This Present Evil Age: Galatians 1:3-5
“3) Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4) who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5) to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.” Galatians 1:3-5
As Paul continues his greeting to the churches in the region of Galatia, he extends grace and peace to them from both God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for our sins.
But now I must emphasize that Jesus gave Himself for the purpose of “delivering” or “rescuing us from this present evil age.” Though Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8) and purchase our salvation(John 3:16), He did not remove Satan from his office of “the god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:3-4) Satan is still in his role as deceiver, tempter and prince of the power of the air. This age is still evil and Spiritual Warfare is a reality.
According to Ephesians 6:10-20, I would argue that every child of God is called to be a soldier for Christ “in this present evil age.” Galatians chapters five and six adds much insight to our call to freedom and the challenge to walk in the Spirit rather than the flesh.
The kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness are locked in tense conflict with one another. Make no mistake that evil is relentless and demonic forces are at work today in “this present evil age.”
The front of the battle Paul was fighting in the book of Galatians was for the pure message of the gospel. As we shall see in the next section, Satan works hard to confuse and distort the gospel message. Why? Because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes! (See Romans 1:16 and 1 Corinthians 1:18)
If the gospel is distorted and salvation through faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross is watered down, people will forever be held in bondage to sin and Satan. If we loose the pure gospel message, we loose the war in this present evil age.
The average Christian has no understanding of the plans for evil that Satan has in “this present evil age.” Grace and peace are only possible through the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Satan does not fear religion. It is his ploy to keep people separated from Christ and slaves to sin. Stay tune as Paul launches into an intense battle for the gospel.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
