Delivered from this Evil Age

Paul anchored all that God has done for His Church in the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ - Galatians 1:1-5.

Paul claimed the source of his apostleship was the same God who raised His Son from “among dead ones.” Jesus died and was raised from the dead to “deliver us from this evil age.” In his Letter to the Galatians, Paul responded to “men from Jerusalem” who operated as if the old era before this event remained in effect. They insisted that Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the Jewish calendar, and they challenged Paul’s Apostolic authority.

Paul described the present reality by employing apocalyptic terms and imagery. The Death and Resurrection of Jesus became the hinge on which History turned. One “age” terminated and another began; therefore, disciples of Jesus have been “delivered from this evil age” and must live accordingly.

[Photo by Luke Southern on Unsplash]

Paul validated his apostleship by asserting a negative (“neither did I receive it from men nor through man”), then by issuing a positive affirmation (“but through Jesus Christ”). In this way, he affirmed his divine appointment to his Apostolic office and mission to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles. His opponents claimed his Apostleship was received from human authorities, namely, the church leadership of 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 depended on any human authority, whether the mother church of Jerusalem or the Assembly in Antioch of Syria. Instead, he received it directly from the Risen Jesus - (1 Corinthians 9:1, Acts 9:4-6, 22:7, 26:16).

Paul also linked his Gospel to the “Father…who raised Jesus from the dead.” Not only did he anchor his message in the past resurrection of Jesus, but he also presented it as the pivotal event that signaled the commencement of the Last Days.

In the Death and Resurrection of Jesus, the “powers and principalities” that enslaved humanity were defeated decisively, including sin and death. As in his other letters, Paul points to the Death and Resurrection of the Son of God as the key event in God’s redemptive plan and the center of the Apostolic Tradition.

His resurrection inaugurated a new era, the final stage of God’s plan. Since then, nothing has been or ever can be the same. His followers no longer belong to “this evil age” - (1 Corinthians 2:5-8, Ephesians 1:17-23, Colossians 2:15, 1 Peter 3:22).

Paul wrote from this perspective when he admonished the Galatian congregation not to be subjected again to the “elementary spirits of this world.” If Gentile believers submitted to circumcision, they would again live under the old order.

With the Death and Resurrection of Christ, the old order reached its end. Jesus appeared in the “fullness of time,” inaugurating the long-awaited Messianic Age, the season of fulfillment. “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 served the same God who raised Jesus from the dead, Paul prepared his readers for the description in Chapters 1 and 2 of how he received his Gospel by direct revelation from the same Jesus raised from the dead by God - (Galatians 1:11-16).

Christ is the one who “gave himself on account of (huper) our sins.” His death was necessary due to the sins of humanity that alienated men and women from God. The same idea is implicit in two declarations of the Letter:

• “The life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself on account of (huper) me” - (Galatians 2:20).

• “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse on account of (huper) us” - (Galatians 3:13).

Jesus died “according to the will of our God and Father,” emphasizing the magnitude of what God did for His people. If believers placed themselves under the Mosaic Law, they risked losing God’s “grace and peace.” Return to what preceded Jesus would amount to regression, not liberation, “perfection,” or enlightenment. “Are you so foolish? Having started in the Spirit, are you now perfected in the flesh?” – (Galatians 3:3).

Through Christ’s death, God “rescued us from the present evil age.” The “types and shadows” of the old era gave way to fulfillment and the substance foreshadowed by said types, especially Jesus himself in whom the promises of God find their “Yes” and “Amen”- (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 1:20, Colossians 1:12-13).

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

By emphasizing his Death and Resurrection, Paul highlights the All-Sufficiency of Christ’s death for the forgiveness of sins and the deliverance of believers from the “present evil age.” No longer are they under the “elementary principles” of the old era. Instead, they live daily “in Christ” and under his sovereignty.

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SEE ALSO:

• Proclaiming Another Gospel - (The Judaizing faction in Galatia proclaimed a message that deviated from the Apostolic Tradition and twisted the true Gospel – Galatians 1:6-12)

• The Blessing of Abraham - (The Gift of the Spirit is one of God’s covenant promises and his ways of blessing all Nations in Abraham’s Seed)

• The Hope of the Nations - (The Good News of Jesus Christ and his victory over death offers hope, life, and salvation to men and women of every nation)