GOD'S IDEAL DESIRE FOR ALL MANKIND

WEDNESDAY 27 OCTOBER 2021

Paul, as an aged and experienced apostle, wrote to Timothy, his true son in the faith, who was facing a challenging responsibility of overseeing the church at Ephesus, in order to address some pressing issues and to guide and help Timothy develop a mature leadership. The Greek title for Pauline epistles to Timothy is known as "Pros Timotheon."

Reference: 1 Timothy 2:3-4 New King James Version (NKJV) "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."

Paul encouraged us to make supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving on behalf of all men, and for kings and all who are in authority in order to experience a peaceable life in all godliness and reference. He noted that such prayers are good, acceptable and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wishes all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge and recognition of the divine truth.

God's desire is His will. He desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth because He had already done something about it. How? The Bible says, "For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him" (John 3:16-17 NIV). These two verses are basis upon which His desire is grounded.

Every desire or intention from God is usually based on a truth in His Word and upon the uplifting impression of His loving nature, which draws special attention to His goodness and brings about the outcome or result that improves the quality of our Christian experience. Looking at today's Scripture, His desire or intention is to see two important things happen to all of mankind:

1. Salvation of their souls. 2. To realise and gain the knowledge of divine truth.

The first one, the salvation of their souls. The Bible says, "For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5:19 NLT). What this verse means is that God came as Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of this world, not holding them responsible for their sins, because of the perfect sacrifice paid for it on the cross and now He has given us the work of sharing His message of salvation, which is about mankind making peace with Him through Christ.

The second is to realise and gain the knowledge of divine truth. Its one thing to be saved, and another thing to come to the knowledge of divine truth. In other words, its a miracle for every born again Christian to come to the knowledge of the accurate truth. There are those who are always learning but have never been able to come to a knowledge of the truth because of being led astray by various passions (see 2 Timothy 3:7 AMP). Such people are always striving and listening to anybody who will teach them, yet they don't gain the revelation knowledge. Their problem is that their perception is twisted, always contrary to divine truth or reality, and so, many a time, they misperceive God's Word. Because they are men of depraved mind, they oppose the truth and argue with divine principles.

The lost souls have a mind and conscience corrupted by years of sin, but God still wants them saved. When they come to Christ, they are cleansed and saved by means of the perfect sacrifice and finished work of Christ, and then they start renewing the same mind by the means of God's Word, which provides an accurate teaching for the doctrine of righteousness. But this will not happen overnight. Just as they've been exposed to many years of worldly thinking, which corrupted their minds and consciences, so it may take a while to unseat their carnal minds and worldly viewpoint and then restore their minds and consciences to the mindset of the righteous as God intends, which is the process of coming to the knowledge of the truth. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Isaiah 49:6; Ezekiel 18:23; Luke 1:77; 2 Timothy 2:25.

Guided Prayer: Dear Father, I thank you for the great privilege of knowing Christ as Lord and acknowledging the ministry of the Word in my life. Your utmost desire and holy intention are universal redemption by the means of saving truth as revealed in the gospel and also the practical knowledge of the truth. Your Word is the truth that saturates and renews my mind, and thereby flows freely within the stream of my consciousness, permeating all aspects of my life as I give it full attention. Thank you for the blessings of my salvation and the revealed truth which abide forever in Jesus' Name, Amen!