The unapproachable One that is approachable

Scripture Read: 1 Timothy 6:13-16 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.

Application: After reading verse 15 where Paul lays out the unspeakable greatness of our God as Wuest gives the literal translation: “the One who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of those who are reigning as kings, and Lord of those who are ruling as lords”; one might rightly ask “what more can be said?” However, there is so much more to be said, that if all were written down, the books of man could not contain it! Even so, the next statement places an incredible exclamation point on the Person of our Lord. Consider: “who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light,”

Alone is μόνος mónos; Only, alone, without others. We all know what “mono” means, this one, and this one only. No one else can claim what is about to be claimed. God alone possesses immortality! There is a difference in being the one who shares something and the One that is the source of it. This is our God, there is no immortality apart from Him! Consider what the original communicates: ἀθανασια athanasia, from the priv. a, without, and thánatos, death. Rendered “immortality” in 1 Cor. 15:53, 54 of the glorified body of the believer. In the NT it expresses the nature not of life itself, but strictly speaking, only a quality of life such as the quality of the life of God and the resurrection body of the believer. Athanasía occurs in 1 Tim. 6:16 where the word is used in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ in His manifestation as the God–Man. It is true that He suffered death, His physical body and His spirit separated one from the other, but they did not remain separated. He brought them together once again with an incorruptible body that had all the characteristics that our resurrection body will have. The Lord Jesus Himself, however, has inherent athanasía, immortality, in that no one could permanently separate His body from His spirit. He raised His body and joined it together with His spirit which temporarily had been committed to the Father. Thus He is the only One who inherently has always had immortality. The phrase here is as it is found in Gr.: “the only one having immortality” (a.t.), meaning that He always had it. He never gave it up and He still has it. ^[1]  Also; “Immortality” is athanasia (ἀθανασια), made up of thanatos (θανατος), “death,” and the Greek letter Alpha, which when prefixed to a word negates its meaning, thus, “no death, incapable of dying.” ^[2]

The Possessor of immortality is also described as One Who “dwells in unapproachable light”. This is another compound word: ἀπρόσιτος aprósitos; from the priv. a, without, and próseimi, to approach, which is from prós, unto, and eimí, to be, go, or come. That which cannot be approached, inaccessible, unapproachable, hence unapproachable light (cf. Ps. 104:1–3, 12; Ezek. 1:4, 13, 26–28).^[3]

This is where I personally lift my arms in praise to our God. He is unapproachable, because He is pure and holy, His light would dissolve all that was darkness in front of it. Yet, because of His great love, He has made Himself approachable. The blood of His Son on the cross has bridged that consuming light, so that even though we continue to walk in the darkness of our flesh, in His Son we can live in the light of the Spirit!   Who is like Thee Oh God? No One! Thank You for giving me a way to approach Your throne. I love You Lord!

Meditation Questions: What is your view of God? How different is the flesh than the spirit in your mind? What is light versus darkness? When you approach God do you understand what that cost Him? Your body is mortal but you are immortal – what does that mean to you? How does that impact how you live? How does that impact your “now”?

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^[1] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.

^[2] Wuest, K. S. (1997). Wuest's word studies from the Greek New Testament : For the English reader (1 Ti 6:13). Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

^[3] Zodhiates, S. (2000). The complete word study dictionary : New Testament (electronic ed.). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.