The Gospel is Revealed

Readings:
Psalm 11
Galatians 1

Focus:
Galatians 1:11-12: "I must make it clear to you, my friends, that the gospel you heard me preach is not of human origin. I did not take it over from anyone; no one taught it me; I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ."

The Apostle Paul wasn't just a great thinker who came up with some deep ideas about God and about how to live life. He actually had a life-changing encounter with Christ, and it was from that encounter that he learned about Christ and about God.

Paul started out as Saul, zealously persecuting believers in Jesus Christ. But on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians there, he met Jesus Christ in a vision, and after that he turned his life around. After that he changed his name to Paul and devoted his life to preaching about Christ.

Paul didn't just preach about Christ. He encountered persecution himself. He risked death multiple times. He was threatened over and over, but he didn't stop. This encounter he had with Christ was worth more to him than anything else, and he knew that everyone else needed to have that value in their lives. That made it imperative to him to keep preaching.

Paul didn't just write about philosophy. He wrote about a life-saving relationship with God, a relationship he learned about through a personal revelation he received from Jesus Christ himself.

This is no mere viewpoint we read about in the Bible. This is life itself.