Already in the greeting of
Paul to the churches in Galatia we have read of the authority of Paul
to share with them: the resurrection of Jesus by God the Father, the
notation of other brethren who ministered with Paul, and the grace
and peace that is offered by God through Jesus Christ. Verse four of
chapter one adds more to Paul's introduction as he writes of Jesus:
Who gave himself for
our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world,
according to the will of God and our Father:
The
preeminence of access to God the Father is given by this little
phrase: “Who gave himself for our sins.” Without the
sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, none of us would have access to the
throne of God. A holy God cannot and will not be in the presence of
unholiness, and through Jesus' substitutionary propitiation or
appeasing sacrifice, we may now approach God's station. As Paul
prepares to address false doctrine that pervades the Galatian
churches, he begins with the origin of everyone's admission before
God. We must come through the cross, and when we do, the door to
God's throne is open before us.
Paul
adds, “that he might deliver us from this present evil world”.
There was a reason that Jesus died for our sins. Not only did He give
us access to the throne of God, but He also purposed to deliver us
from our present condition. This world, according to Paul, is a
“present evil world.” We see a fallen world that was
marked and cursed as a result of sin. When Adam and Eve partook of
the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, the Earth suffered, and
mankind was forever changed. The world is not as it was once destined
to be, and for we who live within its bounds, Jesus came to proclaim
and give deliverance. Though the price of our ransom was His life, He
paid it in full, and we are the benefactors of His sacrifice.
In
addition to giving himself for our sins to deliver us from this
present evil world, Paul notes the purpose of God the Father to do
so. He wrote: “according to the will of God and our Father.”
Many wonder at the “will of God”. They ask, “what is God's will
in this?” or “what is God's will in that?”, however let us
consider the “will of God” in this verse. It was God's will that
Jesus come to die on the cross and give himself for our sins. It was
God's will that he deliver us from this present evil world, and it is
certainly God's will that this sacrifice be made known unto the
churches of Galatia and us. Oh what an introduction we have seen in
just four verses of this wonderful book as the gospel of Jesus Christ
has been shared from the onset. As Paul wrote to the church in
Corinth in Second Corinthians chapter five and verses seventeen and
eighteen:
And all things [are] of
God, who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given
to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them; and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
God
the Father and Jesus Christ loved the Galatians, and they love us
too. As we walk through this book together the abounding theme will
be the overt efforts of God to redeem us unto Himself, and oh what a
joyous theme that is.
Next time we will watch as
Paul gives credit and glory for what Jesus has done, so read ahead,
and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is
more...
Look
for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From
Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites,
www.amazon.com
; www.barnesandnobles.com
; download
to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
No comments:
Post a Comment