Galatians Chapter 1:4-5

Sermon #2 ~ Just Passing Through

 

Introduction

Verse 4

·         So this week let us turn our attention now to the end of Paul’s greeting by looking at verse 4

·         I will start at verse 3 for better readability “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…”

·         Don’t you just love Paul? You see Paul is writing his greeting and he gets a dig or two in, he makes some quick points.

·         Things that they need to be reminded of that are central to the theme of the letter

·         He doesn’t take time to follow them up or explain them but he tosses it out there nevertheless.

·         What were his reminders you ask

Deliver us from the present evil age

·         The first point Paul makes is in the little phrase “…to deliver us from this present evil age…”

·         Paul reminds his readers that this world is not their home; Christ’s purpose was to deliver us from this present evil age.

·         The Bible is clear, this age won’t go one forever.

·         In fact Peter in 2 Peter 3 predicts to the saints that scoffers will come saying "Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation."

·         Peter goes on to say that people who think this way overlook the fact that the world was made from water, was destroyed with water and now is waiting to be destroyed again, this time with fire.

·         Peter further explains that the fire that will destroy the earth is being reserved until the set day when God will choose to judge and destroy the ungodly.

·         Paul’s mind is thinking in the same vein as Peter’s was when he wrote 2 Peter. The point is don’t be too attached to this world, our life is but a vapor.

·         Psalm 103:14-16 “For he know our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.

·         Moses understood this as well. As he was writing Psalm 90 he compares our lives to dust, a watch in the night, like a dream, like grass, a sigh, and our days our soon gone and they fly away.

·         This is why also in Psalm 90 Moses asked God to “Teach us to number our days.”

·         So Moses understood it, Peter grasped it, Paul got it, but why is it relevant to the Galatians?

·         Because it is a setup for verse 6; next Paul wanted to talk about time, notice his language; “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ…”

·         There is an urgency to Paul’s letter here; this is a time sensitive message.

·         We all know sometimes messages can’t wait, right. If we observe that the 2nd story of our neighbors house on fire and they are calmly eating dinner on the lower level we generally don’t wait until we see them out mowing the lawn to mention to them that the 2nd story appears to be burning do we?

·         If we hear of a disaster back east someplace where we have friends and family we don’t write a letter to them and wait for the postal service to deliver it and then wait for them to write back do we?

·         Some things in life are just time sensitive and we know that

·         Let’s say for example you have an 8 year old child who one day stops brushing his teeth. How long do you wait before you correct that child?

·         What is the consequence of waiting to see if that child starts brushing his teeth again on his own?

·         Suppose you have just read some book by a child psychologist, hot off the New York Times Best Seller List, that tells you that children have a need for independence and to start letting children make decisions for themselves at this age.

·         Do you wait until social pressure cause them to start brushing their teeth again, after all within two years or so that is going to play a role too?

·         Do you wait a few months to just see if it is a phase, after all another psychologist told you that kids do these things for attention and if you ignore them they will start doing the right thing on their own?

·         Do you wait even two weeks? Of course you don’t because you understand the consequence of that decision. Everyone here understands that the permanent teeth of that child could be carelessly ruined forever by ignoring or failing to address their hygiene issues

·         Let’s consider further Paul’s pastoral care of these churches, churches he feels like a father to

·         What could be more urgent or more important that the heart of the gospel message was being ripped out of the hands, the heads and even the hearts of these churches

·         Just like a child who hasn’t brushed their teeth in months will almost certainly loose the use of some or all of their God-given teeth so a believer who allows a false teacher to sell them a cheap doctrine to replace the real gospel will certainly stand to lose something as well

·         What do they stand to lose you ask; potentially everything, everything but their salvation

·         1 Corinthians 11:30 Paul writing about the manner in which some were observing the Lord’s supper he writes: “That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.”

·         Many of you I am sure have heard the story of Ananias and Sapphira his wife; how they made a deal with each other to lie and while they thought they were lying to the apostles, Peter asked why they had lied to the Holy Spirit

·         Both of them died for their error in judgement but note the last verse in that story

·         Acts 5:11 reads “And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.”

·         That story happened before Paul’s conversion but no doubt he had heard of it

·         Again this is the introduction to the letter but when you write a letter you must set the tone for the rest of the letter early on, right?

·         If you want to write and ask someone for a recipe you wouldn’t start your letter by reminding them of how they embarrassed you at last year’s Christmas party would you?

·         Likewise, if you need to write a product manufacturer to try and resolve a defective product issue you don’t start by discussing where you went to high school

·         Paul is very calculated in his letters and he doesn’t waste words; every word has a meaning for his intended audience

·         Even in a little phrase such as this in the greeting, he makes the point that this world is not our home, we are just passing through

·         We would do well to have that perspective on our lives, to realize they are but for a moment and eternity is forever and that is our real home

By the will of God

Conclusion