1-2 Paul, an apostle - not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead - and all the brothers who are with me. 3-5 To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen. Galatians 1:1-5 (From English Standard Version)

We start a new book of the Bible today, which I'm told was Martin Luther's favourite book. He was one of the men God used to bring the Church back to the Bible's true message after many years of misleading teaching. If that was the case, as we go through Galatians we will soon see why it meant a lot to him. In the very first two verses to Christians living in the region of what today is known as Turkey, the apostle Paul states an important point which he will develop as the chapter continues. What did he want those Christians to know about himself? (vs 1-2)

He reminded them that he had not become an apostle because of what other men had told him about the gospel, or who had suggested he ‘should become a preacher’, but because he had experienced a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. That encounter is described in the Bible in the book of Acts Chapter 9. So Paul, rightly, considered himself to have been appointed by God to be a messenger of Jesus. But notice how he doesn’t therefore put himself above others. He says this letter was from himself, 'and all the brothers who are with me'. He wasn’t arrogant or domineering, but extremely humble. Keep in mind that God used Paul to write over a quarter of the New Testament.

The other point that struck me in the greeting Paul gives to the Galatian believers, is that he starts by putting the gospel he is going to speak to them about in a nutshell. (I.e. he says something very clearly in a few words. Oh that those of us who preach could take that to heart!) What do you pick out concerning the gospel from vs 3-5?

Firstly, it is a message that comes from God's mercy and kindness, and not something we deserved because of how nice we were. That's what grace is all about. Secondly, because it comes from God, it is a message that brings true peace to people's lives. Not the flimsy peace that people find in the world when life is going well and the bank account looks good, but a peace that will carry them through life's darkest tunnels, and eventually through death.

And then we see that at the heart of the gospel is the sacrificial and substitutionary work of Jesus Christ. He SACRIFICED Himself - for OUR sins. This wasn't to ‘twist the Father's arm’ into showing us grace, for Paul says Christ did what He did “according to the will of our God and Father.” So the gospel is a message of God's amazing kindness and love to people hopelessly lost in sin, and who only deserve God’s condemnantion. And this love was demonstrated in an unmistakable way through Jesus Christ.

And the aim, or goal, of the gospel message was ‘to deliver people from this present evil age’. The word deliver means to rescue someone, or to set them free. It's why Christians speak of 'being saved'. Paul describes all that was going on in the world as 'an evil age'. He wasn't saying that God's creation is ugly – we know the world is full of wonderful and beautiful things - but he was saying that, through sin, men and women have filled the earth with terrible thoughts and terrible deeds. The message of the gospel brings men and women out of lifestyles that are abhorrent to God. This rescue will reach it's final glory when Jesus returns.

So the gospel in a nutshell is about the grace and peace that comes from God, the substitute sacrifice Jesus made for sinners, and the rescue of people from the evil that is so present in the world. No wonder Paul ends his greeting with the words “to whom be the glory for ever and ever.” No wonder, too, that John Newton, a blaspheming sailor who'd been involved in the slave trade, described how the gospel had saved him by writing the words: “Amazing grace - how sweet the sound - that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.”