September 23, 2020
Dear Fellow Believers,
Rachel and I thank you for sharing in prayer for our prodigals and for revival each Wednesday. The bondage of living selfishly or even halfheartedly is exactly where the enemy wants God’s people to be. While some are living this presently, the danger is real for all of us. A. W. Tozer said, “True and absolute freedom is only found in the presence of God.”
I watched a short video today called “The Bald Eagle Rescue,” which featured a woman finding and nursing back to health an eagle that was caught in a trap. She brought it home, gave it antibiotics, fed it, and finally after it was healthy, released it back into its element. It was a beautiful thing to see it emerge from the cage, slowly get its footing and then lift from the ground and soar out into the wild. It was free to do what God had created it for!
The book of Galatians is a treatise, a Magna Carta on the subject of freedom. True Freedom. Freedom in Christ. Freedom to live without fear in His presence. Over the next few weeks, I would like to look at different aspects of this freedom from each of the six chapters and consider the present impact it has on our lives. Today’s text is from chapter-one, “Who (Jesus Christ) gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father” (Gal. 1:4).
We can all be thankful that when we put our faith in Jesus Christ we were immediately and eternally delivered from the penalty of our sin, with no fear of judgment from God. We were saved, rescued, and set free from the consequences of our sin — glorious truth!
What we learn from the words of Galatians 1:4, is that we were also delivered from the present grip of sin. One of the great purposes of the gospel is to have a kingdom of people who live with a different mindset from that of this evil age. The only way this is even possible is by divine deliverance. The word translated “from” is the Greek word “ek” which has multiple meanings: out of, removed from, or being preserved in the midst of. Obviously, we have not been physically snatched away into a special, isolated, sanctified bubble where we are uncontaminated by the evils of this age. But we have been delivered out of the grip of sin, from the power of this world to control our lives.
The death of Jesus Christ has given us the power to live differently in this evil world. Like the woman who delivered the eagle and set it free to fly, so our Lord and Savior has delivered us from the trap of sin and set us free to live for Him. The life of God, the Holy Spirit lives within us and enables victory.
The term “this present evil world” refers to the system of wickedness that presides over this age. It is the dark-order, the accumulation of beliefs, values, and actions that honor Satan rather than God. It is the total opposite of God’s will and desires, and Christ has delivered us from it.
In our separation from the world, we have the privilege of living and sharing the truth and love of God to perishing sinners. As we do so today, may it be from the freedom of being found in His presence. May we live truly free.
Love in Christ,
Bryan and Rachel