There Is A Lot Here
Galatians 1:3-5 NKJV
3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
When you read and re-read the epistles, the letters to the churches, you get a sense of just how much revelation Paul walked in. In our three verses for today, you see four powerful things that reveal the love and plan of God to us.
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. I truly believe Paul is not simply offering a Christian greeting. Instead, he is speaking of two powerful spiritual forces that come from the Father and the Lord Jesus. Grace is more than a nice word; it’s a force in our lives that can make a difference. Paul told Timothy to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. God’s grace is His power and favor toward us that we did not earn or deserve. We are instructed to grow in grace and receive God’s grace that enables us to handle the challenges that come our way.
And don’t forget peace from God and the Lord Jesus. Peace that passes understanding. Peace that guards our hearts and minds in Christ. Peace, regardless of the situations that surround us. Peace that is a spiritual force, not a feeling. But it’s the same peace that Jesus walked in and promises to us. Thank God for peace.
Jesus gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil age. Sin had tied us into this present evil, but Jesus took our sins in His own body on the cross. No longer are we slaves to sin. No longer does sin have dominion in our lives. Because we are forgiven, sin has lost its grip, and the evil around us is no longer the boss. We live in a world that is enveloped in darkness. But we don’t have to fear the darkness because we have been delivered. We did not deliver ourselves; Jesus did this for us. Our part is to recognize the freedom we have in Christ and begin to act on it.
And we have been delivered from this present evil age according to the will of God. So it’s God’s will that we be delivered from the evil in this present age. Occasionally, I will have someone tell me that God brought an evil situation their way in order to teach them. But if God went to the lengths that He did in order to deliver us from evil, why would He send it our way? What God did send our way was Jesus to deliver us and make us free from sin and its effects.
The last powerful thing is the eternal greatness of our God. To whom be glory forever and ever. We will always be worshipping and giving God the glory and honor He deserves. We’ll be doing this forever throughout eternity. In light of this, we may as well start giving Him glory now. We can practice giving God glory and praise when the atmosphere is challenging in this present evil age. There is coming a day when there will be no more evil. But until that day, we give glory to God now in the presence of resistance.
Three verses and four powerful things, and all glory to God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!