Galatians 4:4 -7
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[a] 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[b] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
[Paul is reflecting on what he learned from his time spent with those who knew Jesus - who spent time with Him and were eye witnesses to His death and resurrection. Paul is giving us his reason for the Christmas story. Max Lucado said, "Christmas gives us a reason to celebrate Easter." More specifically, Paul is giving us what he sees as the significance of the Christmas story as it pertains to us. -- excerpt notes from Andy Stanley's sermon "The Thrill of Hope". ]
Vs 4a - "But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman...."
At the set time
See Study journal entry "Why We Need a Savior"
But Paul want's us to know, that this truth goes deeper than that....
vs 5b - "...that we might receive adoption to sonship."
vs 6 - Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."
vs 7 - "So you are no lnger slaves but God's children."
4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.[a] 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,[b] Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.
[Paul is reflecting on what he learned from his time spent with those who knew Jesus - who spent time with Him and were eye witnesses to His death and resurrection. Paul is giving us his reason for the Christmas story. Max Lucado said, "Christmas gives us a reason to celebrate Easter." More specifically, Paul is giving us what he sees as the significance of the Christmas story as it pertains to us. -- excerpt notes from Andy Stanley's sermon "The Thrill of Hope". ]
Vs 4a - "But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman...."
At the set time
- After spending much time with those who knew Jesus - possibly even Mary - Paul was able to draw out and restate these facts from the conclusions he made from their conversations, teachings and what he knew well from the Old Testament.
- In the previous verses, Paul compared life under the law to a child living under the care of a guardian. Though that child is entitled to a grand inheritance, the child's daily life is similar to that of a slave until the predetermined date set by his father arrives.
- Thes events happened not as a coincidence or random events, but as a specific time marked on God's calendar
- Jesus was born of a woman. Jesus was not an heir of an earthly father but a heavenly Father. Geneologies are usually tracked based on the father's lineage. Paul is making it clear, Jesus did not have a regular earthly birth
- This was also necessary to fulfill the promise of Genesis 3:15, and also was a necessary part of the incarnation, so that Christ could die for man as man.
- This has also been used as the reason that Jesus didn't inherit a sin nature as this was legally tracked through the father. (See "Why We Need a Savior")
- I have also uniquely seen it noted that this indicated how Jesus empitied Himself of His divine rights and submitted to an earthly birth.
The humiliation of Christ is not exclusive to His submission to a shameful death on the cross. No, Christ’s humility is revealed every bit as much by the circumstances of His birth as by those of His death. What a marvel. The one who created women confines Himself to the womb of a woman! The Omnipotent One empties Himself of personal agency. The infinitely Self-sufficient One becomes utterly dependent. (Association for Biblical Higher Education)
- When Jesus was born, He was born accountable to the law of God, the Mosaic Laws.
- "those under the law" - that's you and me. God has a law and we've all broken it. Regardless of wether we agree with laws, we are accountable to them. When we break a law, a debt/debtor relationship is created.
- When Jesus died for us, He paid back the penalty for our sins. There are times that we cannot pay back. We cannot make up for wrongs that we have committed, We can't go back and undo what we have done. All the promises of the world and intent to do right, leaves us still falling short.
- Sciptures teach us that when Jesus came into this world, He died on the cross and that He redeemed us from the law, The law could no longer condem us because even though we are law breakers, God the Father and Jesus stood together and said that even though we are absolutely guilty, we are not in debt to our sins any more.
- This is why it took Christ's death...because He was the One that established the law. We offended against Him. That's why the blood of animals couldn't redeem us - it just took our guilt away
- Redeem is a legal, judicial, transactional term.
See Study journal entry "Why We Need a Savior"
But Paul want's us to know, that this truth goes deeper than that....
vs 5b - "...that we might receive adoption to sonship."
- It's not enough that from God's perspectives, that you and I are forgiven and that our debit is paid. God wants more than that. He wants a relationship with us.
- We can forgive someone and never have a relationship with that person. A judge can look at you over the bench and say you're guilty but I"m going to give you another chance and let you go and never have a relationship with you.
- Paul came to the conclusion after spending time with those who knew Jesus that it was more than just clearing a debt. God wanted to adopt you and I into His family (but we aren't like innocent babies).
- When we think of adoption, we think of babies but in the 1st century Roman culture, they didn't adopt babies. The Jews had a completly different way of dealing with childless parents. Rich and powerful people adopted adults.
- When Paul's audience read this word, it was significant to them. God looked at us as adults with all our failures and sins - no one in the Roman world would consider us worthy of adoption - God adopted us knowing everything we have done.
- We are not simply to be made forgiven, to be made right with God but to be adopted by God into His family.
- To the Galatians, this was staggering. This was more than a legal transaction and the best way to describe it ws to be adoted into His family.
vs 6 - Because you are His sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father."
- We don't have a blood line that ties us to God. Paul says that the Spirit is placed/inhabits our hearts. This is what connects us spiritually to God.
- "Abba" - this is actually an aramaic word and it means "daddy". When they worite the N.T. in Greek, and the got to this word they realized there was not a Greek equivalent to "Abba." So they lefft if there and added "Father" for those who didn't understand "Abba". But this word was of extraordinary intimacy that they didn't have an equivalent for. If it were to be translated into English, it would be "daddy". This is wthe level of indtimacy that we have been invited into.
vs 7 - "So you are no lnger slaves but God's children."
- Slave relationship - its all about rules. You are no longer relating to God through law as a rule keeper, judge. (Christmas is about moving past this.)
- You are no longer to relate to God the Law Giver but as Father
- You are no longer to look at God through the lens of what you've done, but who you are, His child.
- We don't have to transactional ie God, I did this (insert sin) so I will do this (insert pennance)