Galatians 1:3-5 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
The next part of an ancient letter is the greetings. Paul follows that pattern in this letter. Each of the greetings in Paul’s letters has significant thoughts. Verse 3 is very typical Pauline. Grace is related to the typical Greek greeting, meaning “be happy” or “rejoice.” Paul Christianizes this and turns it into an acknowledgement of God’s grace to us. Peace is the typical greeting of Jews. Paul connects this to grace to form a pair. Grace brings peace. We need grace and we seek peace. Both of these are gifts to us from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. God is the source of all things. Grace and peace are mediated and come through Jesus. Paul uses the full description of Jesus as Lord and Messiah.
Paul expands his description of Jesus in v. 4. This statement is significant in the context of this letter because it is the core message the Galatians needed to hear. There is victory over sin and freedom from its control. As long as we are part of this present evil age, we have to battle temptation and sin. But we do not need to be controlled by these. These are part of living in this world, but a new existence in breaking into this evil time. Paul describes this new age as being “in Christ.” This marks a deep and profound relationship. Christ for Paul is not simply a person of history or the distant judge and Savior. Christ is a presence with us through the Holy Spirit. He is here. His presence assures our victory in this life.
All of this is made possible and real in our lives because Jesus gave himself for our sins. The cross represents God’s love for us. Jesus’ death took away the penalty for sins that we owe. As God told Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, disobedience brings death. We all have disobeyed God’s laws and therefore are guilty and will die, both physically and spiritually. But by his death, Jesus replaces us in this death. By his resurrection, he brings us life, both physically and spiritually. First is spiritual new life within. Second is physical new life at resurrection. Jesus reverses the curse of sin and opens the way for us to return to the planned bliss and communion of the garden of Eden.
This was all according the plan of the Father. Redemption through Jesus was not Plan B in God’s scheme of history. This was God’s plan before creation. It is only through this plan that humanity can best see who God is. The cross shows the divine wisdom and power of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). God knew Adam and Eve would sin and that humanity would need a savior. From the moments of their sin, God set the plan into action. This plan can be seen unfolding throughout the Old Testament. Paul believed this based on his study of the Hebrew Scriptures (Romans 16:25-26). There is consistency and unity to the plan of salvation in the Bible. Knowing this plan should result in our praising God. The heavenly beings fly around the throne of God singing their praises to the Lamb (Revelation 4-5). Paul gives his own short version of this by acknowledging that all glory belongs to the Father for this plan. The only response we can give to this idea is Amen!
Paul’s opening sets the direction for all he will say in this letter. Every word of this greeting was important for the Galatians to think about. They needed to be reminded of the core message that Paul preached. There are many interesting things a person can talk about related to the Bible. Many pastors preach interesting sermons, but they are far from the gospel. They could be considered psychological pep talks and not preaching of the gospel. We must always be reminded of what the gospel is all about. This is what must be preached and taught to all who will listen. Otherwise, there is the possible danger that the Galatians were experiencing: being deceived by false teaching.
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