Philippians 1 - God Completes What He Starts!
Introduction to Paul's letter to the Philippians (Google AI)
Author: The Apostle Paul.
Location: Written while Paul was in prison (likely in Rome around A.D. 62).
The City: Philippi was a prominent Roman colony in Macedonia (modern-day Greece) known for patriotic pride and retired soldiers.
The Church: Founded by Paul during his second missionary journey (recorded in Acts 16), starting with believers like Lydia. It was the first Jesus community established in Europe.
Purpose of the Letter
Thank You: Paul wrote to thank the church for sending a financial gift to support him in prison through Epaphroditus.Joy in Suffering: He aimed to encourage the believers to maintain their joy and stand firm despite facing outside opposition and internal friction.
Unity and Humility: Paul urged the congregation to put aside selfish ambition and embrace the humble "mind of Christ".
Key Themes
Rejoice in the Lord: Words related to joy and rejoicing appear throughout the short letter, even though Paul faced harsh imprisonment.
The Christ Hymn: Chapter 2 features a famous early Christian poem about Jesus humbling himself to become human and die on a cross, before God highly exalted him.
True Contentment: Paul teaches believers how to replace anxiety with peace by focusing on God and being content in any situation
Philippians is probably my favorite letter of Paul's. There are so many verses worth remembering, it almost makes sense to remember the whole letter. We see an apostle Paul who is deeply thankful to the Philippians for their unwavering support and loyalty, which as you know he didn't get from every church.
We see Jesus' humility in coming down from heaven to become one of us and die on the cross, but and admonishes us to be humble and gives us himself as an example. Paul gives several key verses regarding how we become humble. Enjoy these next four chapters, they are going to be great!
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3 I thank my God every time I remember you. 4 In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, 6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.7 It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. 8 God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.\
We see the pure joy and affection Paul has for the Philippians in these opening verses. We see his commitment to pray for them on a daily basis, as he does for all of this churches. We might ask ourselves,
"Do we intercede for our church, the churches in our community, and the church around the world, which faces widespread persecution?"
Paul sees them as partners in the gospel, since the beginning. I love this phrase "partners in the gospel". There are so many people we can partner with in the work for the gospel. A couple of weeks ago, our church went with a couple of other churches down to Tijuana to visit an orphanage. We went there to showing these kids' the love of Christ' together. We were partnering in the work of the gospel.
I love it when churches partner together for the sake of the gospel. We say that these churches have a "kingdom mindset". Meaning that they are not just interested in their own church, but THE CHURCH of Jesus. Every one who is a believer in Christ is part of the THE CHURCH. We choose to commit and connect to a local church, but we never see the gospel work only in our own church. I.e. "A silo mentality".
The other verse worthy of memory is when Paul gives an important promise. He says, "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it!"
This verse is so important because it reminds us of whose work it is. It is Jesus' work in us. Jesus began a good work in us when we came to faith in Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. It was Jesus' work on the cross that freed us from sin, death, and the power of the devil. It is Jesus who gave us His Spirit so that we would be set apart for the work of the gospel. Jesus set us apart so we would be sanctified and we grow to Christlike maturity.
Though we certainly partner with God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we can't take credit it for him. As Paul says in Galatians 2:20-21
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
Our Christian lives take many twist and turns. Many of us have even had times in our lives where we walked away from Christ to pursue other desires. But Jesus is faithful to us even when we aren't faithful to us. He will never leave or forsake us even when we leave him.
When we get discouraged due to sin, a broken relationship, or a health situation, we need to remember that it is God who gave us Jesus to do a work in us and He will be faithful to complete it!
How does knowing Jesus is going to complete the good work in you give you confidence? In what ways can it spur you on to giving yourself more to Him and His mission to reach all people? Who can you partner with in your church and other Christian organizations for the work of the gospel!
Jesus, thank you for entrusting us with the work of the Great Commission. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit to give us everything we need to be effective in it. Thank you for partnering with us and being faithful to us until Your work on earth is done and you come back in great and promised glory! Amen.
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