But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?
– Galatians 4:9 ESV

GREEK
πτωχὰ/ptōcha: miserable, completely lacking resources

CONSIDER
Even for the most prepared athlete, a marathon can be a seriously miserable experience. Weather, course conditions, and the fact it’s a 26.2-mile endurance race leave just about every runner exhausted and agonized. So imagine how it would feel if it took more than 54 years to complete one! That’s exactly what happened to Shizo Kanakuri. At the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, 22-year-old Kanakuri competed for Japan, but heat exhaustion left him with nothing in his energy tank and forced him to withdraw close to the 19-mile mark. The only problem is that he never told anyone he was withdrawing, and when the race ended, no one knew his whereabouts. Swedish authorities labeled it a “missing persons case.” Because of two World Wars and several decades of political unrest, it wasn’t until 1966 that they discovered Kanakuri living in a small Japanese village as a running coach. He was invited to finish the marathon he had never completed, and when he did – at age 76 – Kanakuri set a world record… for the slowest marathon time in history!
Much like Shizo Kanakuri in 1912, we can easily run our spiritual race on empty. And Paul tells us that if we look to anything other than the gospel for our strength, we will always find that thing weak and ptōcha (miserable, completely lacking resources). But knowing God means that we have access to an endless supply of grace, peace, joy, love, and everything else we need to live out our faith, serve those around us, and proclaim the reality of Heaven. If we have experienced that truth already, why would we turn back again to lesser things? In a ptōcha, temporal world that can never deliver on eternal promises, the Good News of Jesus stands out as an oasis of hope.

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What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.
– Galatians 4:15 ESV

GREEK
μακαρισμὸς/makarismos: the condition of receiving eternal benefits from God

CONSIDER
How does a world-famous athlete go from being one of the highest-paid stars in his sport to making less than the league minimum in the span of the same contract? When you’re Magic Johnson, it’s by signing a 25-year deal to play basketball for the Los Angeles Lakers! In 1984, Johnson agreed to play for the Lakers for 25 years at the enormous sum of $25 million in total, taking him through the 2009 season when he would have been 49 years old. And while Lakers owner Jerry Buss admitted the contract was a publicity stunt (he paid Magic far more over the course of his career), that deal would have been less than any other player with his experience when it ended.
Thankfully, the promises of God age far better than NBA contracts do! For Paul, returning to the elementary principles of this world to find hope is akin to walking away from eternal spiritual blessings. So he is understandably puzzled when he hears that the Galatians had moved away from total commitment to the gospel and instead had returned to the elementary principles of the world. In verse 15, he asks, “What then has become of your makarismos (ability to receive eternal benefits from God)?” This Greek word has roots in the adjective meaning long extended blessings, denoting the truth that God’s goodness toward humanity starts in the here and now, but keeps its strength throughout the ages. The gospel will never lose its power, potency, or predominance, so there is no reason to pursue any other avenue to eternal life!

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I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.
– Galatians 4:20 ESV

GREEK
ἀποροῦμαι/aporoumai: I have no way out; I am at a loss

CONSIDER
Whether you’re a parent, a sibling, a classmate, or a friend, we all can relate to how Paul felt about the Galatian church. Paul himself compares his emotions to those of a parent, wanting the best for their child and yet frustrated with their decisions and thought processes. He said, “ I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for aporoumai (I have no way out; I am at a loss) about you.” Here is a man whose wisdom constitutes more than two-thirds of the New Testament and, like the rest of us, still finds himself at a loss for words. On one hand, Paul loved these people as his own children; yet love for them drove him to feel exasperated and disheartened.
One of our Because and Therefore statements at Centerway explains how these two things can co-exist. It says, “Because he first loved us we value LOVE FIRST therefore we say ‘come as you are’ and welcome people to belong before they believe. Because we truly love people, we will speak the truth in love.” Authentic Biblical love for a person is far different than letting someone act any way they want. Speaking the truth to them is what we do because we love them! Paul was at a loss regarding how to respond to the Galatians, and yet the rest of his letter was replete with the truth of the gospel and how it applied to their lives. It isn’t easy and is often messy, but speaking the truth in love is the most caring act we can do for our loved ones who have looked for peace and hope in something other than the gospel.

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In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.
– Galatians 4:3 ESV

GREEK
στοιχεῖα/stoicheia: fundamentals; the ABCs

CONSIDER
As we begin our Change of Pace series at Centerway, a Because and Therefore statement of ours will often take center stage. The statement reads like this: Because of what Jesus has done we value CELEBRATION therefore we talk about Jesus a lot, rejoice over life-change, readily encourage and honor one another, and uplift our local communities. It reminds us that any change we celebrate in our life actually stems from the work of Jesus long before we were born. If we fail to recognize this, we risk wasting our one and only life trying to find meaning and freedom in things that could never deliver on the promises they make. Paul eloquently compares our life before knowing Jesus Christ to the way a slave operates in their master’s home. He states that during that time, we were enslaved to the stoicheia (fundamentals; ABCs) of the world. We were expected to serve the rituals of the Mosaic Law down to the smallest detail, hoping that it might somehow rescue us from continually falling short of the glory of God. But instead of enduring the perpetual cycle of hard work and dashed hopes, we have been adopted as sons and daughters of the only One who could bring the change we need! Jesus came to earth not as an autocrat demanding our service but as a king with a heart to serve (see Matthew 20:28). His death and resurrection ensured our adoption and proved that he always keeps his promises.

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But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
– Galatians 4:4 ESV

GREEK
πλήρωμα/plērōma: total possible amount; entire space

CONSIDER
Have you ever thought God had mistimed events in your life, only to discover later on how necessary that season was? Maybe it was a promotion that never materialized or an unexplainable change to your life plan. Experiences like these serve to remind us that hindsight is 20/20. Danish theologian and philosopher Søren Kierkegaard said it this way: “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” And while this doesn’t mean that life will always make sense “later on” or that God is the author of confusion, we can take heart that he is mighty enough to work all things together for our good (Romans 8:28). This truth is embedded in Paul’s teaching on God’s timing in sending Jesus for our redemption. He states that “when the plērōma (total possible amount; entire space) of time had come, God sent forth his Son.” In the 1,300 years between the Mosaic Law and the arrival of Jesus, it may have often seemed as if God was late in sending the Messiah. However, Paul’s argument is that because He is both omniscient and exists outside of time, God knew what he wanted in place both spiritually and culturally for this momentous event. In hindsight, we can see that the historical moment Jesus came to earth provided the perfect blend of political infrastructure, common language, and spiritual hunger for the gospel to spread like wildfire throughout the world. Thank God we can trust the plērōma of his timing, even if it requires faith and patience to fully comprehend it.

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And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”
– Galatians 4:6 ESV

GREEK
κρᾶζον/krazon: [involuntarily] shrieking; the sound a raven makes when it crows

CONSIDER
What promise will I hold onto this week? It’s good to remind ourselves that the promises made by God are based on what He has done rather than what we may or may not do. As a result, we are better equipped to trust Jesus as He reveals God as a loving Father (see Matthew 10:32-33, Luke 23:34, and John 10:15). Paul goes to great lengths to remind us of the same idea, successfully articulating the grace and blessings of being adopted as sons and daughters into the family of God. Today’s verse expresses one of those blessings: And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, krazon ([involuntarily] shrieking), “Abba! Father!” The Greeks used this word as onomatopoeia, mimicking the sound a raven makes when it crows. Here, Paul argues that the gift of the Spirit is such an identity-shaping experience that it marks us as His child, and we cannot help but shriek in delight as a result. Much like a good father who knows exactly what his child needs, when God imparts the Spirit to his children, we can trust that it identifies us as those with whom he has a loving and caring relationship. His willingness to go to such great lengths to completely change our identity from slaves to heirs allows us to claim His promises with childlike faith.

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