I was recently reading through the 13 letters of Paul in Scripture, and I ended my time in Philemon. It’s not the most well-known book in the Bible; however, it is one of my favorites. Here’s a quick overview:
Philemon (pronounced Fuh-Lee-Muhn) was a slave owner who lived in Colossae and was friends with Paul. One of his slaves, Onesimus, stole from him and ran away, which was punishable by death. Then, in a crazy turn of events, Onesimus ended up in prison—right next to Paul. During that time of imprisonment, Paul actually led him to the Lord and built a fatherly bond with him. So, the book of Philemon is a letter that Paul wrote to Philemon, imploring him to forgive his former slave, restore their relationship, and welcome him back not as a slave, “but as a dearly loved brother.”
Right before I started reading this beautiful story of forgiveness and restorative love, the Holy Spirit impressed on my heart: “This is the way that Jesus talks about you to the Father.”
So, with that in mind, here are some of the verses that had me in tears:
“I am making this appeal on behalf of my spiritual child, or disciple (v10). He is my very heart (v12). He was separated from you for a short time so that you could have him back forever. So welcome him no longer as a slave, but more than that as a dearly loved brother (v15-16). Accept him the same way you would accept me. And if he has stolen anything from you or owes you anything, just place it on my account (v17-18).”
My heart can barely handle the magnitude of this appeal and its reflection of our relationship with the Father through the Son.
After the original sin, man had to be banished from the garden. Because if we had eaten from the tree of life while in that state, we would have lived forever in our sin, eternally separated from our Father (Genesis 3:22-24.) We had to be separated for a short time—so that He could have us back forever.
And then, as part of the plan established before the creation of the world (1 Peter 1:20), Jesus came to restore that relationship through His death, burial, and resurrection. He took all of our sins, and failures, and shortcomings and placed them on His account on the cross (1 Peter 2:24). And in doing so, He allowed us to be filled with the Spirit of Adoption (the Holy Spirit), accepting us into His family as dearly loved brothers and sisters (Romans 8:15).
“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭.”
𝐆𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝟒:𝟕
Grace Waves 