This morning we’re beginning a new series together.  Over the next few Sundays we’re going to be looking at Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

Galatia was a Roman province.  It had been subjugated by the Romans under Pompey.  Galatia is located in what is today central Turkey.

Paul’s first missions trip took him through Galatia to cities such as Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium.  God used Paul to spread the gospel there - to establish churches in different cities.  Paul’s letter to the Galatians isn’t written to just one church in one city but to all the believers in the whole province of Galatia.

The theme of Paul’s letter is summed up in Galatians 5:1 - a theme that we’re going to be exploring together - as we look at Paul’s letter.  Would you read this out loud with me?  We’ll get this planted in our mind.  “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

Paul is writing to who?  Galatian Christians.  Which should make us pause and ponder what that means for us.  This reminder and warning is written to followers of Jesus - the believers in Galatia.  Galatians who have come to faith in Jesus - who’s desire is to follow Him.

The reminder is what Jesus has done for us.  Jesus has set us free.  We’re going to explore more of what that means for us as we go along in Galatians.  But the bottom line is our need to remember that Jesus has set us free.

The warning is that we need to stand firm - to not submit again to the yoke of slavery.  We’re going to explore more of what that warning means for us as we go through Galatians.  But the bottom line is to grab onto that warning for ourselves.  Stand firm - live free - because even followers of Jesus can live as slaves.

Let’s be honest.  For most of us - maybe for all of us - even as Christians - there are times - maybe a lot of times - when we aren’t standing so firm - when we aren’t living so free.

Some of our Creekside women are involved in a Bible study on Friday nights.  A study written by Beth Moore - entitled “Breaking Free.”

In that study Beth Moore writes this:  “A Christian is held captive by anything that hinders the abundant and effective Spirit-filled life God planned for him or her.”

Freedom for a follower of Jesus is huge.

For a Christian - freedom - is living set free from the penalty for our sin - set free from bondage - from slavery to sin.  Freedom is living life with God - the abundant Spirit-filled life that Jesus talked about - experiencing deep contentment and joy and confidence in our everyday life with God - now and forever.

We desire freedom.  We desire that life.  True?  How free are you living?

Daily each of us struggles against sin.  That daily struggle - desiring freedom - but struggling against where we’ve come from - set free but struggling against what may bind us to the crud of this world - what may pull us into sin.

That’s what Paul is writing about here in Galatians.  What we’re going explore together as we go through this letter.

We’ve been set free.  We need to live free.  Set Free.  Live Free.  Share this with the person next to you.  “We’re set free.  Let’s live free.”

Turn with me back to Galatians 1 - starting at verse 1.  Look with me at how Paul opens up his letter to the Galatians.  Let’s read this out loud together and then we’ll come back and unpack what Paul’s written.

Verse 1:  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 the glory forever and ever.  Amen.

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, so now I say again:  If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

In verse 3 Paul opens with two major themes in Scripture - two words that are huge in Paul’s writings.  Which are what?  Grace and peace.  Let’s say those together, “Grace and peace.”

He doesn’t waste ink.  There’s significance in Paul opening with those two themes.  We need to make sure we’re grabbing the depth of what Paul is getting at here.

Bob Deffinbaugh - who is a pastor/teacher - shares about a friend of his who had bought a new sports car.  Early one morning he was driving in a remotely populated part of Oklahoma when he decided to find out just how fast the car would go.  The speedometer was easing its way past 160 as the he reached the top of a small rise.  Just beyond, a highway patrolman was waiting.  A law-abiding citizen - he slammed on the brakes - slid past the officer at 150 miles per hour - and stopped some distance down the road.

Before long, the officer caught up and stood beside the sleek convertible Jaguar. “Do you have any idea how fast you were going?” he asked.  “Well, roughly,” was the deliberately evasive reply.  “One hundred sixty-three miles per hour!” the officer specified.  “That’s about what I thought,”

Guilt was obvious.  He could only wait to discover what this fiasco was going to cost.  He meekly waited for the officer to proceed.  To his amazement the patrolman asked, “Would you mind if I took a look at that engine?”

The fine points of high performance automobiles cannot be discussed quickly, so both men went on to a coffee shop where they could talk further.  A while later, both of the men shook hands and went their separate ways.  No ticket.

That’s a great illustration of grace.  Isn’t it?  Forgiveness instead of a justified penalty.

Have you heard this?  Grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  Which does help us to understand what grace looks like - receiving forgiveness instead of the penalty for our sin.

But that’s still not the depth of what Paul is getting at. 

Paul writes that grace comes from God.  Grace is a part of the character of God.  It’s a description of who God is.  God is grace.  Which means that there are depths of what grace is that we just can’t process. 

But God is the God who is grace and who desires for us to know His grace.  God defines grace - displays grace - on the cross of Christ.  Grace is not a part of God’s plan of salvation.  Salvation is a display of God’s grace.  God in His sovereignty choosing to make known to us His grace to us.

Paul writes that peace comes from God.

Look at human history and conflict is pretty consistent.  Right?

Sometimes we don’t have to look farther than our own families - or our own hearts.  The events of this world can rob us of peace.  We constantly struggle to feel safe, less anxious, more in control of our lives.  We wonder what will happen to our families and friends.

Biblical peace is more than just an absence of conflict.

This is who?  Evel Knievel.  In his career Evel Knievel attempted 75 ramp to ramp motorcycle jumps and came away with 433 broken bones.  He’s listed in Guinness as the survivor of the most broken bones in a lifetime.  In 1974 Evel Knievel attempted to jump across the Snake River Canyon on his Skycycle X-2 - a steam powered rocket.  Remember this?  The braking parachute opened at launch.  Major failure.

There’s a divide between us and God and there’s no way - no matter how great a running start we may take - or whatever we might try to do to cross that divide - there’s a divide between us and God that we cannot cross.

Because that separation is caused by our sin - our disobedience - those things that we’ve done that are against God’s will - we’ve made ourselves to be enemies of God.  We’ve made ourselves worthy of His wrath -  of eternal separation from Him - forever punishment of the worst kind.  

A number of First Century Roman and Greek tombs have the epitaph, “No Hope.”  The philosophy of the day was despair - meaningless existence - no real purpose to life - emptiness.  Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”  That’s the hopeless cynicism of the day.  Doesn’t sound too far off from today does it?

Before we came to Jesus - before we knew God’s grace poured out on our lives - we were like that - separated from God - on our own - with no hope and no future.

Paul - writing to the Ephesian church - just west of Galatia - Paul writes in Ephesians 2:  “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - among whom we once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”  (Ephesians 2:1-3)

Do you feel the slavery in that?  Bound to carry out the passions and desires of our carnal sinful bodies and minds.  Do you see the separation?  “By nature children of wrath.”  That’s separation from God - waiting for punishment - torment and eternal separation from God.

In Romans 5:1,2 - Paul writes, “Therefore since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

God’s peace - in our hearts -  effects our relationships and how deal with the world we live in.  But the depth of that peace - the source of it in God - the intertwining of grace and peace - is what Paul is getting at here.

Peace is sense of well being - a settledness in our hearts - a knowing deep within that we’ve been made right before God.  We’re no longer separated from Him - without hope - without purpose - waiting for His wrath.

My first experience of the church was from behind bars.  My folks took me to church and there I sat - staring out at the nursery from behind the bars of my crib.  July 1965 - I went to a 5 day club - like VBS - at the home of Joe and Grace Spinella.  I heard the gospel.  Went home mid-week - knelt by my bed and invited Jesus into my heart.

There’s been a lot of water under the bridge since then.  Some detours that were not so pretty.  But my testimony - my conversion - like a number of people here - wasn’t all that dramatic.  God saved me from a horrible life of sin at the age of 4.

Some of you have come through a more dramatic change of life.  The testimony of what you’ve been set free from is more visible.  God only knows what He set me free from at the age of 4 - how visible that testimony might have been.

The point is that we’ve all been bound.  And, when we come to Christ God sets us free.  That being set free is a miraculous work of the God who is grace.

Paul writes in verse 4:  “Who - meaning Jesus Christ - God - gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age.”

When we accept what God has done for us in Jesus - God bridging that divide that we could never cross on our own - wouldn’t even know the divide existed if God in His graciousness hadn’t told us - when we accept by faith that God by His grace has saved us - we come to know peace with God - that we’re no longer enemies but - in fact - God’s children - forgiven - restored - with hope of forever being with God.  A hope based on the very character of God - who is gracious.

Before we move on - take a moment to try and process the significance of all that.  Where we’ve come from.  Where God has brought us.  How we have been set free by the grace of the sovereign Holy God of Creation demonstrating His grace in Jesus.  If we let the depth of that rattle around in our minds it should shake us to the core of who we are - changing us forever.

Then in verse 6 Paul writes:  “I am astonished - shocked - baffled - stunned - that you - Galatian Christians - are so quickly - so rapidly - deserting - falling away - literally it means to transfer allegiance from one person to another - that you so quickly are exchanging the grace of Christ for a different gospel.”

Paul’s first missionary journey - where he and Barnabas swung through Galatia - leading people there to Jesus - establishing churches - that first missionary journey took place in about 45 to 47 A.D.  Paul probably left Galatia in late 47.  This letter to the Galatians was probably written in 48.  

Only about a year has gone by - from following to desertion.  That’s quickly.  Astonishing.  Isn’t it?

When we were up at the Fall Retreat Brian Miller - our speaker - shared about Moses up on the mountain getting the 10 Commandments and God’s people in front of Mount Sinai with the golden calf.  God’s people who’d been slaves in Egypt - living in bondage - crying out to their God for deliverance - freedom.

Same people that had witnessed their God humbling the Egyptians - the 10 plagues that we designed to humiliate the Egyptian gods - to demonstrate God’s power over the gods of Egypt.  Plagues that ultimately brought the most powerful nation on earth to its knees.

Same people - that when they left Egypt - their former task masters were so happy to see them leave that they gave them parting gifts - the wealth of Egypt to take with them.

Same people that had watched God part the Red Sea - that got to walk through the sea - water piled up on each side - walking through on dry land.  Same people that had a front row seat watching God drown the mightiest army on the planet.  All of Pharaoh's army doing the dead man’s float.

Same people that sang songs of praise to their God.  Who feared God.  Stood before Him in awe and worship.

Same people that God provided water and food for as they journeyed in the wilderness.

Same people - set free by God - camped out in front of their God’s mountain - who had consecrated themselves - ritually purified themselves before God - who saw the smoke and fireworks display on the mountain.  Heard the rumbling.  Saw the presence of God.

Same people who decided that what they really needed was a god like the gods back in Egypt - back where they were slaves.  God’s people who made a golden calf and bowed in worship to that calf - transferred allegiance from the Sovereign Holy God who had delivered them because He is grace - transferred their allegiance to a golden calf and the bondage of Egypt.

From the time they left Egypt - set free by God - to the time they worshipped that calf - desiring the bondage of Egypt over the freedom of God - was only about how long?  Grab this - seven weeks.  Astonishing.

How can that be?  And yet, if we allow ourselves we have to agree that there are times when we exchange freedom for slavery.   Astonishing.

Let me suggest two things.  These are things that God is teaching me - what I’m still learning.  That I think are on track with what Paul is writing here and that I think can be helpful to us.

Like a number of people here at Creekside I’ve been in a process of loosing weight.  How many of you have been loosing weight?

Since January 1st I’ve lost about 60 plus pounds.  In the process of all that I’ve lost several waist sizes.  My cholesterol levels have gone way into the normal range for the first time that I’m aware of.  I’ve got more energy.  I just feel better.  There’s a lot of positive.

People have asked, “How did you do that?”

The answer is pretty simple.  I’ve made choices.  Choosing not to take seconds.  Choosing to reduce what I’m eating by about 10%.  Choosing to avoid certain foods and especially certain fast foods.  It’s been at least 10 months since I’ve had a soft drink.  Choosing to eat certain foods - fruits and vegetables.  Choosing to exercise regularly.  Choices.

I’ve been asked, “What got you started?”

A couple summers ago we were at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.  There’s a ride there called Double Shot - this thing.  You get launched skywards at more than 3 G’s and then get to experience weightlessness as you get shot back down.  Fun.  Right?

Long story short - with everyone in line watching including members of my family - when they tried to strap me in - repeatedly - more than one ride operator tugging and pulling - I didn’t fit.

That was a clarifying moment for me.  Like God saying, “You need to loose this weight.  Stop thinking about it and choose to do it.”

We make choices to move forward - even into the unknown - even into danger - when we believe that what lies ahead is better than what lies behind.  The reverse of that is also true.  We make choices to move backwards to what’s familiar when we fear what lies ahead.

Israel following God into the wilderness because it seemed better than Egypt.  But given Moses’ taking too long on the mountain and the familiar gods of Egypt started looking better than a God of smoke and fire.

It’s a pattern in Scripture.  It’s a part of our nature.  Lot’s wife looking back to Sodom and turning into salt.  Peter looking at the storm and sinking.  Choosing slavery to freedom.  Sin to life in Christ.

People choosing to pack churches on 9/11 - because for a moment they realize their need for God outweighs the uncertainty of their lives.  But quickly deserting Him to return to what was familiar because to continue in that choice means commitment they’re not willing to make.

People who come here or make some kind of decision to follow God.  Make all kinds of statements about how they’ve found their church and how they’re following God.  But all too soon we never see them again because to go forward involves trusting God in a way they’re not willing to commit their lives to.

God wants to move us forward in life with Him and way too often we have this knee jerk reaction of holding back - of turning back - because we fear what that commitment may mean - because what lies behind is more familiar - more trustworthy in our minds - than God.

Grab this - suggestion number one:  We need to understand and believe that what God has for us - this God of grace and peace - what He has for us in Christ is infinitely better than what we’re leaving behind.  If we are to live free we must choose to trust God with what He has for us.

Say this with me, “Choose to trust God.”

Second suggestion.  There is a dark side to dieting.  Maybe some of you have experienced this.

Someplace in all that dieting - in the back of my mind - there’s a fear - a knowing that it wouldn’t take much.  In fact, I estimate about 2 weeks.  It wouldn’t take much and I could gain all 60 plus pounds back again.

I’ve come to realize that I’m borderline obsessive.  I’ve got to hold myself back from weighing myself everyday - from getting really stressed about what I’m eating that day or not eating.  My sense of well being can be based on what that scale says rather than on who God says I am.

Its interesting how a person can exchange an obsession with food with an obsession with dieting.  Rather than living in the joy of all that’s been accomplished I’m living stressed out about going backwards

Does that seem weird?  Dieting can be a form of bondage rather than a source of freedom.

John Ortberg - pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church - writes this:  “Fish gotta swim!  Birds gotta fly!  God makes creatures a certain way, and places within them the desire to do certain things.  But because sinful desires can lead us so badly astray, we Christians sometimes mistrust anyh desires and fail to recognize their importance.  Yes, sin has corrupted our desires” 

The desire to have a healthy body is a good desire.  Sin corrupts that into getting us thinking that all that dieting is about us.  Living in the freedom of Christ is an awesome thing to desire.  Sin distorts that desire so that we think that living that life is all about us.  We let go of God being the same God we chose to trust with our desires.

Ortberg goes on to say, “We learn that desire, if it is fully submitted to God and broken through the process of repentance, will be reborn as something so magnificent and noble that we cannot now even imagine it.” (1)  

One of the great parts of the whole Prism diet is that its more of a lifestyle transformation rather than a diet.  Inviting God into the process of loosing weight - understanding that these bodies of ours are given to us by God to be used for His glory.

One thing I’m learning, “Eat responsibly.  Leave the results to God.”

Suggestion two is to keep choosing to trust God.  Say that with me, “Keep choosing to trust God.”

Daily repentance and submission - making the choice to daily put the desires of our heart in God’s hands and to leave them there. 

Its not such a bad thing to desire the security of the the familiar - the known.  Maybe the people we knew - the places we lived - even the movement of God in our lives.  Not everything in the past is horrible and full of sin.  To desire peace for our hearts is a good thing.  But all that - even good desires - will bind us - enslave us - if we’re not trusting God fully for what He has for us.

Are we willing to risk the challenge of growing spiritually?  To live where God uses us and blesses us - regardless of where that may be?

Hang on to this:  God always has something better ahead for us. 

Question:  Will you trust God with the desires of your heart?

_________________________
1. John Ortberg, “Redeeming Authority”, Leadership Journal, Summer 2011

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®  (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.  Used by permission.  All rights reserved.