“Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4. Who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5. to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen”
When I read these verses this morning they almost jumped out at me. I don’t know how many times I have read these verses over the years without their making a big impression on me, but this morning they spoke loudly to me about the fullness of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. These verses comprise Paul’s greeting in his letter to the churches in Galatia. These churches had been troubled by false teachers who were trying to pull them away from the truth of the gospel. These verses reflect that concern. Paul began the greeting as he usually did in his letters: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” The gospel is based on the grace of God. The only reason that anyone can be saved is that God is the God of grace and in His grace is His peace. Grace is generally defined as “unmerited favor.” What this means is that no one deserves to be saved, but through God’s grace and the sacrifice of His Son, we can be saved. Paul stated it like this to the Ephesians 2:8-9: “For by grace are you saved through grace, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast.” Through His grace, the Lord Jesus Christ “gave Himself for our sins.” This is the heart of the gospel. It is stated succinctly in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosover believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus voluntarily came from heaven and gave Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Here is what He said in John 10:18: “No man takes it (His life) from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” It is through the death and resurrection of Jesus that people are saved – based on the grace of God. Why did Jesus give Himself? He did it “to rescue us from this present evil age.” Just as people in Paul’s day lived in an “evil age” so do we. A cursory reading of history will show us that every age could be called evil. There has never been a time after the fall of Adam and Eve when evil was not prevalent on the earth. We certainly can’t deny that the time in which we live is a “present evil age.” The point of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that though no one deserves to be saved, people can be saved through faith in Jesus Christ, in spite of the evil age in which they live. Only through God’s grace and through His Son, Jesus, can we be delivered from this “present evil age.” Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 12:2: “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Through faith in Christ, we do not have to be consumed by this “present evil age.” Paul concluded this greeting with this reminder: “According to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.” The gospel came about on our behalf because it was the will of God. In His great heart of love, the Father’s will was that people should be delivered from the sins of the present age through His Son. Because of this we are to give Him glory “forever and ever.” We should never forget that we have been enabled to be saved, not from any merit of our own, but because it was God’s will to give us salvation by His grace through His Son, and for this we should glorify Him. Amen Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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