God Changes Us and How Others View Us! - Galatians 1-3

God Changes Us and How Others View Us!

Galatians 1:18-24 (ESV)

18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord's brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

To fully appreciate the above passage we have to recall that Paul was at one time a persecutor of the church.  When Steven, in Acts 7, was preaching and then stoned by the Jews and religious leaders, it states that Paul was standing by, approving, and holding the coats of those who threw the stones.   Paul thought it was his mission in life to persecute those who worshipped Christ and, in turn, diminished the power of the Synagogue.    That is the backdrop for what we see above.    Yet, after his salvation on the Damascus Road, Paul spent several years learning and understanding and studying God’s word.   It was only have that time that God moved him into ministry.   There was a time of seasoning for the ministry and then there was his season of time for his ministry.   God always takes time to season us.   But, not only did God change Paul during that time, God also had to change the hearts of the church.  The church, prior to Paul’s conversion, was terrified of a Paul.   They were, naturally, suspicious of his confession.  They probably wondered if he was just playing the part to add to his persecution of them.   But, Paul was genuine.  God had to change Paul’s heart to demonstrate it and He had to change their heart to accept it.   God is in the process of changing our hears and the hearts of those who previously had thought differently about us.  In the end, it was God who was glorified!  That is the point of reconciliation and God’s work in our lives.   God wants to ultimately bring glory to Himself through the work He does in our hearts.