Philippians 1:1-2
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons:
2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon quotes and references:
I suspect that many of us who chat warmly about blessings we have received from Paul’s writings would find it more than a little unsettling to engage him in personal conversation … Who of us would not be nervous at the prospect of sitting down to a meal with him? I mean, what would it be like to have lunch with Paul the apostle? – Knox Chamblin, Paul and the Self
In a profound sense this greeting nicely represents Paul’s larger theological perspective. The sum total of God’s activity towards his human creatures is found in the word grace; God has given himself to his people bountifully and mercifully in Christ. Nothing is deserved, nothing can be achieved. The sum total of those benefits as they are experienced by the recipients of God’s grace is peace, God’s shalom, both now and to come. The latter flows out of the former, and both together flow from God our Father and were made effective in our human history through the Lord Jesus Christ. – Gordon Fee, Philippians.