There are so
many wonderful, beautiful adoption stories. I recently read about a family that
went to the airport to receive their newly-adopted baby boy. Their three-year
old daughter, now a big sister, thought for several years that baby brothers all
came from airports. The most wonderful, beautiful adoption story of all is our
own; forever recorded in the pages of Scripture. It is the original- all the
others are reflections of the goodness and grace found in the adoptive heart of
God. In Him, believers who were once enslaved are adopted as sons, and made
heirs with Christ.
1. Believers were once enslaved.
The
Galatians had heard the gospel and believed it. But now, Paul was mortified to
learn that the Galatians who had been set free were choosing slavery again. The gospel had set them free from the
bondage of pagan idolatry, but they were now choosing a new task-master: The Law.
Teachers had crept in and persuaded many that observing the Law, as well as
faith in Christ, was required for salvation.
So, Paul argued
that the Law was like a guardian over a small child. Imagine the child of a
ruler or some other prominent person: the child has the right heritage, the
right last name, but has no power, no real authority or wealth. The guardian
makes all the decisions and oversees all the aspects of the child’s daily life.
And Israel, under the law, was like a child under a guardian: of the right
lineage, but managed. At the end of
chapter 3, Paul said that this made anyone under the law “no different than a
slave.” In fact, he referred to this arrangement as being “held captive”,
“imprisoned” by the law. In chapter 4, he wrote:
"I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God." -Galatians 4:1-7
If you flip
through the pages of the Bible, you’ll see something really frightening: given
a choice between freedom with hardships and slavery with gratifications, the
sin-sick human heart will choose slavery every
time. Think of Israel in the wilderness longing
for the offerings of Egypt- “leeks and garlic and melons” -at the cost of their
freedom! Freedom for them and their sons and their daughters, and they’d trade
it all for fish and cucumbers. That’s what Paul means in v9 – they want to be enslaved. They want the perks
of enslavement:
"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
So, the
human condition is grim. We are enslaved by sin and our own attempts to justify
ourselves- and we have a heart that is given over to the perks of being
enslaved. What then is to be done for us?
2. Believers are adopted- made Sons of God
What must be
done for us is what only God could do. It
is clearly stated in verses 4 and 5. God sent forth His Son to redeem us that
we might receive adoption. What could not be accomplished by enslavement to
works and the law, what the “weak and worthless elementary principles of the
world” could not do, God did for us through the person and work of His Son.
Finally, in
verse 5, Paul uses the wonderful, beautiful word: “Adoption.” God sent his son
that we might receive adoption. It isn’t something as trite as God “accepting”
us. This is Holy God, at great expense, taking ownership of those who could
offer nothing in return! We have become well aware of the spiritual status of
mankind apart from God, so there is no cosmic bargaining chip. That is one
reason why adoption is such a beautiful thing: it is not the merit or worth or greatness
of the orphan… it is the other way around! The orphan is helpless! The child’s
situation is hopeless! The grace and generosity on display is that of the
adopter! So it is with our adoption by God: all the countless merits of His
character are on display in this act of adoption.
There is
another important word in verse 5. He sent His Son to redeem. An adoption comes at a great price. Adoptions are
notoriously expensive affairs for many families. And it was no different for us.
God made a payment unlike any other. He sent forth His Son, that He might
redeem. The word means “to purchase out of.” God sent His son to purchase us
out of something; to ransom us; to pay the price of our rescue.
If nothing
else helps you understand how great the gulf is between sinful man and holy
God, consider the price of our adoption! If the ransom had been anything else,
it would have cost God very little. What charge is too costly for the One who
owns the cattle on a thousand hills? Or who made the stars by the breath of His
mouth? But His very Son? No wonder we sing:
This, the
power of the cross:
Son of God,
slain for us.
What
a love! What a cost!
We stand
forgiven at the cross.
3. Believers are heirs with Christ
Verse 6 says
that because we are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our Hearts,
crying, ‘Abba Father!’ “Abba,” was the term a Hebrew child would call his
father, an intimate term of endearment and familiarity. Some historians have even
remarked that among the Hebrews, servants were not allowed to call their master
Abba. The term was reserved for a child of the master. So, the change in the
nature of our relationship with God is astounding. We are no longer servants
kept at some distance, but children who are intimately acquainted with our Father.
So, we are
no longer slaves, but sons and daughters. And then Paul gives us the gift of
verse 7: “No longer a slave, but a son, and if a son- then an heir.” Could we
really be heirs, inheritors of God Himself? What can it mean? It means that everything
God has is yours. John Piper breaks this idea into three categories:
1. God
Himself is yours. Never, ever forget that God is the prize. It is so hard to
keep that right in our minds. The Christian life is not a pursuit of what He
has or what He can do for you, but of Him. Do you love Him, or His things? Him,
or what He can do for you?
2. The World
is yours. Paul sums it up this way, in 1 Corinthians 3:
“For all
things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or
death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ's, and
Christ is God's.”
As believers
serve the Lord, we are within our jurisdiction everywhere. It all belongs to our Father, and we are sons and daughters
and heirs. So, be bold. All things are meant for the purpose of His glory and
your joy.
3. The hope
of future glory is yours. There is a beautiful parallel thought in Romans
8:15-17: Notice this – “We are heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order
that we may also be glorified with him.”
One way to
know if you are indeed adopted into God’s family is that you know Christ in His
suffering. It may be the patient and well-tempered suffering of life in a
fallen world. It may be shameful, torturous persecution for the name of Christ.
But the sons and heirs of God’s family consider that “this light and momentary
affliction is not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed.” So, we
suffer, but we do not lose heart.
So, I conclude
with two questions for readers to consider.
First, if
you have never repented of sin and placed your trust in Christ, you are already
a slave. What prevents you from being made free? Would you be a son, and an
heir? God alone can free you and has promised to do so when you come to Him on
His terms.
Second, if
you are a believer, have you become so callous that you would trade your
freedom in Christ for the fleeting perks of slavery? Are you struggling with some
idol? Have you forgotten your love is of Him and not merely what He has or can
do? Remember what it means to be a son or daughter, and an heir. He alone has
made you free!
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