A Little Good News

"Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: 3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 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, 5 to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

The is the greeting, the introduction, or the salutation to Paul's letter to the churches in Galatia. In those days, you didn't put from whom the letter was received at the end, such as we do today. Instead, you put it right up front, at the beginning, and then stated any credentials that would permit you or qualify you to write such a letter. And that is exactly what Paul does. He states right up front, that he is an apostle. An apostle, as some of you know, is one of the sent-out ones, one that had seen Jesus with his own two eyes, which Paul had on the Damascus road, and I personally believe was taught by the Lord himself when he was in the Arabian desert. Paul states this right away, to give his credentials, because this letter was going to be passed around to many churches which were established in the province in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) called Galatia. Then, Paul states to us who gave him the office of apostle. It was not from men. It did not come from any man, nor any position among men, but came to him through Jesus Christ Himself, and God His Father, who was the one whom raised Jesus from the dead. Beloved, there is enough information right there to start praising God and shouting to the heavens in thanksgiving! You and I are not apostles. We have not physically seen Jesus Christ with our own two eyes. But we are saints. We are joint heirs with Jesus. Because God has called us not friends, but sons (and daughters)! That is such news to bless our hearts. We need to wrap our minds around that for a minute. A lot of us out there have not had a good family growing up to understand the love of a father, so sometimes it is hard to make the jump from lousy earthly father to loving heavenly Father. But nevertheless, He loves us so much He has equated us with His Son Jesus. Hallelujah!

Then Paul, in his way that is so common to him, greets us in the grace and peace of Jesus Christ. It is always in that order and can be no other way. For if you do not know the grace of God, the grace that extends love and mercy and forgiveness towards us, then you will never know the peace of God, which goes way beyond our human understanding. Peace that comes to our hearts in the midst of terrible adversity and pain. Peace in our hearts when it seems everything else is gone. Without knowing the grace of God, then you will not know the peace of God in spite of what the world out there is telling you.

These few verses at the beginning of this little letter from Paul to the churches in Galatia contain such a wealth of things to bless our hearts, beloved. Let us this day go out into the world with the knowledge that Jesus Christ "gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." Amen.