The Mimic and The Model For Jesus Christ

Scripture Passage: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Background
•Plausibly one of the earliest letters of Paul, around 50-52 AD, while he was in Corinth
•The church was planted during Paul’s second missionary journey (Acts 17)
•The city had a port and was the chief city of Macedonia, today the 2nd largest city in Greece (Thessaloniki)
•Recipients- a large number of Gentile converts and few Jews
•Occasion- Timothy brings in a report to which Paul responds (1 Th 3:5-7)
The Team
•Paul had enough and more to do his ministry alone, yet he patterns himself like Jesus in working with Silas and Timothy
•For a Jew to speak of God as Father and Jesus as Lord was tantamount to blasphemy, yet Paul asserts a monotheistic but Triune God
•This team prayed remembering the church for its:
  • Work produced by faith
  • Labor prompted by love
  • Endurance inspired by hope
Mimicking Christ (Gk: imitator, follower; immitation that arises from admiring the pattern set by someone worthy of emulation)
•Paul declares them as God’s chosen, but how?
•Mere words had brought conviction leading to repentance and believing in the work of Jesus
•The reception of the Gospel was amidst much suffering in which they experience the joy of the Holy Spirit
•Very importantly such a receiving was tantamount to imitating other believers and Jesus! (Rom 5:1-5)

Modelling Christ (Gk: model, figure; originally a mark or a blow, a stamp struck by a die)
•Their coming to faith not only mimicked Christ’s suffering it became a model for others far and wide
• Such was the genuineness of it, that Paul would not have to say much to inform others about Thessalonica
•Their faithwalk strutted and showcased Christ, but how:
•Turning from idols (faith)
•Serving the living and true God (love)
•And waiting for Christ’s return (hope)
 
Take Away: Give yourself to be dressed by the Triune God, that his glory may be revealed in your faithwalk