Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen
Galatians 1:3-5 (NIV)
Today, I want to try and take you a little deeper into this very simplistic prayer. In I and II Corinthians, Paul just gives a simple greeting of Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, but here in Galatians Paul adds a bit more depth.
1. He reminds us why we have grace.
- Jesus gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil
- It was God the Father’s will
2. Why we should have peace.
- Jesus gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil
- It was God the Father’s will.
3. We should give glory to God. Forever and ever.
- Jesus gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil
- It was God the Father’s will
The Message, explains a little deeper just what Jesus did to rescue us.
So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace! We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue.
Grace is typically described as receiving a gift that isn’t deserved. And yes, that can apply here. Sinful man did not deserve to be pardon from the painful execution of the cross, but it was offered to us any way. According to Strong’s Concordance, the grace spoken of in Galatians is joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness and loveliness. Either way you look at it all goes back to the cross. We have been given grace and therefore should have grace (joy, pleasure, sweetness, and loveliness).
Peace is a word tossed out every day, especially when it comes to world conflict. A common, cliched, answer given to the question of What do you want for Christmas? is often world peace. I’m sure many of you know what peace means (harmony) , and I’m sure you all know the Hebrew term for it, but do you fully understand the meaning of shalom.
Are you ready for it?
Nothing missing, nothing broken.
WOW!
So, in the midst of our chaotic lives, in the midst of this evil world, in the midst of politics, in the midst of divorce, in the midst of finances, in the midst of cancer we are to have grace and peace, the kind of joy that overflows to where nothing is missing and nothing broken, because Jesus suffered for the sins we should have born all so that we could have communion with God the Father.
Glory be to God!