Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.
1 Timothy 1:17

“Due to circumstances beyond our control …” are usually words that generate frustration. But the apostle Paul owed his very salvation to circumstances beyond his control (see 1 Timothy 1:12-16), and he wouldn’t have had it any other way!

Intercepted by Christ on the road to Damascus, Paul’s plans underwent a dramatic change. The “worst” of sinners found mercy in Christ.

And the result? Patrick Fairbairn, in commenting on Paul’s expression of praise, probes the motive behind Paul’s spontaneous doxology (see 1 Timothy 1:17).

WALK WITH PATRICK FAIRBAIRN
“The train of reflection into which Paul had been led naturally brought the thought of God very prominently before him.

“Penetrated with a sense of the infinite greatness and overruling wisdom, power, and goodness of God, Paul winds up his personal discourse by a devout acknowledgment of God as the Lord of the universe, and glorifies him as such.

“When God is spoken of as King of the ages, he is presented to our view as supreme Lord and Director—the Sovereign Epochmaker, who arranges everything pertaining to the affairs of this world beforehand, according to the counsel of his own will, and controls whatever takes place, so as to subordinate it to his own design.”

WALK CLOSER TO GOD
Meditate for a few moments on Walter Chalmers Smith’s hymn:

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,

In light inaccessible, hid from our eyes,

Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of days,

Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.

To all, life Thou givest—to both great and small

In all life Thou livest, the true life of all.

We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,

And wither and perish—but naught changeth Thee.