Galatians 1:1

Galatians 1:1 Galatians 1:1—Paul, an apostle---but not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the Dead— When Paul states to believers that he is an Apostle it is more than just simply saying, “Josh Martin, youth minster”. The age of the apostles was an incredible time. There are some today who believe that the apostolic age has never ended, but I would disagree. If you press me I will give reason why, but that is not the goal for today. The term apostle simply means “messenger” or “one who is sent”. An apostle is one who gets sent by someone or some organization to do a particular task or deliver a certain message. In one sense, we could say that during the 60’s Adlai Stevenson was an apostle of John F. Kennedy. Adlai Stevenson was the press secretary for the president. Adlai was given a message to give to the press about the Cuban Missile Crisis. Adlai would be an apostle in this sense because he was sent out to deliver a message. We do not use this term often because when we refer to the word apostle we are talking about the Apostles sent out by Jesus. This is what Paul is getting at right from the start of his letter to the Galatians. Paul states that he is an apostle, but—he is not an ordinary messenger. He states the he is not an apostle sent “from men nor through man”. He does not want to be classified as one who was simply sent as we would send off missionaries today. He doesn’t want to be classified with those whom the church may send for a particular reason. The message that Paul was carrying was the message that makes up most of the New Testament. When Paul wrote to the Galatians he claims to be writing the very words of God! This is not an ordinary messenger! This is the one who brings the message of Salvation to the Gentiles. Paul was the direct avenue for sharing this gospel with the Galatians. Praise God for sending us such a messenger! Paul speaks of being given the stewardship of God’s grace for the Ephesians and how this was given to the apostles and not just anyone (Ephesians 3:1-5). He also tells that this is all of God’s grace and not by any credentials that he possessed. The apostles sent out by Jesus were not sent in the same way that we are sent. The foundation of the God’s household is the Apostles with Jesus Christ as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20). Something that may seem out of place but holds great significance is the last part of verse1. “Who raised him from the dead” seems at first like added information. What does this have to do with the rest of his greeting to the Galatians? Why throw those words in the sentence? First of all, a risen Christ is very important to Paul. It is important to all who are in Christ, but for Paul, it was a visual (or should I say blinding) reality. Paul was converted after Christ had risen. Paul was not speaking as one who had faith only, but as one who had witnessed first hand that Christ had risen. He did not walk alongside Jesus like the other Apostles and this proved to be a point of contention for many people because Paul was not ordained to the office of apostle while Christ was a mortal. To deny the authority that Paul exercised would be to deny power of the resurrected Christ. Secondly, Paul recognizes the fact that Christ is supreme over all things and wants to state that from the start. Paul was exclaiming that he was sent by the supreme authority and that his words should be taken as directly from that authority. Through his resurrection, Christ proved that all things are subject to him—even death. There is not one thing that happens in life that is not under the authority of God. The same God who sends food and famine, sun and rain, tsunamis and drought, life and death, the God who gives and takes away is the same God who is speaking through Paul. His words are not to be taken lightly. I believe that Paul addresses the resurrection here so that all who read would know that these words are to be the authority to which we answer. All things are subject to him without exception. So the question that we will look at every week until we are through this book is—So What? Why does this matter? This matters because the same Christ who made Paul an Apostle and rose from the dead is the same Christ who has called us by name unto Salvation. Therefore, we must gain from this verse that the words of Paul are not only words from Paul. Many will write off the letters of Paul and the theology he taught because they do not believe them to be the word of God. We will see in the coming weeks Paul’s own defense for why His words are from God. Heed the words of God as they have come from Christ through this apostle. They are authoritative. They are inerrant and infallible. They are the very words of God.