Galatians 1:4-5
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,
1:5. to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
–NKJ
To keep things in context, this follows on the heals of the opening greetings of Paul as he writes this letter to the people of the Galatian church. He claims his authority as coming directly from God through Jesus, and not from any idea or teaching from other humans.
He continues his description of the power and authority that Jesus has by saying that he gave Himself for our sins, To put it in slightly different words, he himself was a gift that covered our sins. The first part of his gift wasn’t too unusual, he died. People died all the time. But that is only the first part. His death was his act of taking on the burden of sin. The real power is what he did next. He overcame sin and death, and that power that allowed him to do that restored his own life. But wait! There’s more!
Why did Jesus take sin and death upon himself, and put himself through that whole ordeal? “That He might deliver us from this present evil age,” Paul lived a few centuries ago, yet he says the present age is evil. The age we live in now is also an evil age. As humans, we are part of the fabric of being part of that evil age, no matter where it may fall in history, or the present. The word for “deliver: means to be torn out. Jesus uses his power over the laws of sin and death to rip us out by the roots. No subtle, easy, gentle transfer from evil world to Christianity. He doesn’t have to work on contracts or negotiations. He paid the price. He knows who belongs to him. Once you claim your place in his kingdom, he reaches out and rips you out of the evil world and transplants you into his kingdom.
“According to the will of our God,” that means it’s
God’s plan. That’s the way he wants it to be. So give him “glory forever and ever. Amen.”
When the world and all its baggage of social gray areas, and general evil nature has you down, as a Christian your spirit has already been transplanted in the kingdom of God. As humans, and being part of the fabric of this world, we may have to struggle along with everybody else, but we have a hope and assurance that we are part of something bigger and better.