44 Days Through the New Testament – Day 28

Galatians 1-3

Paul sure knows how to pack a lot of content into a few short verses.

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Galatians 1:3–5, ESV

Wow! Did you get all of that!?

God is our Father, and Jesus is Lord. Jesus sacrificed His life, dying on the cross for our sins for the purpose of delivering us, or saving us. This current age is evil, but Jesus’ sacrificial death delivered and is delivering us from the evil of it. There is another age to come that will not be evil, and that is the reality that He saved us into… but it is not yet, at least not completely. All of this, by the way, was according to the will of God, our Father. It was His idea. Jesus perfectly followed the will of the Father. Therefore, the Father deserves the glory forever and ever.

Yowsa! That’s a lot of truth… and Paul is just getting started in his letter to the Galatians…

Galatians 4-6

I have a real problem with writing this blog… I just can’t get past the opening verses. My goal for each section is to pull one truth out of 3 chapters, which, at this point, seems painfully incomplete. But that is the goal, so I will stick to it. 

Again, I did not get very far into my 3 chapters before I was stopped in my tracks -amazing by the goodness and grace of God!

… when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Galatians 4:4–7, ESV

Wow! No wonder Paul often breaks out into seemingly random praise of God as he is writing. This is truly breathtaking.

At just the right time God sent Jesus into the world. We may argue about whether or not it was the right time, but God is always right. At just the right moment, God sent Jesus. He was born of a human woman, and He was born under the law. This is important. Jesus was under the law. He was not under man-made law, but God’s law. Jesus NEVER broke a single commandment from God. He was perfect in every way. Yes, He bent the man-made interpretations of the law, but He never actually broke the law. Why? So that He could redeem those who were under the law!

As a result of His perfect life, and willing sacrifice, WE have been given the opportunity to  be adopted as God’s sons and daughters! It is not a passive, obligatory adoption, it is one by which we address Him in the most intimate way – “Abba! Father!” (literally, “Daddy!”)

Wow! Paul has been making the case in Galatians 3 that a slave and a son have little difference until the moment, of the Father’s choosing, when the son receives his inheritance and rightful position. Through Christ, we have received ours! We are heirs to the throne! We are c0-heirs with Christ!

How good is our Father?!