Galatians 1:1-5, Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through 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 from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever Amen.
Paul’s writing and speaking were not from men or through man. His word is directly from God, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead. What Paul is saying is a crucial understanding and central to everything we should believe. Jesus is the “firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29). Paul is underscoring that this Gospel came from Jesus, whom God raised from the dead. This Gospel is the “regeneration” of life and a new creation of the Holy Spirit.
“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5-6NKJV).
Paul includes all the men that are with him in his opening greeting. They are his apostolic team or company. These were men that believed and spoke the same word of the Gospel that Paul carried. As Paul writes, his focus is on the churches of Galatia whom the so-called “false apostles had targeted.”
THIS PRESENT EVIL AGE
Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever Amen.
In our lesson from Paul, recorded here in Galatians, we must focus on Paul’s clarity concerning God’s purpose through the cross and “deliverance from this present evil age.” This is a significant statement, and we must have a solid understanding of God’s redemption plan. In numerous places, the New Testament gives the reader understanding of the “PRESENT EVIL AGE.” Another way of saying this is “an evil generation” or “perverse generation.” Unfortunately, today many have misread these passages, like this one in Galatians 1:2. They have interpreted them in light of the emphasized teachings over the last 60 years about the “Last Days.”
The phrase “this present evil age” is not addressing the end of time, but rather the first century in the time of Jesus as “the Day of the Lord” or “Messiah’s Day.” The focus is not about 2,000 years later, but that age, that generation, and the time in which these Galatian churches were living.
The word “age” in this verse is speaking about a particular time. Later in Galatians 4:4, Paul will talk about the “fullness of time.” The fullness of time is not the end of time. It was the time of Messiah’s appearance, Messiah’s sacrifice on the cross, and Messiah’s regeneration, resurrection, and enthronement at the Right Hand of the Father. It is the “fullness of time” because it is the end of Adam and the old creation. It is the end of the “law as a means of righteousness.” It is the beginning of the new creation of the Holy Spirit. The Last Adam who is the beginning of a new creation. It is Jesus Christ and His generation of new birth believers. Please read 1 Corinthians chapter 15 thoroughly.
New Testament emphasizes “THIS PRESENT AGE.” The rejection of Israel’s Messiah through its leaders, and the Roman Government’s joint corporation, produced an evil driven by the devil and his powers of darkness. It was the age in which the Lord of Glory was crucified. Listen to what Paul writes:
“However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Corinthians 2:6-8).
In these verses, Paul again uses the words “this age,” speaking about that generation and period. Paul also identifies what took place as a “mystery.” God’s wisdom was “preplanned,” it was the hidden wisdom of God that ordained what would happen in the time of the Messiah’s appearance.
Peter stated this understanding in what he preached on the Day of Pentecost. Peter used the words “in the last days” (Acts 2:17). Peter was quoting Joel chapter 2 as he begins to present to the Jews gathered for the Feast of Pentecost what is taking place at that moment. A new thing was happening, prophesied in Isaiah 43:19. He was pointing to the end of the age and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Joel never used the words “the last days,” Peter interpreted Joel chapter 2 as the end of an age. Peter connected the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to what Joel was saying. Peter knew it was the end of the age of “Moses,” the end of the age of the law as a means of righteousness. It was a new period, and it was a new beginning. It was Messiah’s age or another expression is “the Day of the Lord.” As the prophet foretold, it was the “days of vengeance.”
“For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.” (Isaiah 63:4)
“For these be the days of vengeance that all things
which are written may be fulfilled” (Luke 21:22).
Please do not miss the point here. Whatever your end-time theology might be, Jesus was speaking to that generation, to those who the days of vengeance were coming upon, the generation who rejected God’s Messiah-King. The message of the prophets was coming to pass. Messiah was in their midst. Messiah was soon to die on a cross and be raised and seated at the “Right Hand of the Majesty on High.”
Whatever lies ahead of us, Jesus was speaking to those of that “generation.” An evil generation, because they rejected their Messiah and experienced the Vengeance of God in 70 AD.
Let’s look at other scriptures that bring a further understanding to Paul’s writing to the Galatians.
Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the child was cured from that very hour (Matt 17:17-18 NKJV). Their perverseness was their unbelief even among the disciples at this time of their development. (also see Luke 9:41-42).
Listen to Peter’s message in Acts 2, “And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation.” Then those who gladly received his word were baptized, and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need (Acts 2:40-45- NKJV).
Again, we understand that the perverseness was the unbelief those Jews were steeped in. The scriptures foretold of those days. The Old Testament gave the precise time that Messiah would come. Some were convicted and turned to the Lord. It should have been the whole nation that turned. But the leaders were steeped in unbelief and had their own agenda’s born in pride and greed. The light had come, but men loved the darkness.
Listen to Paul warning the Elders of Ephesus of what was coming. “Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears” (Acts 20:30-31- NKJV).
“Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain” (Phil 2:14-16-NKJV).
Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:37-38 – NKJV).
Listen to the writer of Hebrews as he reminds these Jewish believers of how God dealt with their forefathers. “Therefore I was angry with that generation, And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart, And they have not known My ways.’ So I swore in My wrath, ‘They shall not enter My rest'” (Hebrews 3:10-11 –NKJV).
That generation was evil and perverse because of unbelief. The Day of the Lord had come. Messiah was here. Yet, they did not recognize the day. They did not understand the “generation” in which they lived. The question in our generation is do we know what is happening and God’s requirements and His signs to us? The same antichrist spirit is working today to preempt the will of God. Only a mature and anointed church can square off against “this present evil and darkness.”