a full heart to God, and breaks into this song of thanksgiving. There are lives which bear to be looked back upon. Are ours of that kind?" Alexander MacLaren

"He mentions it to the glory of God having spoken of the mercy he had found with God, he could not go on with his letter without inserting a thankful acknowledgment of God's goodness to him: That grace which we have the comfort of God must have the glory of. Those who are sensible of their obligations to the mercy and grace of God will have their hearts enlarged in His praise. Here is praise ascribed to Him, as the King eternal, immortal, invisible. When we have found God good we must not forget to pronounce Him great; and His kind thoughts of us must not at all abate our high thoughts of Him, but rather increase them. God had taken particular cognizance of Paul, and shown him mercy, and taken him into communion with Himself, and yet he calls Him the King eternal, etc. God's gracious dealings with us should fill us with admiration of His glorious attributes. He is eternal, without beginning of days, or end of life, or change of time. He is the Ancient of days, Daniel 7:9. He is immortal, and the original of immortality; He only has immortality (1 Timothy 6:16), for He cannot die. He is invisible, for He cannot be seen with mortal eyes, dwelling in the light to which no man can approach, whom no man hath seen nor can see. He is the only wise God (Jude 1:25); He only is infinitely wise, and the fountain of all wisdom. 'To him be glory for ever and ever,' or, 'Let me be for ever employed in giving honour and glory to Him, as the thousands of thousands do,' Revelation 5:12-13." Matthew Henry

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...

Sincerely in Christ,

Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reade, Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…