INTRODUCTION
Have you ever noticed how all of the recent blockbuster hits at the cinema have at their core a battle of good vs. evil. In Harry Potter its Potter vs. Voldamort, in Narnia its Aslan vs. the White Witch, or going back in Star Wars we see Skywalker vs. Darth Vader.
Here in Galatians we are at the scene of a battle, a war is raging, not one involving guns or blood, but of far greater importance. It is a battle over the truth of the gospel, a battle over the true message of salvation quite literally a battle over the way to get to heaven. And as we will see this morning, this is not some Hollywood fantasy, but a battle that each of us must also face.
With any battle there is always some background, some history leading up to it. Battles do not come out of nowhere - there is a story behind every battle fought. So before we get to the battle over the good news itself - let me tell you the story.
BACKGROUND
Galatians was written by the apostle Paul - who was formerly a Christian hater - desiring them to be killed. He went around persecuting Christians for their faith. He was a Pharisee who wanted Christians dead Yet through a miraculous vision of Christ he became a Christian, and spent the rest of his life living for Jesus and seeking to share the message of Jesus with as many people as possible.
One of his missionary trips took him to the region of Galatia which is now Southern Turkey. Here he shared the good news of Jesus. Lets look at verses 12-15. We don’t know exactly what had happened to Paul but it appears that he caught some sort of infection or illness which detained him in Galatia - and when he arrived in Galatia he was in the grip of a great fever. Whatever the disease was it had disfigured him on some way. In verse 15 we can see that it appears that his illness affected his eyesight, so that if it had been possible the Galatians would have plucked out their own eyes and given them to him.
Yet despite all these things the Galatians accepted the message with joy, They were converted from their old way of life into a living relationship with Jesus (v8-v9). Who are these foreign Gods they were serving, well again we are not sure. They would have either being serving the Roman God Caesar or they would have been Jews who had been living for the Law, believing that is what would save them, or even pagan cults. But whatever they were they were rescued from them..
Christ himself said "There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over righteous persons who do not need to repent." Galatia was the cause of much rejoicing in heaven. They had accepted Jesus as their Saviour and were on their way in the journey of faith. Paul stayed with them for a while ministering to them and then left to continue his missionary work.
But then "the enemy entered" - seeking to turn them way from the truth. The message was subtle - "All that stuff about Jesus is well and good, but you also need to be circumcised - all good followers of God are circumcised, and all good followers of God obey special days and ceremony - if you don’t do these things you can’t be a real follower of God. The Jewish believers were seeking to force the non Jewish believers that they needed to be circumcised. the Galatians were in the process of accepting the Judaizers’ teaching that circumcision and dietary laws and holy days should be used to show God that they are worthy of blessing.
And you may say what’s the problem with that. Well they were relying on something other than the cross. They were saying that these things were what was needed to get right with God. By my own effort I will receive a blessing and acceptance from God.
It is not that the Galatians were confronted with a totally new spiritualism, but that they were just told to add to it.
You can almost hear the voices
It doesn’t really matter if you do this - it’s a good thing - God won’t mind - he wants you to.
Do you really think its as simple as trusting in Jesus - you need to do this as well.
The path of temptation is often a subtle one. I believe here in this letter we have a classic example of how the world and the devil work together.
A picture which comes to mind is a landslide. If you have ever seen one – the foundations are weak and insecure and slowly the earth slides down the mountainside – not quickly, but with devastating consequences.
CS Lewis wrote
The safest road to hell is the gradual one - the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.
Throughout the New Testament we see how the surrounding culture seeks to mould Christians away from simple faith in Jesus - either by going back to the law or by living the same as everyone else - and not letting Christ be in charge. They let their cultural surroundings shape their belief in the gospel.
And you may well say “What has this got to do with me James. I haven’t got any Jews knocking on my door telling me to get circumcised.” Hear the voices and not the message
Friends the same voices that you hear in these letters trying to turn these Christians away from the true faith, are whispering in our ears today - The messages are different - "In those days it was back to the law, away from a simple faith. Today the whispering is "You believe what you want to, and you can live how you like, you live that Christian life but don’t let it effect you." There may be different voices or messages but I can almost guarantee that there will be something going on in our lives that is seeking to take us away from the simple path of faith in the true living God.
THE CHOICE FACING THEM
So the Galatians stood at a crossroads - which way would they turn, and here we see Paul entering the battle seeking to plead with them to stay the course, to fight the fight to run the race and to win the prize. He paints 2 simple pictures for them - the 2 choices they face and choices that will face every single Christian that has lived. A choice of "Back to the he enslaved life" or the "Forward to a Christ filled life".
BACK TO THE ENSLAVED LIFE
Let us spend some time looking at the path to danger and then the path to life
Back to the The enslaved life
(v8-v11)
Next year we will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery. Already the Church of England issued an official apology for its part in the slave trade in the past. There will be much talk about the hard won freedom and how now each can live free lives they way they want to- and the abolition of slavery was a great occasion - instigated by Christians, fought by Christians and won by Christians. We must pray for God to raise up a stronger Christian voice to campaign on issues of inequality today.
And sometimes it can be hard to truly imagine what life for a slave was like. So I have pulled together some images for you. Yet slavery still exists today. A slavery that is far more subtle and is far more attractive than the one visualized. It exists outside the church but it exists within the church - it even exists within Christians There is a sense in which slavery still exists even within a Christian.
In 2 Peter we read "A man is a slave to whatever has mastered him". The Bible tells it straight - whatever or whoever is your master you are a slave to. In Romans Paul says "I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Let me give you an example - if I choose to decide what I will do with my own money and how I will spend it outside of asking Christ then it shows that he cannot be my true master. It may be that I am more concerned about not being seen as rocking the boat with my Christian faith - if that is so I am becoming a slave to my own self image rather than Christ’s image. But it can be more subtler than that - we can become slaves to the way things are done in church and get very unhappy when anyone changes something - well if that is the case you are no longer living as a free person but are a slave to tradition. A good question to ask oneself is "Is it for Christ or for me.".
But what I’d like to do is open it up to the congregation so that we can share our own perspective on the challenges to today’s Christians. We see that for the Galatians their danger was adding to the gospel of Jesus - and this is what was going to lead them away from simple faith in Jesus - what things do you see as dangers or watch-outs which can enslave us or lead us away from the gospel.
(Get them to discuss in pairs and then feedback)
Paul’s message is simple - don’t go back to where you’ve come from. Now that you’ve come to know Jesus. If we look in verse 8 we can see that these principles are weak - they do not have the power to transform us and miserable - they do not give us the joy that we seek. If we look at this list we can see that the vast majority of these things o are ultimately weak and miserable - they do not have the power to transform and they do not bring lasting joy. O Lord keep our eyes open to all that surround us that they may only dwell upon what is good and true.
How easy it is to forget this is the truth for those who don’t know Jesus. When we see someone what do we see ’This’ or ’This’. Paul’s motivation to share the good news is because he understood their true state. He didn’t see them as simply Fred or Jean or Paul - he saw beyond that and saw that they were slaves to sin who needed to know Jesus - may Paul’s example spur us on not to simply see our friends as needing Jesus not because he will give them nice warm fuzzy feelings but because they are slaves to sin in need of a Saviour.
And so we have stood at the crossroads and we have looked back at the dangers that lie around us - but most importantly we must look forward to what lies ahead - let us not become a Christian who gets caught up in living a moral life - Christianity is far bigger than that - what’s most important is the direction we are heading in and so we move on to our final point ’forward to Christ.’
FORWARD TO THE CHRIST FILLED LIFE
what are we aiming for in the Christian life are you satisified with where you’re at. What’s your goal
A subject close to my heart at the moment is pregnancy - and it’s a subject even closer to my wives heart!! And I want us to spend a few moments thinking about pregnancy (and for all the men in the room - I promise to focus only on pregnancy and none of the birth bits). When people see my wife in the street - they say "You’re pregnant", or they may just think it. Most people see them as being pregnant or not pregnant . And in the same way we can see the Christian life as discrete (a 0 or a 1) saved or not saved. There is some truth in that, even Paul says "formerly you did not know God and know you know God". static But is our purpose to simply be saved is that the sum of the Christian faith. But merely describing pregnancy as being pregnant is a bit bland it doesn’t capture the amazing work that’s going on inside the body In the same way a Christian faith that merely sees us in 1 of 2 states is hardly inspirational. - ,
But there’s another way of looking at pregnancy - and that is to see it as a development that within a body there is a life being formed - an absolutely amazing process is taking place, amazing changes are happening that are miraculous. It’s not simply a case that someone is pregnant but that within them a life is being formed. And here is the most amazing thing - Paul sees the goal of the Christian life as "Christ being formed in us" - see vs. 19. If you are a Christian you are "pregnant" with Christ through the Holy Spirit, and the goal of the Christian life is that the image of Christ be formed in you, and that others may too come to know Jesus and have the image of Christ developed in them. This must be the goal of the Christian life.
God is calling out to us - Let my image be formed in you. becoming a Christian is merely that starting point - in the same way that becoming pregnant is not the goal it is the formation of a new life within, the formation of Christ within the believer.
Where the analogy breaks down is a baby is formed, Christ transforms.
Gal 2:20 Can You see if as a church and as individuals we are not becoming more Christ-like we are failing in our mission. So Jayne you are not on your own in your pregnancy.
You see this is the exciting thing about the Christian life the true content of the Christian gospel is not that we have heaven one day but Christ right now, Christ in you - through the Holy Spirit -
Pregnancy brings joy - yet as Paul reminds the Galatians "What has happened to all your joy". If you are not experiencing joy - and I mean joy (not happiness) - then one has to question whether you have understood that Christ lives in you
"Pregnancy is not to be hidden" - (read vs. 18) - the word zealous means the Galatians are called out for not being simply Christians when Paul is around - "Sunday Christians". They are to live the Christian life 24/7 and how are they to do that through the power of the Holy Spirit living in them.
"Pregnancy involves facing up to the truth". - It can be a painful experience but for Christ to be formed he must take control - the truth can hurt because he will want to grow into areas of our lives that are painful - from vs. 16 Paul says - the Galatians were not always to accept the truth of the gospel - let us not deceive ourselves and fall into the same trip
But how do we do these things
We must have total dependence on the one whom God had sent. The presence of the living Christ, by His Spirit within you gives you everything you need. It is only the Lord Jesus himself who is capable of to living the Christian life. Let me say that again - and that is why he dwells in you through the Spirit.
Yet often we can be an enslaved Christian - they have become a Christian and received the Holy Spirit, yet ignore His presence and struggles to live the Christian life another way, Tries to live the Christian life as though Christ were not there within. He feels tired, worn out, frustrated Gal 2:20. The Christian life is an exchanged life -
Are you letting Christ be formed in you or is the goal or fuel for your life something else. Trust Jesus now to live His resurrection life through you while you are on this earth in your body, and thank him that he is your victory he is your strength and that he is your future , and that he is all you can ever need at any time in any circumstances. There is the weak and miserable way or the power filled joyous way of living the Christian life. You can see the Christian life as simply making it to heaven - I’ve got my ticket and am waiting for the train, or you can jump on the train and get going on the adventure of seeing Christ formed in you and praying for Christ to be formed in others.
So we stand at the crossroads together and which way will we take - the sake of the true gospel depends on it - Paul is calling Christians to stay the course and to let Christ grow and form in them through His Spirit. The Christian life is a life of change and transformation - the journey is not over yet so let us press on that in the words of John the Baptist that "He may increase and I may decrease"
