The Gospel According to Cheap Trick

“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1Tim 2:3-4).

“I want you to want me.” Any Cheap Trick fans out there? If you love the 70s like I do, you can sing this little ditty from memory. (As a matter of fact, it’s probably running through your head right now.) This track is all about some dude’s desperate crush on a girl who simply doesn’t feel the same way he does. It’s what literature calls unrequited love. 

So what in the name of pop rock does this Cheap Trick tune have to do with Paul’s first letter to Timothy? Here in chapter two, the apostle tells his spiritual son just how much God desires a relationship with the people He made in His image. “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (v3-4). Let me be clear. I’m NOT saying God has some desire to sing lead for a rock band. But it doesn’t take much imagination to hear the song of His heart for those who are far from Him. He wants us to want Him. Call it the Gospel according to Cheap Trick.

Before anybody freaks out over this comparison of Almighty God and a random rock song, let me be clear. God may want us to want Him, but He certainly does NOT need us to need Him. He doesn’t need anything. As God, He’s absolutely satisfied in Himself. For heaven’s sake, the Godhead is made up of the Trinity. The Father, Son, and Spirit have the most awesome relationship the universe will ever know. God didn’t create the human race out of some dysfunctional loneliness. Far from it. He created us as an act of overflowing goodness. End of disclaimer. We now return you to your regular programming.

Paul begins the second chapter of his letter to the pastor of the Ephesian megachurch with an encouragement for us to pray. Pray in every way possible for every person you can think of (1Tim 2:1). Use every tool in the prayer tool box. Use every club in the bag. The best thing you can do for someone is to talk to your Heavenly Dad on their behalf. More specifically, let’s lift up our governmental leaders (2Tim 2:2). The purpose is so we can be good citizens and be a blessing to our community. 

The apostle goes on to say, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior” (v3). He uses the Greek word apodektos which the ESV translates as “pleasing” (v3). It only shows up twice in the entire Bible, both right here in this epistle (1Tim 5:4). The term literally means to gladly receive something from another. When we pray for others, God doesn’t begrudgingly take these petitions like kid getting a pajamas on Christmas morning.

We need to remember that God is particularly pumped to get prayers for others, especially for our leaders. He loves to see His people living peacefully, quietly, godly, and dignified lives. Or in the words of The Message, “This is the way our Savior God wants us to live” (v3 The Message). What do you get the God who has everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING!)? How about prayers for others?!? The Lord is excited to receive them! They’re always the perfect size and always the right color. Unlike that frightfully ugly sweater you opened last Christmas. No, really. I love it. I’ve always wanted a pullover with a cat wearing a Santa Claus costume. Really.

Paul then drops the same title he used in the opening line of the letter. “God our Savior” (v3, 1Tim 1:1). It’s a powerful reminder that we desperately need outside intervention in order to be saved. Let’s be clear. We can’t save ourselves. I can’t. You can’t. Neither can Billy Graham. Just in case you’d like to give self-salvation a shot, all you have to do is obey every single law in the Bible. Every. Single. One. You see, God set a standard of spotless perfection. Despite this impossible goal, just about everyone one of us gives it a go at some point in our lives. Some of you are STILL trying. In the words of the great philosopher and theologian Dr. Phil, “How’s that workin’ for ya?”

That’s where “God our Savior” comes in. We can’t save ourselves. As the sinless Son of God, Jesus left the comforts of heaven to perform the ultimate search and rescue mission. He dove into the dumpster of sin we made of God’s perfect paradise. He lived the perfect life that we failed to live. He died the death for our sin that we should have died. He rose to new life that we don’t deserve. “God our Savior” came to our rescue. He did for us what we could never dream of doing for ourselves. 

Our Savior God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (v4). The key word here is “desires,” which is the Greek term thelo. It describes a desire, a wish, or a want. If you asked God what He really wanted, this would be at the top of the list. In His heart of hearts, He desires that every single person would turn to Him for salvation. Or in the words of Cheap Trick, He wants us to want Him.

And God wants ALL of us to want ALL of Him. Before you think we’re going all Calvinistic or Arminian, just stop right there. Save that debate for another day. Later in this very letter, Paul tells Tim, “We have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially this who believe” (1Tim 4:10). His heart is to rescue everyone. Every. Single. Person. It’s only those those who place their trust in Jesus who realize His grace. The Message has an awesome take on this truth. “He wants not only us but everyone saved” (v4 The Message). Every. Single. Person.

This all ties into the timing of Jesus’ spectacular encore. Who wouldn’t love be alive to see that?!? Paul’s buddy Peter says it’s Christ’s heart of compassion that delays His return and final judgment of sin. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2Pet 3:9). He’s not late. He’s simply waiting for every person possible to turn to Him. He wants ALL of us to want ALL of Him. 

That’s not all. God wanted you to be saved more than you did. He wants your friends and family to be saved more than you do. He cares for people more than you do. He loves people more than you do. You might think the Old Testament is all about a wrathful God who just can’t wait to fling one of His supernatural lightning bolts when we mess up. Far from it. “Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD” (Ezek 18:23, 32). Our disobedience absolutely breaks His heart. He wants us to want Him but there’s just on problem. We continually reject His offer of the everlasting life preserver.

So why doesn’t God the Savior simply save everyone? He IS God after all. If He’s almighty and wants everyone to be in His kingdom, why doesn’t He just do it? It all goes back to the beginning. And when I say “beginning,” I mean “in the beginning” (Gen 1:1). When He made us in His image (Gen 1:26-27), He gave us the ability to choose. Now our sin has horribly corrupted our choices. Inherent in that choice is possibility to NOT choose God.

You see, He didn’t make us robots who are programmed to follow and obey Him. He wants us to want Him. How cruel would God be if He rescued those who don’t want any part of Him? It’s said that the gates of Hell are locked from the inside. Those who reject Jesus actually choose to be there. To drag everyone who turns their back on Christ to spend eternity with Him would be brutal. The best way to understand what this is the Gospel according to Cheap Trick. He wants us to want Him. 

God saves us when we “come to the knowledge of the truth” (v4). Not just the facts, but the truth. You don’t experience His rescue by simply memorizing historical data about the existence of some radical Rabbi/Carpenter from the boondocks of Galilee. We trust in who He is and what He’s done for us. We trust in THE Truth with a capital T. As Henry Blackaby says, Truth is a Person. 

Jesus Himself left no doubt about it when He boldly told His disciples, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn 14:6). Not a truth. THE Truth. Christ is the wisdom of God in human flesh (1Cor 1:24). We experience that Truth when we follow Him obediently. Or as the Amplified Bible says, that’s when we “perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the [divine] Truth” (v4 AMP).He wants us to know the Truth. He wants us to want Him.

So what does God want us to want to do with this? You and I need to realize that there’s no one in the universe who desires for people to be saved more than God. You may have a white hot burning passion for certain people in your life to know Jesus. But that’s a smoldering cinder compared to the fire in the heart of Christ for them. And His love isn’t limited to just the folks on your list. His heart is for very single person you lock eyes with to step under the waterfall of His grace. 

Remember, He loves the entire world so much He sent His Son to the rescue (Jn 3:16). Whatever you do, don’t stop praying for them. Don’t stop telling them about our Savior. Don’t stop loving them. He doesn’t. Don’t give up on them. He doesn’t. He won’t force them using some sort of supernatural submission hold. He longs for every one of us to willing desire a relationship with Him. He wants them to want Him. He wants you to want Him. He wants us to want Him. It’s the Gospel according to Cheap Trick.