Meditations in Galatians #1
Galatians 1:3-5 “This Present Evil Age”
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“…the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.”
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Father, I had been told that your Son’s death was because of my sins, and there is so much about that which I don’t understand. But I am puzzled by Paul’s comment about “this present evil age.” I know that those believers were aware of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the terrible things Jesus had said about those days, and that a time of great evil toward the Jews was about to begin. Eleven times Jesus had condemned those Jewish leaders who opposed Him, as a “doomed” generation, a “generation of wrath,” a “wicked and perverse generation.” Paul was writing in the midst of all that building tension. Today’s news sometimes makes me feel the same way. So, how is it that Jesus’ death for my sins is to “rescue me” from all of this? Your Son’s death was to make it possible that by Him I might not join those who are about to experience Your wrath. Does this mean that He would so change my life that I would not deserve the punishment to come? Does it mean that He will protect me in the midst of it? I know that it is Your intent that through Jesus my spirit will not be corrupted or polluted by the evil of this present age, and that somehow this is accomplished by Your Son’s death for my sins. Please help me to understand this and to respond well to Your Spirit in this. I know that this is Your will, and that it will bring honor to You.