Under Gods Command
2nd Timothy 2:8-10 (8) Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, (9) for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. (10) Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
False teachers were a problem in Ephesus. At the heart of false teaching is an incorrect view of Christ. In Timothy’s day many asserted that Christ was divine but not human-God but not man. These days we often hear that Jesus was human but not divine-man but not God. Either view destroys the good news that Jesus Christ has taken our sins on himself and has reconciled us to God. In this verse, Paul firmly states that Jesus is fully man (“descended from David”) and fully God (“raised from the dead”). This is an important doctrine for all Christians.
Philippians 2:5-7 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death even death on a cross!
The incarnation was the act of the preexistent Son of God voluntarily assuming a human body and human nature. Without ceasing to be God, he became a human being, the man called Jesus. He did not give up his deity to become human, but he set aside the right to his glory and power. In submission to the Father’s will, Christ limited his power and knowledge, Jesus of Nazareth was subject to place, time and many other human limitations. What made his humanity unique was his freedom form sin. In his full humanity, Jesus showed us everything about God’s character that can be conveyed in human terms.
Paul was in chains in prison because of the gospel he preached. The truth about Jesus is no more popular in our day than in Paul’s, but it still reaches receptive hearts. When Paul said that Jesus was God, he angered the Jews who had condemned Jesus for blasphemy; many Jews, however, became followers of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:24). He angered the Romans who worshiped the emperor as god; but even some in Caesar’s household turned to Jesus (Philippians 4:22). When Paul said Jesus was human, he angered the Greeks who thought divinity was soiled if it had any contact with humanity; still many Greeks accepted the faith (Acts 11:20,21). The truth that Jesus is one person with two united natures has never been easy to understand, but that doesn’t make it untrue.
Lets Bring it Home: The truth of God’s Word is being believed by people every day and changing their lives for eternity. Despite the opposition, continue to proclaim Christ. Some will listen and believe.
Under Gods command 