He Gave Himself For Our Sins - Galatians 1:4

"Grace to you and peace from God our Father,

and the Lord Jesus Christ,

who gave Himself for our sins,

that He might deliver us out of this present evil age,

according to the will of our God and Father,

to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen!"

(Galatians 1:3-5)

Grace and peace. Do you long for them? They are ours if we are Christ's. Peace comes from grace and grace comes from Jesus. One flows from the other.


Saving grace is the one necessary pre-requisite for lasting peace. The Lord Jesus came to this fallen world and lived the perfect life that we could not and died the death that our sins deserved. He rose again from the grave that we might not fear the grave. In His propitiatory act, and in that act alone, will we find the grace we need and the peace we long for.

Paul is going to drive that point home in Galatians 1:3-4. I hope to drive it home along with him.


Grace and peace come from Christ "who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen."


Oh, where to begin? How glorious are all of the words before us!!


Paul, in this epistle, will be consistent in his mantra of God's grace.
Peace and deliverance are not found in what we "do".
We will never work our way there.
It is not in our grappling and grasping that we attain it.
It is in His gracious giving.
Peace and deliverance are found in Christ's gracious gift of Himself!! 
Is His gift yours?

Luther reminds us of what it is that our Redeemer gave and why He gave it. He writes:

"Gave what? Not gold, or silver, or paschal lambs or an angel, but Himself. What for? Not for a crown, or a kingdom, or our goodness, but for our sins. These words are like so many thunderclaps of protest from heaven against every kind and type of self-merit. Underscore these words, for they are full of comfort for sore consciences.

How may we obtain remission of our sins? Paul answers: 'The man who is named Jesus Christ and the Son of God gave Himself for our sins.' The heavy artillery of these words explodes papacy, works, merits, superstitions. For if our sins could be removed by our own efforts, what need was there for the Son of God to be given for them? Since Christ was given for our sins it stands to reason that they cannot be put away by our own efforts."

That last line grabs me: "Since Christ was given for our sins it stands to reason that they cannot be put away by our own efforts."

Beloved, do not think of sin lightly. 
 Do not think grace to be cheap. 
Do not think of peace as an easily obtained thing.

Sin is serious,
     grace is costly,
          peace is granted at the greatest price.

Sin cost God His Son! Our sin was paid for by Christ's suffering, blood, and death. "Nothing could for sin atone. Nothing but the blood of Jesus!" Our sin is serious - oh so serious - for only the sacrificial gift of God the Son could pay for it!!


Christ gave Himself and He gave Himself for our sins - for OUR sins! How precious are those three little letters - "our".


My friends, Christ died for sinners.


Christian - He died for you!!


It is not simply someone else's sins for which He died - it was for our sins.
Own your sin (confess it) and own your Savior's giving of Himself on its behalf (believe)!!

Turning once again to Luther:

"Make ample use of this pronoun 'our'. Be assured that Christ has canceled the sins, not of certain persons only, but your sins. Do not permit yourself to be robbed of this lovely conception of Christ. Christ is no Moses, no law-giver, no tyrant, but the Mediator for sins, the giver of grace and life.

We know this. Yet in actual conflict with the Devil, when he scars us with the Law, when he frightens us with the very Person of the Mediator, when he misquotes the words of Christ and distorts for us our Savior, we so easily lose sight of our sweet High-Priest.

For this reason I am so anxious for you to gain a true picture of Christ out of the words of Paul 'who gave Himself for our sins'. Obviously, Christ is no judge to condemn us, for He gave Himself for our sins. He does not trample the fallen but raises them. He comforts the broken-hearted. Other-wise Paul should lie when he writes 'who gave Himself for our sins.'"

Friends are you weighed down? There is One who has given Himself for our sins. There is One who has come to bear our unbearable load. That which is a crushing burden to you is but a speck of dust to Him.


Dear ones are you overwhelmed by guilt? Flee to the One who has given Himself for our sins. There is One who has taken our guilt upon Himself and placed His righteousness upon us. There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.


Rejoice with me, O Christian, that there is One who gave Himself to be stricken, smitten and afflicted on our behalf. Jesus is the Giver of grace and peace. He who gave Himself for you will not refuse to give these things to you.

"Grace and peace from God our Father,

and the Lord Jesus Christ,

who gave Himself for OUR sins...."

Resting in that which He has given,

Lori

Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, see Him dying on the tree!
'Tis the Christ by man rejected; yes, my soul 'tis He, 'tis He.
'Tis the long expected Prophet, David's son, yet David's Lord;
by his Son God now has spoken: 'tis the true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning, was there ever grief like His?
Friends thro' fear His cause disowning, foes insulting His distress;
many hands were raised to wound Him, none would interpose to save;
but the deepest stroke that pierced Him was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly nor suppose the evil great
here may view its nature rightly, here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed, see who bears the awful load;
'tis the Word, the Lord's Annointed, Son of Man and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation, here the refuge of the lost;
Christ's the Rock of our salvation, His the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded who on Him their hope have built.

(Thomas Kelly, 1804)