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Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;

Background: This letter is believed to have been written in the latter part of Paul's life. A clue is given to us in verse 3. We see that Timothy was in Ephesus while Paul went into Macedonia. From tracing their journeys through the book of Acts, we see that it must have been written after Paul's 1st imprisonment, which is where the book of Acts ends.

It looks like Timothy and Paul were together in Ephesus on his 3rd missionary journey (19:21-22). However, there it was Paul who stayed behind and Timothy who went to Macedonia.

It is also very possible that Timothy was with Paul in the 18th chapter, which was Paul's 1st trip there. It's also very possible he was with him on his 3rd and final trip (20:4), in which he didn't actually go to Ephesus, but stopped at nearby Miletus and sent for the elders of Ephesus. In both of these latter trips Paul was heading away from Macedonia, so 1 Timothy 1:3 can't refer to them.

After this it seems Paul never returned to Ephesus (20:25,38). Paul apparently did not visit Timothy in Ephesus. They must have been ministering in two different places. In verse 3 abide still can mean that Timothy was to stay still or remain in Ephesus, without meaning that Paul himself was there. He is apparently telling Timothy that it is best for them to be apart now, (as opposed to Timothy going to Macedonia to see Paul), for the sake of the gospel, when I'm sure they would have loved to be together. When we see latter mantions of Paul's desire to come see Timothy, I take it that Paul either came to see him in another city, after Timothy moved on, or that Paul was hindered and never made it to Timothy.
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Wouldn't it be great to be discipled by the apostle Paul? Here's our chance. Paul is discipling Timothy, and God has invited us to come along side and learn how to be all we can be for the body of Christ.

God is looking for obedient disciples. Let's agree to do all that is written here in. Teachers don't want to teach people who won't listen and do what they are told. Coaches don't want to train people who won't do what they are told. Let's not disappoint God

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In this verse we see a perfect balance of humility and faith in Paul. He states who he is in Christ. He doesn't do this to show off; I think he does it because he's excited. He doesn't need to tell Timothy that he is an apostle. By the time this letter was written, Timothy knew that for a long time. I think Paul says it because he's excited, saying, "man, I'm am apostle!" When we really love our spouse, we tell them so over and over again. We should be excited and able to say "man, God has told me to be a minister of the gospel- how exciting." After all these years, the excitement hasn't worn off for Paul. He's just as on fire as he ever was.

Telling our spouse that we love them motivates them to feel the same way. We want to perpetuate that love, and keep it going. Paul's excited, and he wants it to be contagious. He knows that Timothy is also excited to be an Apostle (1 Th 1:1, 2:6) and minister of the good news, and he wants to fan the flame.

Is it showing off to call oneself an apostle? It can be. Jesus warned us about showing off. He told us not to pray to be seen of men, as a way of puffing ourselves up. On the other hand, there is a good way of praying in public, which edifies everyone involved (Acts 4:24-31). If any man boast, let him boast in the Lord. As we will see, Paul is lifting up the Lord and edifying others.

There are other reasons he could be calling himself an Apostle. He could be doing it to give more credibility to the epistle. It could even encourage Timothy to not be ashamed to verbalize who he is in Christ.

Paul is humble. There are a few clear indicators of that in this verse. First of all we have his name. His Hebrew name was Saul, and his Greek name was Paul, which means little or small. He was originally called Saul, probably after King Saul, who was head and shoulders above everyone else. Now he goes by "Shorty", so to speak. That's a humbling name. Secondly, and more obviously, he realizes why he is an apostle. It is by commandment. It's like a humble policeman turned hero who says he was just doing his job. Paul says, "I'm just doing what God tells me to do." God help us not to take the glory for ourselves!

He gives the credit to God who is by His very nature a Savior. God is in the business of saving people, and God is using Paul as a tool to do that. There is no definite article in front of Savior, which shows that God is our Savior by His very nature. He wants to deliver us. That's what kind of God we have. That's what God is all about. That's why He commands us to share the Good News with others.

Paul doesn't back off of who he is, and what God is doing through him. He says it plainly, but he also knows that the credit goes to God. To be used of God, we need to keep remembering who is doing it. We also need to believe God wants to use us. God has a hard time finding people who will keep giving Him the credit. He does something through us and we start thinking we're super spiritual. Paul was used mightily, but stayed humble, realizing that he was just doing what he was told.

Jesus Christ, doing all things together with the Father, has also called Paul to this ministry. He is our hope. He is the one we anticipate (hope means anticipate). Hope is something exciting that motivates us to action. If your child hopes to you will let them go somewhere special, they will be on their best behavior. They may even finish their chores. Being motivated to share the Gospel is tied into the real hope found in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hope is also something that people hang on to when everything else falls apart. Hope indicates that something better is yet to come. The POW hangs on because he has hope that he will see his family again. He is compelled to hang in there when he feels like quitting. He hopes to tell his wife again that he loves her. He hopes, he desires, he anticipates holding his little girl and telling her that everything is going to be all right. Many times the enemy wants to rob our hope, because he knows that we will give up once we loose it.

Paul was persecuted a lot, but he was still excited, because he had hope. He was looking forward to the day when he would meet his Lord Jesus, and enter into his reward. When the world offers you nothing to believe in, Jesus Christ is still there. Because of Him, and what He did for us on the cross, we have a blessed hope. We follow the commands, we talk about it, and we are moved to action because we have hope in Christ! Paul was a sent one (Apostle) of Jesus Christ, to manifest Him to the world. He was motivated and excited about it, knowing that his persecution was nothing compared to the glory to be revealed. Paul was hard to shut up, because it's hard to stop a man who really acts on that. It wasn't a chore for him to share the Gospel, it was a privilege.