The Evangelist Galatians 1:4-5 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:… Love delights in the contemplation of the glory of its object, in the recollection of benefits enjoyed, and in every fit opportunity of renewing the mention of the one beloved name. Our Lord is here presented: I. AS THE GREATEST OF ALL BENEFACTORS. Christ "gave." II. AS ACTUALLY CONFERRING THE MOST PRECIOUS AND COSTLY DONATION — "He gave Himself." In creation Christ gave the creatures to man; in redemption He gave Himself. III. AS CONTEMPLATING, IN THE GIFT, THE HIGHEST MORAL OBJECT — "For our sins." IV. AS SECURING THE HIGHEST REVENUE OF GLORY TO THE DIVINE CHARACTER AND ADMINISTRATION. It was "according to the will of God," the love of the Father being the originating cause of salvation: "to whom be glory for ever," — a devout ascription in which all the redeemed family, and all assembled worlds, will unite. But these topics are not more impressive in themselves than they are applicable to the scope and bearing of the apostle's argument, which was designed to convict the Galatians, and especially the Hebrew converts among them, of criminal folly in undervaluing the truth and grace of the gospel dispensation. For if Christ, whom they owned us Messiah, gave Himself for them, then were they guilty of the deepest ingratitude in deserting the standard of such a benefactor. If Christ came to rescue them from sin, and from the rigid discipline of the legal ceremonies, and from the servitude of "this present evil world," then how ineffably absurd was it to go back again to the hard bondage whence they had been delivered! If this new and wonderful economy had been introduced "according to the will of God and our Father," then how inconsistent and unfilial a line of conduct must it be, for adopted sons thus to oppose the Divine designs. (The Evangelist.) Parallel Verses KJV: Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: |
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