Galatians 1: 1-5

Paul had a divine encounter that changed his life completely. He had no intention of becoming a Christian. He was set on destroying the church (13, 14; see Acts 9:1). His aim was to arrest Christians and cart them off to jail. But then one day Christ apprehended him while he was on the road to Damascus (Philippians 3:12). One preacher said that Paul ‘felt the Hand of the Heavenly Policeman on his shoulder.’(In fact, having ‘a Damascus road experience’ has entered into common parlance for anyone having a major turnaround in thought and behaviour.) Paul met the risen Lord and was changed in the encounter. Furthermore, it was fundamental to what he had to say to the Galatian church that they should understand that his ministry was not man made (11, 12). So, meeting Jesus changed Saul’s life (and name!) and gave him a ministry (1). He was ‘’an apostle’’ – a ‘sent one’ – because the living Lord Jesus, and His Father God who raised Him from the grave, sent him. Paul had a divine encounter and in that he received a divine commission.

Paul was a team player (2a). Undeniably he was a bright individual who, probably, would have shone in any arena. He was multi-gifted. But he never let people put him on a pedestal. He didn’t insist on titles and privilege. He was just plain Paul, faithfully getting on with his work, and knowing that he had a particular role to play in a large team. He knew who he was in God and didn’t need special ‘handles’ to impress. There were others working for God on the same team, and Paul affirmed them; loved to work with those the Lord brought alongside him, and expressed his need of their help and support. He didn’t play the part of the ‘big shot’ leader; the superstar evangelist. He didn’t see himself as the ‘super nova’ Christian, outshining the rest. Maybe God had made him an outstanding ‘striker’ and team captain, but he was still part of a team. He knew he was nothing without the others. I say, ‘Thank God for the church.’

Great leader that Paul was, he knew to Whom the glory belonged (5), and it wasn’t to him. Any success he saw (and let’s face it, he was massively successful) was the Lord’s work through him.

Verse 4 presents the heart of Paul’s Christ revealed (12) gospel. It is the good news about what Jesus Himself has done for us through His sacrifice; His self-offering on the cross of Calvary. This substitutionary death was ‘’according to the will of our God and Father’’. It flows from the ‘’Grace’’ of God; His undeserved favour. It leads to ‘’peace’’. I once heard a preacher say that he had read that you could fill the ‘Royal Albert Hall’ in London with the amount of tablets people in the U.K. take, in one week, in a desperate attempt to find peace. True ‘shalom’; authentic harmony and wholeness, will not be found anywhere else other than in Jesus Christ, and through His work on the cross. Someone said that grace and peace are the two main pillars of the gospel. Everything comes from grace, and centres in Christ and His cross, and issues in peace. We are all born into ‘’the present evil age’’ (4). ‘The world’ – secular society: i.e. society ordered without reference to God, exerts a huge influence over every person living in it. We are surrounded by its poisonous fumes, like some invisible gas. We breathe in its ideologies and standards and values etc often without knowing it. It is Satan’s kingdom (John 16:11). Jesus came to set us free from it by His work on the cross. He paid an enormous price for our deliverance. He doesn’t take us out of the world, but frees us from its evil (John 17:15).Once Paul got a hold of this message (or it got a hold of him) it caused him to ‘give himself.’ Fired and fuelled by the thought of Jesus and His cross, he went all over the Roman empire to tell everyone he could about the liberating work of Jesus. When the truth sets you free, you don’t want to keep it to yourself.

Prayer: Thank you Jesus that I share your victory.