A swimmer dives into very fast moving rapids in order to rescue a child that has fallen into a stream and is headed for a water falls to his death.
In the act of grabbing the child and swinging him to the side, where loving arms reach out and catch him, he himself is swept over the water falls to his death.
Galatians 1:4 says:
“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.”
Paul says that Christ gave Himself that he might rescue us out of this present evil age, but it cost Him His life.
This is a magnificent statement in reference to the work of Christ on the cross and its delivering power.
Paul emphasizes the greatness of the finished work of Christ on the cross to underscore the grievous nature of the Judaizer’s sin in teaching that Christ’s supreme sacrifice must be added to by works of the law.
Christ’s death was voluntary, sacrificial and final.
No one forced Christ to die for our sins; He freely gave Himself for our sins.
It was a substitutionary death.
The preposition “for” here means that Christ died “instead of.”
He died in our place on the cross for our sins which perfectly satisfied the righteous demands of God’s holy Law.
This made it possible for God to accept us and to forgive us of all our sins.
In the phrase “so that He might rescue us from this present evil age” we see the purpose of Christ’s death, which is to deliver us from the state of bondage.
The idea is “to pluck out of danger or to rescue from danger.”
It is a very descriptive word.
It is when a person is in great danger and is unable to rescue himself.
The “present evil age” is the time period in which evil is allowed to work through Satan’s control until Christ returns and the Millennial Kingdom is set up.
This age is ruled by Satan and his host and is filled with cruelty, tragedy, temptation, deception, wickedness, corruption and evil desires.
Christ’s death on the cross rescues us and sets us free from this present age dominated by evil.
Sin had us in danger and unable to rescue ourselves because we were enslaved, but Christ plucks us out of danger by rescuing us from the enemy and sets us free.
Lynn Porter, 28 years old of Clinton, Mississippi, was on her way to work one day when she saw the driver in the car in front of her lean across the front seat.
She thought he was leaning over to try and reach for something in the car, but he wasn’t straightening up again.
To her horror, she saw his car start drifting across the road.
Just then it hit her, that the man must be having a heart attack.
She stopped her car and leaping out she sprinted after the erratically crossing car.
When she caught up to the car, it was headed right for a busy intersection.
Cars were coming to a screeching halt on every side, barely missing her.
Lynn managed to yank open the door on the driver’s side.
“How I managed to grab the steering wheel, swing myself inside and slam the gearshift into park, I will never know,” she said.
But she did, and the driver survived.
This is a modern day picture of Christ rescuing us from the great danger of the present evil age.
Christ rescued us from the penalty of sin, but also from the power of sin in the present evil age.
God does it through the power of the indwelling Christ, who enables us to gain the victory over sin.
Blessings!
Pastor Ken Keeler