Gospel Greetings

Well, Happy New Year. It's good to see you all here. Glad that you have joined us this morning for worship.

! It's good to gather together in God's house.

You know, I've been reflecting as we move to the new year on the fact that it's now been 23 years that I've been able to be a part of Trinity as a church.

And it's been pretty amazing to see what God has done in the last 20 years as we've seen God renew and revitalize this new season that's been going on in this last year.

If you don't know, Trinity started in 1973, but there was a turning point after a decline in the 90s and in the last 20 years.

It's been a beautiful thing to see what God has done in our church.

And I've been blessed to be part of the leadership, the servant leadership for that church for most of it.

And we have, as the leaders, wrestled.

Because young churches have lots of things to think about.

We think about leadership structure. We think about programming decisions.

We think about caring for children and families and seniors.

Service planning, ministry priorities, building and physical plant, and so on and so forth.

And it's been a blessing to see how God has worked in the midst of all those things.

And my prayer is that God would continue to do this in our church.

But, you know, as you wrestled through, as you think through that list, as we have wrestled through, there's always been a danger.

That the pressures and the urgency and the challenges of those decisions could cause us to lose sight of what is central to the church.

What is central to what God has called us to, and to allow these other things to become, in fact, our practical center.

We make these decisions under the aegis of what our church needs.

We wrestle and even fight over what we need to do.

We fall into the trap of thinking, if only we had X program or XY personnel or Z priority, then we would finally be the church that we think we should be.

I don't know about you, but this isn't a problem only in our church, isn't it?

It also can be a problem in our own spiritual lives, isn't it?

It's a new year.

It's a great time to review and think, how do I want to grow this year?

Maybe you're a spiritual seeker and you're thinking, I don't know whether God exists.

What do I want to do to pursue that this year?

Maybe you've been a Christian for a while and you're thinking, what am I going to do this year?

New devotional practices or spiritual disciplines that are going to get me to the next step or the next level.

Maybe there are new patterns of obedience that I need to lean into in tithing or fasting or giving or evangelism or serving the poor or whatever it is.

Maybe you have new reading lists and strategies of growing in theology and biblical knowledge.

New curricula are things to do.

Now look, just like with the church, in our own personal lives, these are good things for us to think about.

These are not unimportant things.

These are not meaningless things.

They are good for us to think about, both our personal lives and in our church.

But they are not the center.

And this brings us to our passage this morning.

We are going to begin a series in the book of Galatians.

And we're going to start today in Galatians and do it through most of the spring.

And we're going to be introducing the book over the next couple of weeks.

Because if you read ahead, you will see that the context and the reality of what's going on in the church of Galatia

is the content of the first two chapters of the book in many ways.

So I'm not going to spend a lot of time on the background today.

I will simply say this, the Galatians was probably one of the first letters that Paul wrote.

And he was writing to a church that he had planted, that he was involved in starting as he preached the gospel

in the region of Galatia in what is now modern Turkey.

And this early church had been navigating questions.

What do we believe and how do we practice it and how do we live it out?

And it seems that in the midst of it, they had lost their center.

And so Paul reminds them.

He writes to remind them and to teach them what the center must be.

So this morning, we're just going to look at the greeting.

Verses 1 through 5 of chapter 1 in Galatians 1.

In many ways, it's a normal greeting that could be summarized.

Paul and the brothers with him to the church in Galatia, grace and peace to you.

But you'll see as we read it that he fills that out with a few other comments along the way.

And in fact, in those comments, we will see his opening salvo of teaching

about what is meant to be at the center of the church.

So, page 913, if you're looking at it in a few Bibles,

we're going to read Galatians chapter 1, verses 1 through 5.

Galatians 1:1–5

Let's read along together.

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.

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 glory forever and ever.

Amen.

Please pray with me as we look at God's Word.

Lord, we thank you for this new year.

We thank you for this new series.

Lord, we thank you for your Word,

which is not new at all,

but in fact has stood for years and centuries,

Lord, as your revelation to us.

And Lord, I pray for your help this morning.

I pray that you would help me to speak clearly your Word.

I pray that your Spirit would enable me.

Lord, I pray for all of us,

that our hearts would be willing to receive your Word.

Lord, that our minds would be enabled to understand it.

And Lord, that you would move our will,

Lord, to respond in obedience.

Lord, to love what you love

and to do what you have called us to do.

We pray these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

So friends, this is not rocket science.

The center of the church is the gospel of God.

The gospel originates with God.

The gospel centers on God's saving work in Jesus.

And the gospel's goal is the glory of God.

So if you're taking notes, there's your outline.

We'll look at the gospel originates with God.

The gospel centers on God's saving work in Jesus.

And the gospel goal is God's glory.

And the gospel of God, that is,

this is the good news that we proclaim.

This is the very core.

This is what we say we are all about.

When we say we're about a gospel,

it is some kind of good news.

But we need to make sure we get that good news

properly oriented, right?

And as you've seen from this,

part of what we will see is that the good news

that Paul exhorts us to embrace

focuses on God.

So let's look at it through that lens.

So first, in chapter, in verses one and two,

the gospel originates with God.

Paul, in his greeting, calls himself an apostle.

This is common.

It's in most of his letters.

An apostle at one level simply means someone who is sent.

So the Evangelical Dictionary of the New Testament

says that an apostle is some authorized as a messenger

and representative of the crucified and risen Lord

to bring the gospel to the churches.

This is the particular role that Paul had,

that the 12 had,

the 12 who were the followers of Jesus during his life.

They are a unique group in history.

But this is what Paul has.

He identifies himself and says,

this is who I am, right?

Now, we might read today the New Testament

and think Paul is an organizational leader.

He's an innovator.

He's a church planter.

He's someone who built and shaped the work

with strategies and plans.

And he did all of those things, true.

But for Paul, when he talks about what he did,

he said, this is the most important thing

I want you to know.

I am not an apostle by my own choice.

I'm not an apostle because other people told me

that I should be an apostle.

I am an apostle because of God, right?

Not from man, not through man,

but through Jesus Christ and God the Father.

Paul wants us to know that his ministry

is all about God, God's call and God's will

who sent him.

It wasn't because Barnabas took him under his wing.

It wasn't because James and Peter

gave their seal of approval.

But it was because God had done it.

Do you remember how Paul describes

his experience of God's call on his life?

This is from Acts chapter 26, verses 15 through 18,

Acts 26:15–18

as Paul is explaining where he comes from.

He says this.

He had this encounter with Jesus

as he was going to persecute the Christians.

And I'm going to shorten the passage

and just pick up here.

And he says, and I, that is Paul.

And I said, who are you, Lord?

And the Lord said, I am Jesus,

whom you are persecuting.

But rise and stand on your feet,

for I have appeared to you for this purpose,

to appoint you as a servant and witness

to the things in which you have seen me

and to those in which I will appear to you,

delivering you from your people

and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you,

to open their eyes so that they may turn

from darkness to light and from the power

of Satan to God,

that they may receive forgiveness of sins

and a place among those who are sanctified

by faith in me.

See, Paul had this amazing experience.

If you don't know the story,

Paul was a persecutor of the church

and God appeared to him miraculously.

Jesus appeared to him and struck him blind.

And there's a whole story,

and I couldn't expand the whole thing

because we'd be here all day

just talking about that part.

But God intervened in his life to say,

I am calling you in this unique and special role

to take the gospel to people who haven't heard it.

And what Paul wants to remind the Galatians

and us this morning

is that the origin of his gospel

was not his best ideas or his plans,

but it was God.

It was God who gave him that message,

and it was God who gave him that commission

to proclaim it.

And it's interesting, too,

if you notice at the end of verse 1,

that he goes on to say,

it's not just any God,

but it's a particular God.

It's an amazing God, right?

It's a God who raised Jesus from the dead.

Right?

Why is this important?

Because Paul is saying

that the message that I'm preaching

is about a God who intervened

in space-time history.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

actually happened.

If there had been movie cameras in that day,

or security cameras,

or whatever it would have been,

they could have actually filmed

the resurrection of Jesus Christ

because it actually happened.

It's not just an idea.

It's not just a metaphor

for some hopeful new thing,

but it actually physically happened

in space-time history.

And Paul says,

my ministry of the gospel

originated from a God

who interceded and acted

in real life today.

Now, this is important in our culture,

is it not?

We live in a relativistic,

pluralistic culture

where religion is generally viewed

as one truth among many.

Religion has been relegated

to private and experiential beliefs.

That's good for you.

I'm glad you hold…

I'm glad you've had that experience.

I'm glad you think those things

because I'm glad it's helpful for you.

And religion has been really brought down

to a level of psychological help

of some sort,

that it's somehow useful for us

regardless of whether it's true.

But Paul reminds us,

even in this very beginning salvo,

that the Bible,

the gospel of the Bible

challenges that worldview.

It says that this is a historically verifiable God

who acted in time-space history,

right?

That the God of the Bible

has revealed Himself

in a person who you could touch,

who you could talk to

if you were alive in the first century,

and whom we have a historical account,

not merely a mythological tale,

to tell about who He is

when we talk about Jesus.

And as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15,

if Christ wasn't raised from the dead,

if this is all just a great myth,

then we are the most to be pitied

because we are fools,

because we have staked our hope

on something that is not actually true.

But Paul says,

no, it is true.

And the gospel that I preach

did not come from me

or from any other human being.

It came from God.

But he says more, does he not,

as he goes on in verses 3 and 4.

It doesn't only originate with God,

but it focuses on God and God's work.

The gospel centers on Jesus' saving work.

So this is verses 3 and 4,

and we see this normal greeting,

grace and peace,

which would be a common greeting in Greek

in that time.

So it doesn't necessarily

have great meaning,

but Paul fills it with great meaning

by expanding on

what those terms mean

in light of the Christian gospel.

Right?

Grace, that is,

the true meaning of it is

undeserved favor,

and peace with God

is a result of God's work

in Jesus Christ

who gave himself for our sins

and to deliver us

from this present evil age.

Do you see how this greeting

that could have just been,

hey, grace and peace to you,

I wish you well,

and moving on,

he says, no, no, no.

Grace and peace to you

because God has worked

in this world.

This is the very core

of the gospel,

that Jesus came to give his life

for the sins of human beings,

of your sin and my sin.

He came as a substitute

to take our place

in dying for our sin.

He came as a sacrifice,

dying to pay the penalty of death,

the wages of sin

that we deserved.

He bore our sins

so that Jesus,

or so that God the Father

could forgive our sin.

This is the great exchange

that Jesus gave himself for us.

He gave his righteousness,

he gave his life

to us

and took upon himself

our sin,

our death,

our judgment

that we deserve.

And so grace and peace

is not just a formality here,

but an incredibly rich greeting.

God has worked

so that you might know

the grace of God

because of what Jesus did.

God has worked

so that you might have

peace with God

because the enmity,

the broken relationship

that you have broken

because of your sin,

God has dealt with

at the cross

finally

and fully

and completely.

He doesn't just do this

so that we can be forgiven

of our sin

and restored to a relationship

with God,

but also,

as it says,

to deliver us

from this present evil age.

Now again,

we could preach

a whole sermon

on what the New Testament

is talking about

in terms of the ages,

but let me give you

a brief summary,

right?

The Bible

and particularly

the New Testament

talks about

the gospel is coming

to bring a transfer

of ages.

We live now

in this present evil age

and we all know

that we live in it

because you open the news

every day

and we see

we live in a terrible age.

All sorts of terrible things happen

and when we go home,

when we go to bed at night

and in the stillness

of our hearts,

we look into our own hearts

and we realize

this present evil age

isn't just out there,

but it's in my own heart.

I too am full

of all sorts of sin

and darkness,

of pride

and pettiness

and anger

and frustration

and envy.

Where sin and death

still reign in humanity,

this is the present evil age

and our hearts

are in captivity

to these dark powers.

But Jesus came

and died on the cross

and rose from the dead

to defeat sin and death,

to defeat those things

so that He might transfer us

from the kingdom

of this present age

to the age

of His beloved Son,

to the coming age

that is the kingdom of God.

Right?

And here's the amazing thing

about it.

When Jesus came into the world,

He inaugurated that.

Right?

He said,

the kingdom of God

is among you.

And the beginning,

the in-breaking

of this new age

is still happening now

through the church,

through the preaching

of the gospel,

as human hearts

are transformed

by the message

of good news

that in Jesus

we can be forgiven

of our sin,

that through repentance

and faith

we can be transformed

and begin to live

not as slaves

to this present evil age anymore,

but in a new life

that we have with God

that will stretch

to all eternity.

Right?

And we know

that we're still waiting

for the fullness of this.

Right?

We know

that this deliverance

is still a future thing

in its fullness,

but the core of it

and the kernel of it

has already happened.

And for those

who have placed

their faith in Christ,

for those who have known

the renewing,

the spiritual rebirth

that comes,

we are already

a part of this age to come

that is no longer

dominated by sin and death,

but instead

by joy

and by eternal life

with God.

This is the good news

of the gospel.

This is what God

has done for us.

And when Paul says,

grace and peace to you,

and I want to remind you

what that's about.

It's about what God

has done for us

in Jesus Christ.

Now,

it's worth us thinking

for a few minutes

how easily we might

get the gospel wrong.

because we see that

as we keep reading

Galatians,

the Galatians are getting

their gospel wrong,

right?

In that context,

right,

in the early,

in the first century

where Christianity

was coming out of Judaism

in a significant way,

there was a huge discussion

in the early church

about how does

the work of Jesus

relate to the Old Testament

and the Old Testament law.

And there were some

who were saying,

yeah,

Jesus is great,

but we still need

to keep the law.

We still need to be

doing this thing.

So circumcision,

dietary laws,

and ritual separation

from those who are unclean,

we have to keep doing

those things in order

to be saved,

in order to be God's people.

Now,

I'm just going to put

a pause there

because that's what

the next two chapters

are about in Galatians.

So come back next week

and you'll hear

all the answers

to why that's not

the gospel.

But know that Paul

is saying

that is not the gospel.

It's unlikely

that many of us

here today

are thinking,

oh, yeah,

I need to keep

my dietary laws.

I don't know

if I should have

had that lobster

last weekend

or whatever.

It's unlikely

that that would be

our version

of misunderstanding

the gospel.

But here are two ways

that I think

maybe are a lot closer

to home

that we might

misunderstand the gospel.

The first one

is that

I think

in our context

many would say

that

in order to be

right with God

we just need

to be a good person.

If we're good enough

God will accept us.

If we're generally

better than the people

around us

who are,

you know,

if we think

we're meeting

some general standard

of goodness

isn't that enough?

And even

in the church

where we acknowledge

God

we just think

God wants me

to be a good person

and that's what

it means

to know Him

and to follow Him.

But friends,

do you see

why this is not

the gospel of God?

First,

because it denies

the reality

of human sinfulness

that our hearts

are

inescapably

wicked

and rebellious

against God

and have broken

our relationship

with God

and are unable

to restore it

on our own.

We do not have

the righteousness

in and of ourselves

or goodness

enough to overcome

our sinfulness

in order to have

fellowship

with a holy God.

But secondly,

because it places

the weight

of our salvation

on us.

I have to be good.

I have to be good enough.

And the most crushing thing

is when you think

you're a good person

and then you do

something bad.

You know those NBA players

who get tossed

out of a game

because they do

something terribly egregious?

They like haul off

and punch someone

and then after the game

what do they say?

I'm really sorry,

that wasn't me.

No,

it was you.

It was you

at your worst.

And that's true

for all of us.

We will never

buy our

good enough.

Attempts to be

good enough people

be able to save

ourselves from sin.

Only in Christ

can we do it.

So that's one version

that I think is common

in our culture broadly

is that we think

the gospel is

if you're a good enough person

God will think

okay, you're okay.

There can be

an even more

and I'll use this word

carefully

evangelical.

By that I mean

the part of the

Protestant church

generally that holds

to the Bible

as authoritative

that holds to

salvation by grace alone.

Even in churches

that would say

yes, Jesus died

on the cross

for my sins.

We often can fall

into believing

that the gospel

is that when we

believe in Jesus

enough

that will save us.

Right?

If

if I wake up

one day

and I'm like

oh my faith

is really weak

I don't know

if I'm really saved.

I'm struggling today.

My devotions

were really bad.

My belief

I don't know.

I'm really

I'm just feeling

weak today.

And there's some

of us

who would

who have heard

the message

saying well

you just need

to believe more.

You need to

really believe.

Come on

muster up

that energy

and that faith

to have more

devotion

and more

commitment

and we might

follow this through

with a burst

of new

spiritual disciplines

and new

obedience

and new

things.

And again

none of those

things are bad

in and of themselves

but if we think

that this

new

new fervor

is going to say

oh now I know

that I'm saved

we need to be

very very careful

about this

because it is not

the strength

of our faith

that saves us

but the object

of our faith

that saves us.

This is what

Paul is reminding

us of

in this passage.

It is about

what God

has done

and Jesus

Christ

has done

everything

that is sufficient

for our salvation.

Jesus has done

everything

through his

death and

resurrection

and we

merely

receive this

by faith.

And even

this friends

is a gift.

Right?

Ephesians 2

8 and 9

For by grace

you have been

saved through

faith

and this is not

your own doing.

It is the gift

of God

not a result

of works

so that no one

may boast.

Do you see

how God

centered

Paul's

understanding

of the gospel

is?

It's about

what God

has done

in Jesus Christ

and even

we can only

believe it

because God

is at work

in us

giving us

faith

to believe

these things.

Paul's focus

and ours

must be

on God

in the midst

of it.

And this

leads to

the very end

of our passage

does it not?

Our very last

point

which is

the gospel

goal

is the glory

of God.

Paul ends

his greetings

in verse 5

with

to whom

be glory

forever

and ever.

Amen.

Now this

is religious

speak

at the highest

level.

This is stuff

that we

can throw

around.

If you've

grown up

in church

or read

scripture

you throw

this around

like it's

popcorn.

It's cheap

but for Paul

it's unique.

This is the

only greeting

in which

he pointed

to the

glory of

God

in this

way

in his

very

greeting

and he

wants us

as he

wanted the

Galatian

church

to turn

their hearts

and their

eyes

to put

God

in the

center.

God

is the

goal of

the gospel

that his

glory

would be

seen.

His glory

being the

manifold

expressions

of his

beauty

and majesty

and greatness

that these

would be

displayed

and they

would be

seen by

us

and responded

to by

worship

by praise

by obedience

by all the

things that we

are called

to do

to live out

our lives

as God's

people

but we

do this

in response

to and

in order

to bring

glory to

him

so that

he may

be the

center

of it.

Right?

In Paul's

mind

God is

always

the lead

character

in the

story

God

is always

the sun

around which

the planets

orbit

in their

paths

God

is always

the monarch

who reigns

and who is

the center

of the

kingdom

and whose

name is

praised

in his

realm

God

is the

one

for

whom

it is

worth

counting

all things

as loss

for the

sake

of knowing

him

and being

found

in him

not having

a righteousness

of our

own

but having

that which

comes

through faith

in Jesus

as Paul

says in

Philippians

3

and friends

we need

to be

aware

of how

much

our

heart

resists

this

the human

heart

always

wants

to put

us

in the

center

it is

the very

core

of what

happened

in the

garden

of Eden

when Adam

and Eve

were tempted

with the

thought

you could

be like

God

you could

de-center

God

from the

center

from the

middle

of everything

and put

yourself

there

instead

and they

succumbed

to it

and friends

we do

this every

day

I'm sure

you've heard

this example

before

but you know

those conversations

you have

in your

mind

where you

are having

an argument

with someone

you always

win

right

you always

win

you always

say the

right thing

that's our

human heart

putting ourselves

in the

center

if you've

ever had

a roommate

or a spouse

or a child

you know

that someone

else

invading

your

universe

challenges

your

centeredness

and so

we fight

over

whatever

how the

dishwasher

is loaded

or how

late

we get

to stay

up

or whatever

it is

why do

we do

this

because

we

are so

prone

to be

the

center

of our

worlds

Paul

reminds us

that we

were created

in a world

where God

was the

center

where God

is the

center

and we

were created

to find

our place

as his

creation

to glorify

him

to see

his beauty

and the beauty

of his

creation

and to reflect

back to him

through praise

and worship

the glory

that he

deserves

and most

of all

in the

storyline

of the

Bible

through the

gospel

because this

is the

place where

we see

his glory

most fully

presented

not in

creation

but in

redemption

where Jesus

Christ

the son

of God

took on

human form

walked on

this earth

to be

our savior

who went

to the

cross

to die

for us

who was

then raised

from the

dead

this is

where the

glory of

God

is most

fully seen

and it's

not about

us at

all

it is

for us

but it's

not about

us

it's about

God

and his

love

and his

action

in Jesus

Christ

for us

and friends

in light

of this

then

a truly

gospel

centered

church

is a

God

centered

church

that sees

everything

like John

the Baptist

we must

decrease

so that

God

would

increase

in

our

hearts

in our

relationships

in our

church

life

in our

witness to

the community

and to

our world

oh

Trinity

may we

be such

a church

that the

gospel

may be

our

center

and that

God

would be

glorified

in us

let's

pray

Lord we

are thankful

to you

this morning

that you

have not

left us

that you

have not

left us

in the

small

and

pitiful

place

of putting

ourselves

in the

center

Lord for

it is

an

unbearable

weight

but Lord

you have

called

us

and Lord

you have

worked

for us

and you

have revealed

yourself

so that

we might

be restored

to you

oh Lord

we pray

that we

might be

truly

a gospel

centered

church

that you

would be

glorified

in our

midst

we pray

this in

Jesus name

amen