I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Galatians 1:11,12
As a kid, we had great big family parties every Christmas and Easter. Every year it was the same people, at the same houses, starting at the same time, eating the same food. It was great!
And every time we got together, our aunts and uncles would tell the same stories. They’d talk about their really hard life during the depression. They’d remember how they became migrant farmers early in the spring, leaving the safety of their home and traveling all over to pick strawberries, green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, corn. Doing whatever they could to earn enough money to get them through the rest of the year.
And you know what. We never got tired of hearing those stories. They were burned into our memories and became a part of us. In a real way, they described who we were. Where we came from. And even helped set the stage of where we were going.
Since Paul is their spiritual daddy, he wants to tell them again about their spiritual family and history. He wants to remind the Galatians, again and again, about their faith in Jesus. They had heard and were convinced about Jesus, giving their lives to him.
When he says brothers and sisters, he’s not coming in to blow them up to bits, or even to smack them around a little. Just the opposite, he’s saying that they are related. Not just as grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-great-great uncle twice removed. They are siblings in and through God.
God the Father – Chose us. It’s his eternal plan to save us because of who he is, not what we’ve done, making us his children. He’s in charge of it all; Ephesians 1:3-6[1]
God the Son – Comes for us. Jesus does all the work of restoring us back to God; paying for our sins, adoption into Gods family, changing us and taking us to live with God forever; Ephesians 1:7-12[2]
God the Holy Spirit – Changes us. He come in and lives inside us, putting his mark of ownership on us, convicting us of sin, giving us power to live every day for him, changing us, making us more and more into the image of Jesus; Ephesians 1:13,14[3].
Spiritually speaking, they have the same mom and dad. They have the same heritage. They grew up together in the faith. They came from the same womb. How much closer can you get.
And this faith isn’t something that a bunch of people got together and made up. It’s way too different from anything that anyone could have come up with. It’s so strange that no one could have invented this.
We see Paul’s humility here. He’s not taking credit for coming up with this. He’s reminding them that he received this. It’s not his idea. And he didn’t get it from just another teacher or prophet. He’s saying the source is God directly.
When Paul received the revelation, it’s like God opened a curtain on the stage of eternity to reveal his plan and actions. God’s way of saving you and me is something that we’d never, ever be able to figure out on our own. It’s so far above us that if we were to noodle on it for all time, we’d still come up short.
It wasn’t that Paul made an appointment with Jesus, and then asked questions. Paul didn’t meet with Jesus. Just the opposite, Jesus met with Paul. Paul wouldn’t know the first thing to ask. Jesus opened the conversation. Jesus did all the revealing. Jesus did all the explaining. Jesus did all the talking.
But it’s more than just Jesus speaking to Paul. Jesus is more than the one who says the words of God. He is God and he’s the one who did it all.
Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.
Hebrews 12:2 GNT
It's the same with our coming to God. We didn’t go up to heaven, Jesus did the coming from heaven to earth. We didn’t do any of the work, Jesus all the work. We couldn’t lift a finger to get back to God, Jesus did all the heavy lifting. We couldn’t work or earn anything towards salvation, Jesus did all the paying for all our sins.
Jesus is the one and only source for getting back to God. He’s the only one who can fill that gaping hole in our soul. He’s the source for life eternal, and he’s right here. Available to fill, heal, restore, give peace.
Noodling Questions
Describe some stories that are repeated in your family.
How do you know that Christianity is not something made-up by people?
How does Jesus give you peace in the middle of everyday life?
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