II Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
This letter is considered by many to be the last recorded words of the Apostle Paul. He was writing to his young protege' Timothy, whom he had left at the church at Ephesus to address some serious issues of false teaching and disorder in their worship. Paul knew who he was. He was both called to salvation in Christ and called into His service as an apostle, an ambassador to take the Good News of the Gospel to the far reaches of the earth. At present, he was in prison, but that is not what stuck out in his mind: he was in the will of God; he was living the life that God had ordained through the power of Christ. He was also a spiritual father to Timothy, and he knew what Timothy needed to carry out his ministry. He needed grace - God-given ability to carry out his calling; he needed mercy - for God to reach down and do something when Timothy called for help; he needed peace - that sense that all will be well, which only God can give. Finally, Timothy needed to keep his heart and mind focused on Christ Jesus - the God-Man with a title. Everything around him was working against recognizing Jesus as the Christ, and making Him much less. We must always lift Him up to His exalted place as Savior and Lord.
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