Turning to God

For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10 ESV). Remember that in the century or so before Jesus’ birth the number of deities being worshiped in places like Thessalonica was vast. In addition to all sorts of traditional and local deities, the emperors of Rome had begun to be revered as gods. When Augustus became the first emperor he declared that his uncle Julius Caesar was a god. Then Tiberius did the same for Augustus, and so on, until the population began revering not only past emperors but the current one as deities. Caesar’s face eventually replaced the face of Zeus on their coins. What Paul had preached, and the new Thessalonican Christians had come to believe, was that Jesus, the man who was also God, was the incarnate face of the one true God. Claiming there was only one true God was radical. It wasn’t just a radical religious claim, either. Worshiping the gods, including the emperor, was a routine part of civic life. So it seemed narrow, even treasonous, to ignore them all and worship only the God revealed in Jesus. Paul is acknowledging the impact of the Thessalonians’ conversion. He realized that not only have they embraced some major new claims, like the resurrection from the dead, but they have also had to let go of a huge number of old beliefs and old ways. They are learning to look exclusively to Jesus, the “founder and perfecter” of their faith (cf. Hebrews 12:2). We do not live in a culture where this kind of idolatry is as easy to see; however, our culture has turned to many false “gods.” I love the presidential political season. Each candidate left in the race for the nomination of their party has their own theme. Hillary Clinton has “Solutions for America”; Ted Cruz adopts “Reigniting the Promise of America”; John Kasich has a complicated visual with the message of “For US”; Bernie Sanders simply says “A Political Revolution Is Coming”; and, Donald Trump declares “Make America Great Again.” There are two things of note in these. First, note I listed them in alphabetical order with absolutely no endorsement of any of them; and, second, none of them have pointed us to the only solution to the problems we face in our country or the world. I know it may not be “popular,” but wouldn’t it be refreshing if we could all recognize that our solutions cannot be found in anyone other than Jesus Christ. Until we turn to God, our problems continue unsolved and growing larger. Paul recognizes that this small church did exactly that and they found the real answers of life. My prayer is that we would adopt that principle of faith and practice! Men don’t save us!