Rescued from this evil age

Paul anchored all that God has done for us in the resurrection of Jesus, which also inaugurated the Messianic Age - Galatians 1:1-5.

The source of Paul’s apostleship was the same God who raised His Son from the dead to “deliver us from this evil age.” In his Letter to the Galatians, the Apostle responded to certain “men from Jerusalem” who were working as if the old era of the Law was still in effect, insisting that Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the Jewish calendar. They also questioned Paul’s apostolic authority.

Paul describes the present reality by employing apocalyptic terms. Jesus Christ, his Death and Resurrection, is the hinge on which History has turned. In the Nazarene, one “age” ended while another began. Therefore, the followers of Jesus have been “delivered from this evil age” and must live accordingly.

[Photo by Luke Southern on Unsplash]

Paul validates his apostleship by asserting a negative (“neither from men nor through man”), and by issuing a positive affirmation (“but through Jesus Christ”). In this way, he affirms his divine appointment and his mission to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles.

His opponents were not disputing his office but claiming that his apostleship was derived from human authorities, presumably, the church leadership in Jerusalem.

• “Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father who raised him from among the dead, and all the brethren with me; to the assemblies of Galatia; Grace to you and peace from God our Father and Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us out of the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory unto the ages of ages: Amen!” - (Galatians 1:1-5).

Paul denied that his commission was dependent on any human authority, whether the mother church in Jerusalem or the Assembly of Antioch. The Apostle to the Gentiles received his ministry from the Risen Jesus - (1 Corinthians 9:1, Acts 9:4-6, 22:7, 26:16).

Not only did Paul receive his commission from the Nazarene, but he also links the Gospel that he proclaims to the “Father <…> who raised Jesus from the dead.” He anchors his Gospel message in the past resurrection of Jesus, and he also presents it as the pivotal event that signaled the start of the Last Days.

The “powers and principalities” that enslaved humanity were defeated decisively in Christ’s Death and Resurrection. As in his other letters, Paul points to the Death and Resurrection of Jesus as the central event in God’s redemptive plan and the heart of the Apostolic Tradition that leads us to salvation.

Christ’s resurrection inaugurated an entirely new era, the final stage in God’s Plan of Redemption. Since then, nothing has been the same, especially for the disciples of Jesus - (1 Corinthians 2:5-8, Ephesians 1:17-23, Colossians 2:15, 1 Peter 3:22).

The Apostle Paul writes from this perspective when he pleads with the Galatians not to subject themselves again to the “elementary spirits of this world.” That is precisely what they will do if they submit to circumcision.

With the sacrificial death and resurrection of the Son of God, the jurisdiction of the old order reached its end. Jesus appeared in Galilee in the fullness of time.  “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” - (Galatians 4:3-11, Romans 10:4).

DEATH AND RESURRECTION

By reminding his audience that he serves the same God that raised Jesus from the dead, Paul prepares his readers for the description in Chapters 1 and 2 of how he received his Gospel by direct revelation from Christ - (Galatians 1:11-16).

Moreover, Jesus is the one who “gave himself on account of our sins.” His death was necessary because of the sins of humanity that alienated men and women from their Creator. The same idea is implicit in two declarations in the letter - (Galatians 2:20, 3:13).

Christ’s death was “according to the will of our God and Father.”  This statement emphasizes the magnitude of what God did. If believers place themselves back under the Mosaic Law, they risk losing God’s “grace and peace.” To return to the old order that preceded Jesus amounts to regression.

Through Christ’s death, God “rescued us from the present evil age.” In his Death and Resurrection, the Messianic Age dawned, and the time of “types and shadows” gave way to the era of fulfillment - (Romans 12:2, Colossians 1:12-13, 2:16-17, Hebrews 10:1).

In the Hebrew Bible, history is divided into two ages – the present evil age, and the age to come. The jurisdiction of Mosaic Law over God’s people belongs to the “present age.” It is part of the ancient system that began to “pass away” following the resurrection of Jesus; therefore, we are no longer “under the Law,” but instead, we are “in Christ” - (Galatians 2:19, 4:3-9, 5:5, 1 Corinthians 7:31, 9:21).

By emphasizing Christ’s Death and Resurrection, Paul highlights the All-Sufficiency of the sacrificial death of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and the deliverance of believers from the jurisdiction of bondage that characterizes this “present evil age” because of the resurrection of the Son of God.

[PDF Copy]

SEE ALSO:

• Jesus, the Bedrock - (Christ’s very human Death and bodily Resurrection are foundational and indispensable to the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles)

• Death, the Last Enemy - (The arrival of Jesus at the end of the age will mean the end of the Last Enemy, namely, Death - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28)

• Jesus Reversed Death - (Paul reminded Timothy of the resurrection of Jesus and his victory over death since false teachers were denying the future resurrection of believers)

• Completion and Resurrection - (Paul expresses his goal of going on to completion, a process that will culminate in bodily resurrection when Jesus arrives in glory)