Click here for the 2 Timothy 2:8-9 PODCAST
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. ~ 2 Timothy 2:8-9
We come back to Paul's instructions to Timothy regarding what it takes to be faithful til the end. The cross meant death. This is where our motivation for our obedience comes from, the choice He made to lay down His life so that we could become children of God. When we lose sight of the greatest display of love mankind has ever known, we lose the motivation to follow Him in everyday life. This is why the Apostle admonishes us to "Remember Jesus Christ" in v.8.
We must never lose sight of the cross of the Lord Jesus for it is the cross hairs through which we come to understand all things. From the teachings of the Lord Jesus, it is apparent that following Him involves sacrifice. For some it involves the sacrifice of their life in death. For others it involves the sacrifice of their life in life, saying no to their ambitions and desires and self-will and all of the things that might be on their own agenda for the sake of the will of Christ.
After reminding us to "Remember Jesus Christ," Paul reminds us that He was "raised from the dead." When we remember that we have a source of strength that nothing in this world can defeat, we can endure anything because we know this is not the totality of reality. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is what gives us hope when others see the situation as utterly hopeless. We hang on when everybody else quits, because we see the resurrected Lord at work in and through our lives on a daily basis.
When we consider the resurrection, we see God ripping off the shackles of death from the willing. The resurrection of Christ was God the Father's response to His sacrifice made on our behalf. The resurrection was the amen of God to the blessing made by the Son.
In v.8 Paul continues with, "descended from David." The Lord Jesus descended from King David. Right out of the very loins of David came the Lord Jesus. It speaks of Christ's humanity. But, this also speaks of Christ's deity, because He is the fulfillment of the promise to David that One is coming who will sit on the throne of David forever.
The Lord Jesus was the fulfillment to the Old Testament promises of the Savior. He is God's long promised Savior. He is Son of God and He is the Son of Man at the same time. He is the rightful heir to David’s throne, and He is now set down at the right hand of the Father on high. He is living, and He is reigning. This means He is our High Priest and He is the sovereign who controls everything.
In v.9 we read, “for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.”
Even though the Apostle was chained, “the Word of God was not.” Paul was locked up, but he still preached to the Roman guards and the members of Caesar’s household. The more the enemies of God try to stop the word of God, the more it is used of God to change lives.
In 1971 a Vietnamese man named Hien Pham was imprisoned on accusations of helping the Americans. His jailers tried to indoctrinate him against the Christian faith. He was tempted to no longer believe in the God of the Bible. It was then that he decided that when he awakened the next day, he would not pray anymore or think of his faith.
The next morning, he was assigned the dreaded chore of cleaning the prison toilets. As he cleaned out a tin can overflowing with toilet paper, his eye caught what seemed to be English printed on one piece of paper. He hurriedly grabbed it, washed it, and after his roommates had retired that night, he retrieved the paper and read the words of Romans 8:38-39 which reads, "38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
After reading these words from what he knew to be the Bible, Hien wept. Hien knew that there was not a more relevant passage for one on the verge of surrender. He cried out to God, asking forgiveness, for this was to have been the first day that he would not pray. God had other plans. What his tormentors were using for refuse, the Scriptures, could not have become more treasured to Hien.
