Finding Freedom Part 1: Finding Freedom from Uncertainty
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
We live in a world of uncertainty. People are constantly changing their minds on everything under the sun. Nothing is concrete and you have to be flexible and change at a moment’s notice. Plans change. Someone can love someone one day and change their mind the next. Someone can believe in one thing one day and believe in the opposite the next day. The loudest voices sway the majority from one extreme to another. As a result of the pandemic, at least 1/3 of Americans are struggling to make basic decisions (what to eat and what to wear) due to ongoing stress about the pandemic, and younger adults and parents are having the most difficulty of all. People don’t know how to prepare for the future because of the uncertainty of the what the pandemic will bring or if there is another pandemic on the horizon. Even planning for the next few months can be challenging for Americans right now. Whether you are a parent or not, a student or not, a young adult or senior citizen this world has plenty of uncertainty to offer and, if we aren’t careful, we will get sucked into the stress and worry of uncertainty and the unknown.
So, in this world of uncertainty we live in, is there anything we can actually be certain of? If so, what is it?
This morning we will be starting a series called “Finding Freedom” while we go through the book of Galatians. This morning, the titled of my message is called: Finding Freedom from Uncertainty.
This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.
2 All the brothers and sisters* here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.
3 May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ* give you grace and peace. 4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.* You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.
8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.
Galatians has been called the “Declaration of Independence of Christian liberty.” And this morning we will be gleaning some observations from our text in Galatians 1:1-10 as we talk about the certainty of the Gospel in an uncertain world.
Body:
I. Paul preached the Gospel to them already and restated it (vv 6, 3-4)
Galatians 1:6a (NLT)
6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.*
3 May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ* give you grace and peace. 4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.
A. God the Father and Jesus Christ gives us grace and peace
B. This was done by Jesus’ death on the cross for us as God the Father planned
The cross is central to the message from Paul throughout his book to the churches in Galatia
God gave His Son (John 3:16)
Jesus gave Himself for our sins
John Calvin said, “These words, ‘who gave himself for our sins’, are very important. He wanted to tell the Galatians straight out that atonement for sins and perfect righteousness are not to be sought anywhere but in Christ … So glorious is this redemption that it should ravish us with wonder.”
C. To rescue us from this evil world we live in
i. “Rescue” is not from the presence of something but the power of something
ii. We will be ultimately rescued from the world when we spend eternity with God in heaven
iii. We can be rescued from the power of this evil world now/the power of sin
D. We can be certain of the Gospel this morning.
i. God gave His one and only Son and His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, gave Himself to pay for our sins as He cried His last words, “It is finished!” Jesus rose on the third day to the right hand of the Father.
ii. As a result of accepting the price Christ paid for us, we are able to have grace and peace from our sins and be in right relationship with our Heavenly Father.
II. The Galatian believers turned from God and Christ’s mercy in order to follow a different message (vv 6-7)
6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ.* You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.
A. Paul wasn’t alarmed but amazed that they were leaving the Gospel so soon
B. There is only one Gospel! There is only one Good News!
C. There are many other messages that claim to be Good News but they aren’t. They say, “You have your truth and I have mine.”
i. The false doctrine that was popular with the Galatians seemed to rob God of the glory that was due Him which was the reason for Paul to state in verse 5: “All glory to God forever!”
ii. There are many false doctrines that are around today as well such as:
a. Mormons: the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the priesthood is the means of salvation for all of God’s children. (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-brigham-young/chapter-2?lang=eng)
b. JWs: salvation is through the gospel preached by an organization since 1914 and acquiring an accurate knowledge of the truth found in their publications. (https://www.spiritwatch.org/jwgospel.htm)
c. New Age: all you need to do is think positively and follow your heart and all roads lead to heaven (https://dailyshepursues.com/common-new-age-beliefs-church/)
d. Hedonism: the gospel is whatever makes you feel good (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonism)
Transition: Have you turned to another message? Are you uncertain of what you believe to be the Gospel? How can you know whether you believe in the Gospel or have turned to another message? Paul gives us two characteristics of a message that falsely claims to be the Gospel:
III. Signs of a False Gospel (vv. 7, 10)
7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.
10 For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
A. The message deliberately twists the truth of Jesus Christ
i. This can be seen in many ways such as:
a. Jesus didn’t die for our sins
b. Jesus didn’t rise again on the third day
c. Jesus was only a prophet but not the Son of God
d. Jesus was a great teacher but not the Son of God
e. Jesus died for our sins but we also have to do certain things in order to be saved
B. They aim to please people rather than God
i. Many times the message that is claiming to be the Gospel but isn’t will focus more on what people want to hear and what will make people happy and feel good about themselves.
ii. The message will focus more on the positive and uplifting aspects of the actual Gospel like grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love. But it will not talk about sin, hell, judgment, and righteousness.
C. Paul made a point in verse 10 to make sure his readers knew his goal was God’s approval and not man’s. He also states that if he was trying to please people then he would not be Christ’s servant.
D. In other words, as we have discussed in our Wednesday evening Bible Study, you cannot speak truth in love (the Gospel) without people getting upset and offended. The Gospel is a measuring rod for us to compare ourself to in order to know where we fall short and need to work on.
Conclusion:
This morning I want to conclude our first message in our series “Finding Freedom” by asking the following questions:
Do you know what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is?
Have you found yourself buying into a different message that we are constantly being bombarded with?
Do you believe in a Gospel that is more focused on the positive aspects of the Gospel message?
Why is this so important?
By holding to the only certainty we have in the Gospel, we can avoid being sucked into the uncertainty the world is trying to buy into. We can drown out the voices from the world and listen to the voice of the Shepherd.
We can be confident and trust that God knows all about what we are experiencing and is in control of our today and our tomorrows. We are not at the mercy of our culture. We serve a sovereign God who is never surprised by circumstances.
Isaiah 40 reminds us that "the nations are like a drop in a bucket . . . [God] sits enthroned above the circle of the earth . . . He reduces the rulers of this world to nothing . . . He is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
God knew you and I would need a Savior and He sent His Son before we even knew we needed Him! He can do the same for us in our daily lives and uncertain circumstances.
If we are aren’t certain about the Gospel in this uncertain world, then what are we going to rely on to help us understand how to navigate through the unknown? The Gospel frees us from uncertainty in this uncertain world!