Introduction
10 Signs Communication is different in the 21st Century
1. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
2. You call your son’s beeper to let him know it’s time to eat. He e-mails you back from his bedroom, "What’s for dinner?"
3. Your daughter sells Girl Scout Cookies via her web site.
4. You chat several times a day with a stranger from South Africa, but you haven’t spoken with your next door neighbor yet this year.
5. Your grandmother clogs up your e-mail inbox asking you to send her a JPEG file of your newborn so she can create a screen saver.
6. Your reason for not staying in touch with family is they do not have e-mail addresses.
7. You consider second-day air delivery painfully slow.
8. You hear most of your jokes via e-mail instead of in person.
9. You’re reading this.
10. Even worse, you’re going to forward it to someone else.
Communication was a bit different back in Paul’s day. At that time the preffered method was a letter, and the letter wasn’t routed by a series of servers but by a messenger who knew where the letter was headed and carried it there.
We’re going to spend the next few months looking at a particular letter from Paul the apostle to the churches of Galatia.
In the opening verses of this letter there is more than just a greeting the Address is wrapped up in there too, telling us in what direction the letter is being sent. In fact there are a series of things mentioned which are being sent from one party to another. As we begin our study of the letter it will be helpful if we look at those "packages" and consider the labels of who they are "from and to"
Interrogative: In other words our question is "who exactly is sending what to whom?"
Transition: The first thing being sent is the most obvious. It is the...
1. Letter-Sent by Paul to the Churches in Galatia
vv. 1-2 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia:
This is the salutation of the letter in very typical fashion for the 1st century the author introduces himself and then his intended readers. The letter is not to a single church or even a single city, but to a region. The region is mentioned briefly in the book of Acts in Chapters 16 and 18 but from even that brief mention it is apparent that the missionary work of Paul was instrumental in the establishment of these churches--It was Paul who first preached the good news there and he had visited at least once subsequently to see that the work was going well.
Now some time later he has recieved word that some false teaching has begun to circulate among these churches and he writes to set things straight.
The occaision of the letter--the heresy being taught--and Paul’s unique place as both the founder of these churches and His place as an Apostle means that the letter is something more than just a friendly note. In fact as we work together through the note we will see that Paul writes with strong authority and with strong words for those who would distort the truth and attempt to discredit him.
He sets out his authority here in the very first verse. Which brings us to the second thing that is being sent in the passage, the...
2. Apostle- Sent by Christ to the World
v. 1 Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead
Paul’s authority in writing this letter is that of an apostle. Apostle means "one who is sent" the implication is sent on behalf of another. The nearest concept in english is that of an ambassador who represents a head of state to another nation.
Paul makes clear that he is sent not by men, but by Jesus Christ Himself. It was not unheard of, in fact it was quite common for men to send ambasadors...
Phil 2:25 "I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, who is also your messenger (apostle), whom you sent to take care of my needs"
There is nothing wrong with being sent by men, but Paul wants his readers to understand that in writing this letter he is doing it with the special authority of an apostle sent by the risen Christ.
These are not just his thoughts or suggestions, they are the very words of Christ. As we study this letter we will certainly do so with this thought in mind: That as we seek to understand the words of the Apostle, we seek to understand the mind and heart of the One who sent him.
ILLUSTRATION: A private sent with a message from the general.
A contrast is established here also with those whose false teaching Paul writes to oppose. Theirs is a message, we will learn in the coming weeks, which comes not from God and which seeks not to please God, but which comes from man and seeks favor in the eyes of men.
In a nutshell these false teachers are telling new believers that they must follow the ritual laws of the Old Testament if they are to be all that God wants them to be. It’s a message that subtracts from the sufficiency of what Christ did on the cross by adding additional requirements beyond simply trusting Christ for salvation.
The apparent reason for this teaching is to gain respectability for the church among the Jews outside the church or perhaps to reassure the Jews within the church of their superiority to the gentiles--"You must become like us to be holy."
Paul is not like these self-appointed apostles, He is an apostle sent by Christ and we like the original readers must submit not to the man but to the Savior whose authority He bears.
The next thing being sent in our text is...
3. Grace & Peace-Sent by the Father to the Church
v. 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
Blessings and peace were a common feature of greetings in letters of this day, but notice that in keeping with the spirit of apostleship Paul sends Grace and peace not from himself but from the one who sent him. The source of Grace and Peace are God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
These are not empty pleasentries. They are the reality of God’s blessings upon the Church, won as Paul notes in the very next verse, by the atoning work of Christ.
Grace--God’s favor and blessing, forgiveness for our sins, the gift of not only eternal life but a life of abundance and fulfilment on earth is not poured out lightly, but won by the lavish Gift of Christ Himself.
Grace is not a cheap trinket God dispenses with little thought of the cost. No Grace was Costly, Jesus Christ gave his life and spilled his blood on a Roman cross, that we who were undeserving might have grace and peace.
Peace not in a 1970’s sit-in sense but peace in the Hebrew sense of all being made right, balance being restored, relationship with God being reestablished because the ugly blot of our sin has been washed by His priceless blood.
Grace and Peace from God the Father through the sacrificial gift of the Son.
The final package is...
4. Glory-Sent by the Church to God
vv. 3-5 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Glory completes the circle God bestows grace upon us and our response is glory to Him. Of course our praise to Him in response to his glorious gift of salvation is a part of the way that we give him glory--that’s conveyed by the progression of the sentence here(and notice that 3-5 is one sentence) it goes like this Grace to us from God because of the work of Christ, Glory to God from us because of the work of Christ. So we are praising Him for his marvelous deeds to be sure but there is much more here.
Glory is not simply what we say, but it is also what we do, what we become indeed who we are because of the work of Christ. Because of what He’s done and what He continues to do in us by His grace, our lives bring glory to God. We are trophies of the Grace of God.
ILLUSTRATION: John Wesley was a popular evangelist in early America and often rode from one church to another to preach. On one such journey, stopped by a highwayman who shouted, "Halt, your money or your life." Wesley got down from his horse, emptied his pockets to reveal only a handful of coins. He even invited the robber to search his saddlebags - which only carried his books. In disgust, the thief was turning away when John Wesley cried "Stop, I have something more to give you."
Puzzled, the robber turned back. Wesley then leaned towards him and said "My friend, you may live to regret this sort of life in which you are engaged. If you ever do, I beseech you to remember this: ’The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses us from all sin.’"
The robber hurried silently away, but Wesley got back on his horse & rode on his way praying in his heart that the word might be fixed in the robber’s conscience.
Years later, at the close of a Sunday evening service, a stranger stepped forward and earnestly begged to speak with John Wesley. Wesley recognized him as the robber who had stolen from him so long before, but now he was a well to do tradesman and better still, a child of God. Raising Wesley’s hand to his lips he affectionately kissed it and sad in deep emotion, "To you, dear sir, I owe it all."
Wesley replied softly, "Nay, nay, my friend, not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ which cleanses us from all sin."
The most efficient way of bringing glory to God is for lives to be transformed by the work of the Spirit. This brings glory not only for his benefit but brings glory to Him as others note his marvelous work in us.
CONCLUSION
These are themes which we will hear echoed throughout our study of Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia.
A letter he writes with authority not his own but of the Christ Who sent him.
By that authority he will consistently remind us of the grace from God which transforms our lives and brings glory to the Lord.
