Article by Chad Westfall
Contributing author, Biblecia.com
The Source of True Good News
In our examination of Galatians, we start where all good news needs to, with the evidence for authenticity. The more important the message being delivered the more important it is to prove that the messenger and the message are trustworthy. Is the good news you are hearing truly good news? Is it coming from a trustworthy source, is the content in line with good news? This week we will examine the source of true good news.
“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 brothers who are with me, to the churches of Galatia.” Galatians 1:1-2. Who is the author of the good news of salvation that is found exclusively in Christ? How we answer that question will inform how much stock we put in this good news. If it’s a man-made story created to calm anxiety and fill in the blanks of unanswerable questions, then eventually there will come new good news to replace the words found in Scripture. Paul did not invent his message, he didn’t receive his message from Christians or even from the other Apostles as the text indicates. Paul encountered Jesus in a lifesaving, course altering way on the road to Damascus. Acts 9. This encounter was also the day he received the message of Jesus, from Jesus and God the Father, and was sent as an ambassador of this Kingly Savior. The fact that Jesus appeared to Paul “raised from the dead” was sufficient evidence to prove that this was and is truly the greatest news ever; Jesus has risen and is seated at the right hand of the Father with all authority in heaven and on earth. Paul, like the other Apostles was commanded to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 28:19-20. This means that the messenger we have in the book of Galatians is trustworthy. His credentials check out. He is not his own, but rather a simple message bearer of Jesus, the Savior of the elect.
Do the messengers and the sources of their good news check out? The reality of our situation is that a lot of the messages of hope we are hearing today are created by men and women who are morally bankrupt God-haters. Can a person who murders and celebrates the murder of pre-born children give you hope for the preservation of life in a pandemic? Can a person who has abandoned the only foundation for knowledge offer you good news about how to preserve our planet? Could a body of politicians who deny the God who calls them to bear the sword in justice heal our land and usher in an era of true prosperity? Is it possible for a people who do not know peace with God to instruct you on how to have peace with those who have varying levels of melanin in their skin? I trust that you see from the credentials of the messengers, that the only true lasting hope in this world is Jesus and that hope is only found in the message of Scripture that has been delivered to the church by the messengers that were hand-selected by King Jesus and his Father. If you are drinking from the broken cisterns of this world, stop now, turn to Christ and taste the pure living water that he offers so that you may know true rest, true joy.
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Chad Westfall is by the grace of God a follower of Christ, a husband to his best friend, and the father of 6 beautiful children.
Twitter @ChadWestfall1
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