Mystery
of Christ Part I
The Mystery of
Christ
Part II
Galatians 1:1-4
Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead),
and all the brethren who are with me,To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace [shalom] from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,
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,
The word translated "rescue" is the Greek word "exelhtai" "exeletai" meaning "to take out" derived from the Greek word "exeilo" "exeilo" meaning exile. Exile means to be taken from your country of origin to another country, waiting in this new country for the right conditions to return to your original country.
The mystery therefore is that we will be exiled to paradise. We will leave this evil planet at the time of the rapture. We will return to Earth with Christ later on and help remove Satan from office. The ones that can be exiled are the living. The hope is for us, the ones who are alive, not for the dead. See Rapture.
In contrast, the hope of the dead is in a
resurrection.
Galatians 1:6-8
I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel;
which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing 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 what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
Paul was warning the
Christians that
a DIFFERENT message was being preached.
Galatians 1:9
As we have said before, so I say again now,
if any man is preaching to you a gospel
contrary to what you received,
he is to be accursed!
Unfortunately,
the Gospel of Christ was distorted, and what is preached in most churches is a
different gospel.
Jesus never preached that we have an immortal
soul that goes to heaven when we die. The hope that Jesus preached for the
dead was the resurrection--an issue that was controversial at
that time. In order that the Christian Jews would realize that
resurrection was possible, Christ himself resurrected the dead during his
ministry and was himself resurrected.
All of this proved that the resurrection is real and we should not fear
death.
Those that preach that souls never
"die" but are alive in "heaven" are preaching a different
gospel. The bible specifies that the dead know nothing, and that the only
hope for the dead is in a resurrection.
And who are these people
preaching
a DIFFERENT gospel?
Matthew 23:5-7
But they do all their deeds to be
noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of
their garments.
They love the place of honor at
banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,
and respectful greetings in the market
places, and being called Rabbi by men.
The preachers that go after material
wealth, power, and the glory of this world are not of God. They preach a
different gospel, full of euphemistic lies to please their followers and to be
able to maintain their position of leadership in those churches. They do not
fear God Almighty.
Even if God were to reveal the truth to these "pastors," would they risk losing their followers? Take a look around. Are the churches saying the truth of God, or things that will fill their collection plates? But as Jesus warned us, "You will know them by their fruits" Matthew7:16. What do you see in most churches? A guy dressed up in a $500 suit with $200 shoes -- a modern Pharisee.
Galatians 1:10
For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men?
If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a
slave of Christ.
If we are slaves of Christ, we must obey Christ, and not be seeking the favor of men.
Galatians 1:11
For I would have you know,
brethren, that the gospel
which was preached by me
is not according to man.
Paul did not fear to go against the established ideas and dogma of the
time preached by the Pharisees. He was not afraid to receive the
scorn from those who knew his past. He simply turned 180 degrees in the
opposite direction -- from persecuting Christians to fully dedicating his
life to preaching the truth and suffering persecution himself. Do we have
that kind of faith? We should!
Galatians 1:12-13
For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.
For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it;
Paul did not consult with other people about the revelation he had from Jesus. If he had consulted with his Pharisee friends they might have dissuaded him and made him think that the vision he had was not from God.
Galatians 1:14-17
and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my
generation, being more extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was
pleased
to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,
nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
Paul
did not go to preach to the Christians in Jerusalem. But he did go away to
Arabia, we assume to think about God, his mission and sort things out. He
spent a lot of time in prayer so as to get guidance directly from God.
Galatians 1:18-20
Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days.
But I did not see any other of the apostles except James,
the Lord's brother.
(Now in what I am writing to you,
I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
Galatians 1:21-22
Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.
I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ;
At this time, Paul was still unknown to the
Christians in Jerusalem. He was not speaking publicly in the synagogues in
the region of Judea. They only knew him from the rumors and gossip that
was spread about him.
Galatians 1:23
but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy."
Let us return to the original Gospel
that
was once delivered
by Jesus/Yeshua, our soon coming Lord. Shalom!