GALATIANS: THE LIFE WE LIVE (11 OF 29)
by Roger Thomas
Scripture: GALATIANS 2:20
This content is part of a series.
Galatians: The Life We Live (11 of 29)
Series: Through the New Testament
Roger Thomas
Galatians 2:20
Introduction: Galatians is small but important. Martin Luther said he considered it the most important book in the New Testament. It contains only six chapters and one hundred forty-eight verses. Each chapter is stuffed full of vital lessons for Christians then and now. Our text, Galatians 2:20, provides the heart of the book's message. Tonight I want to use this verse as the framework from which to look at the entire book.
Note how the verse has two connected halves. The verse forms a circle. The two halves each speak of two subjects. Both halves talk of death and life. The whole verse actually speaks of two deaths and two lives--Christ's and ours. The first half of the verse begins with death. "I have been crucified with Christ." It then moves to life. "Christ lives in me." The second half of the verse reverses the order. It begins with life. "The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God." This second half then ends on the subject of Christ's death much like the first half began. "Who loved me and gave himself up for me." Together the two halves form a circle of life--the life we live in Christ. Let's work our way around this circle.
I have been crucified with Christ. The message of the cross was the heart of Paul's Gospel. That's what he had proclaimed to the Galatians when he first came as a missionary a few years before. He is probably referring to this preaching of the cross when he reminds them in 3:1, "Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified." His message made the cross real and personal. Galatians begins with this emphasis, "Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father... (1:3-4).
Not everyone likes that message, then or now. I needn't r ...
Series: Through the New Testament
Roger Thomas
Galatians 2:20
Introduction: Galatians is small but important. Martin Luther said he considered it the most important book in the New Testament. It contains only six chapters and one hundred forty-eight verses. Each chapter is stuffed full of vital lessons for Christians then and now. Our text, Galatians 2:20, provides the heart of the book's message. Tonight I want to use this verse as the framework from which to look at the entire book.
Note how the verse has two connected halves. The verse forms a circle. The two halves each speak of two subjects. Both halves talk of death and life. The whole verse actually speaks of two deaths and two lives--Christ's and ours. The first half of the verse begins with death. "I have been crucified with Christ." It then moves to life. "Christ lives in me." The second half of the verse reverses the order. It begins with life. "The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God." This second half then ends on the subject of Christ's death much like the first half began. "Who loved me and gave himself up for me." Together the two halves form a circle of life--the life we live in Christ. Let's work our way around this circle.
I have been crucified with Christ. The message of the cross was the heart of Paul's Gospel. That's what he had proclaimed to the Galatians when he first came as a missionary a few years before. He is probably referring to this preaching of the cross when he reminds them in 3:1, "Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified." His message made the cross real and personal. Galatians begins with this emphasis, "Grace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father... (1:3-4).
Not everyone likes that message, then or now. I needn't r ...
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