He Took My Place! (Galatians 1)
Galatians 1.4 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 [nkjv]Ted Bundy was a normal guy. He lived a normal life. He grew up in a loving Christian home with five siblings. But he carried a secret, one that would eventually destroy not only his life but the lives of many others.
Ted was addicted to pornography.
As a young boy he was introduced to this world through magazines found in garbage cans, but over the years that followed, to satisfy the insatiable cravings inside of him, his addiction grew into harder and more deviant forms of pornography. He eventually moved his fantasy world into reality, becoming one of Americas most notorious and feared serial killers.
At 7.06am on the 24th January 1989, after a prolonged court case, Ted Bundy was executed at Florida State Prison. Hundreds of people outside the prison cheered upon hearing the news of his death. In an interview with Dr James Dobson, 17 hours before he was due to be executed, Bundy told his story and shared his acceptance of Jesus Christ as His personal Lord and Saviour.
Many across America found this difficult to believe! How could God ever forgive such an evil man for the horrific crimes he had committed? The thought of Ted Bundy in heaven left many with questions about God. To many it just didn't seem right.
But regardless of what we think, the truth is clear - Jesus gave Himself for our sins. No matter how black. No matter what we have done, Jesus did the greatest thing anyone could ever do, He gave Himself.
He gave himself for our sins. The word 'for' used in this verse is one which carries the idea of substitution. He took my place. He did it for me.
Paul, the writer of the Book of Galatians, knew better than anyone the power of God's love to transform a sinner's life. He was a murderer of Christians yet he met Jesus on the road to Damascus and his life was forever changed.
We have all sinned. Even as Christians we sin. The devil is quick to accuse us. But we can take courage from the truth found in this verse that there is One who has paid the price for my sin and His name is Jesus. He took our place and paid the price of our sin so we can walk free!
Martin Luther once said, "Let us equip ourselves against the accusations of satan. If he says, ' Thou shalt be damned,' you tell him: 'No, for I fly to Christ who gave Himself for my sins...'
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Galatians 1.24 "And they glorified God in me..." People will see the difference Jesus has made to my life and God will get the glory. It's only through Him!
Gal 1:9 "As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!"
Christianity today has become ever so complicated. Post-Modern thought has changed the focus from what christ has done for us to what we need to do for us (or what we believe He expects from us).
Whilst there are clearly principles that God has laid down for us to follow and obey, we must be careful to not turn these into duties, laws or traditions that could hinder us from fully accepting the awesome freedom that Christ alone has gained for us.
Ultimately, we must remember our obedience and faithfulness to God's principles is purely to enable us to activate God's blessings in our life and not to gain His approval and grace.
Today, may we go back to the simplicity of the faith that we first accepted; "the Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father."
No more, No less... Amen
Gal 1:10 "Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant."
Paul clearly reminds us of the incompatibility of people-pleasing and God-pleasing. This verse reminds me that as a follower of Christ, my focus need be on what God wants of me and God thinks of, and what God believes I should be doing with my life regardless of any risk of offense, ridicule, unpopularity, etc
The more I read the more amazed I am at how God speaks to us throughout time. Although the words were written almost 2000 years ago to a specific audience, the message is timeless and just as relevant today as it was then.
6I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ, and are turning to a different gospel, 7which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
There is the warning that some may turn from the gospel of salvation, not because they follow a different belief system, but through a corruption of the true message. The danger is in adhering to the interpretation or change in the essence of the gospel by man. This part of scripture concentrates on the false concept that man can be saved through actions and adherence to the Laws rather than through Grace, but it also applies to future generations that corrupt the message in different ways.
Through time many have claimed to be following the Word of God but place their own interpretation on the teachings of the Bible. This causes people to behave contrary to the gospel instead of in accordance with the message. This causes confusion for those who are receiving the message of salvation but are seeing the actions of those who profess to be believers but act in a contrary manner.
Galations 1v10.For do i now persuade men,or God?Or do i seek to please men?For if i still pleased men,i would not be a bondservant of Christ. nkjv.
Galatians 1:11-12 Know this — I am most emphatic here, friends — this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism. I didn't receive it through the traditions, and I wasn't taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ. (The Message)
NOT MERE HUMAN OPTIMISM
Gal 1:11-12 "Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. I received my message from no human source and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ." (NLT)
Free to be me!!
Thankfully our salvation is not based on how much (or how little?) we know or understand.
No degree from Cambridge, Harvard or Melbourne University is needed.
Jesus translates love, grace and hope to everyone everywhere - directly from His heart to ours!!
Luke 1:7 (AMP)
7Not that there is [or could be] any other [genuine Gospel], but there are [obviously] some who are troubling and disturbing and bewildering you [[f]with a different kind of teaching which they offer as a gospel] and want to pervert and distort the Gospel of Christ (the Messiah) [into something which it absolutely is not]. Luke 1:7 (AMP)
So many Christian's are sucked into false, supposed Christian teaching which can have a devastating affect for their lives, leading to a feelings of ie. commdenation, I am not good enough, I never will be good enough and the negativity these feeling bring.I pray all Christians learn to line up what we hear with the truth of God's word
Gal 1v3: may the peace be yours from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
I think for me this was personal, last year was a hard year, and I had no peace what so ever, I learnt that true peace can only come from God.
The 2nd verse that I thought was relevant was V 15: But the something happened! For it please God in his kindness to choose me and call ME, even before I was born! What undeserved mercy.
This verse showed me that no matter what I think about myself, GOD choose Me, somebody loved me enough to choose me. I had never looked at it like that before.
Galatians 1:1
Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;
It struck me that there are two meanings in the last sentence "who raised him from the dead." The first is that God the father raised Jesus from a real, physical death. It can also be read as Jesus and God together raising Paul from death- spiritual death. So too are we raised up, from spiritual death into eternal life, from among the society we live in into a new society of believers in Christ, in the world, but not of it. We are ambassadors and must show God's glory in how we live this new life we have - we are the church. So for me, I've got to take the joy and wonder I feel every Sunday morning into every other day of the week so that people see what I have in Christ and want it for themselves.
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