Philemon 1:15-16
15 For [gar] [dia] perhaps [tacha] he [chorizo] therefore [touto] departed [chorizo] for [pros] a season [hora], that [hina] thou shouldest
receive [apecho] him [autos] for ever [aionios];
16 Not now [ouketi] as [hos] a servant [doulos], but [alla] above [huper] a servant [doulos], a brother [adelphos]
beloved [agapetos], specially [malista] to me [emoi], but [de] how much [posos] more [mallon] unto thee [soi], both [kai] in [en] the flesh [sarx], and [kai] in [en] the Lord [kurios]? KJV-Interlinear
15 For perhaps he was for this
reason parted from you for a while, that you should have him back forever, 16
no longer as a slave, but more than a slave, a beloved brother, especially to
me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. NASB
Paul arrives at the
core of the letter.The word for
servant, doulos, means one who serves another in a subordinate role. Within the context, Onesimus ran away from
his subordinate role.Onesimus was
afraid to return.Onesimus was initially
described as worthless and unreliable.
And though the term
servant here can refer to involuntary or voluntary service, it is clear from
the context that Onesimus was not voluntary or hired help. If voluntary then he would have no obligation
to return.
Paul writes as though
he is speculating as to the reasons for the history of Onesimus. Why he belonged to Philemon in the first
place?Why he ran away? Why he happened to meet Paul, who was not in
a position to be met by anyone really.
Paul was not out in the
public eye, meeting people in the town square, visiting churches and such
things like that.Onesimus would have
had to have been following an unusually set of circumstances (we call this
providence), that would eventually bring all of these events together.
This is not uncommon in
human affairs.
All things work
together for good.Often times the
question can be asked, Why does God allow this or that to happen? And the better question to ask is, What good
will God develop out of this situation?
The former is from a
bitter pessimist. Why did God do this
to me? The latter is from the optimism
of faith. What plans does God have for
me?
Long ago and many times
along the way in our study, we have discovered that this universe was created
to be inhabited.Obviously along the way
that has not and will not occur.That
won t occur until this human history period reaches its conclusion, and the next
historic period, eternity, begins.
You were placed on this
earth in order to decide the angelic conflict.
You were placed in harms way, as it were, placed in an evil world run by
Satan, so that God could be glorified.
That is to say, so Gods plan and wisdom and truth can outshine and are
the better of, Satan s plans.
Along the way you will be
distracted.You will get involved in
politics, in your social activities, in your hobbies, in your day to day life,
and all of these and more, are there to either enhance you life as supplements
to your spiritual growth, or to distract you away from doctrine.
More often than not,
they keep people from their spiritual life.
But God has a sense of
humor.He can place obstacles in your
life to get you to where He wants you to be.
Whereas on your own, you will veer off in the fog of life and get horribly
lost.
History is full of
dramatic examples.People were conquered
in Africa in centuries past, chained into slavery and sold in auctions across
the world.God brought them to doctrine. God turned a bad situation into eternal life
in heaven.
In my genealogy, one
line of my family came out of Virginia and the other line came out of
Pennsylvania.They shot at each other in
the Civil War.One wrong bullet could have
ended my existence and this online Bible Study.
People lose their jobs
and are forced to move, to relocate.
Illness changes the lives of people.
Death, hardship, disaster, many things in life come along that change
the course of ones life.More often then
not, we get taken advantage of, and even that becomes a good training tool for
shaping your poise, forgiveness, for shaping your personality.
When you are young, you
are bullet proof and have plans that are certain to leap you forward in your
life.Then life happens and Gods plan for
you seems to cancel everything else.
And, more often than not, those changes come with a great deal of foreboding,
pain and suffering.
In this world, our day-to-day
life is never certain. And even though we get up each morning and go to bed
each night with some regularity of repetition, our next moment, our next day,
our next year is always uncertain.
There is only one thing
certain in life, and that is doctrine.
In this life, there is only one thing that will guarantee your future,
and that is through Christ.
A long time ago we put
together a spiritual checklist study.
Most folks ignore it and most don t even bother to look it up or take
the time to find it.And they wonder why
their spiritual life is less than working for them?
Sometimes, and actually
more than sometimes, God will bring along a set of events to wake people up, or
purge them from the world.That could be
from a war, from an economic downturn, from an illness, it could be from almost
any number of things in life.
Why would you push your
life to the brink of disaster or worse, when you could so easily get your life
together?What are you not doing that
you should be doing?
Previous Page
|
Table of Contents
|
Next Page |
