Context No. 4053 of 4322 · Galatians

Galatians 1:1-5: in context

1Paul, an apostle—not from men, nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2and all the brothers who are with me, to the assemblies of Galatia: 3Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father— 5to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Paul opens his letter to the Galatians by naming, right at the start, the heart of the gospel. He describes the Lord Jesus Christ as the one who gave himself for our sins, to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. In a single phrase, Paul captures both what Christ did and why.

Two things stand out about Christ's work. He gave himself; his death was not something merely done to him but something he willingly offered, a self-giving for our sins. And the purpose was rescue: to deliver us from the present evil age, from the grip of a world in bondage to sin and death. Christ did not die merely to make us feel better or to give us an example; he died to rescue us, to pull us out of the dominion of evil into which we were sunk. And all of this was according to the will of God the Father, not an accident or an afterthought but the deliberate plan of God for our salvation. Our rescue rests on Christ's willing self-gift and on the settled will of the Father.

Do I grasp that Christ willingly gave himself to rescue me from the present evil age, according to the Father's own will, and does that deliverance move me to give God the glory with my life?

Sources

Galatians 1:4: "Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father."
Galatians 1:3: "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ."
Galatians 1:5: "To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen."