Heirs of God Part 2

Okay, this morning we are in Galatians chapter 4, verses 1-7. We started last week with Andrew Malloy. He took us through the first half of that passage. But now we will, let's go ahead and go over the passage. Now I say, as long as an heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave, although he is the owner of everything. But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world." Notice before we were basically talking about Israel.

Now in verse three, with the word we, we're speaking, I think, not only of Gentiles, but all of us. Verse four, but when fullness of the time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

We ended last week halfway through verse 4. And it's up to me to finish this up through verse 7. And tell us about women, too. Oh, right. Andrew gave me the job of defining what a woman was. And I'm going to do that. Good. Amen. But not till the end of this class. No re-anticipation. Yeah. I don't want you all walking out of here on me. But let's once more go over those verses that we have today.

But when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, so that He might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through Christ."

Something I want to emphasize here, this passage here is the foundation of everything we're going to be learning going forth in the book of Galatians. What we read in these four verses is foundational to what Paul is going to be teaching us. And I don't know why I got it, but these I think may be the most important passages in the book of Galatians.

So let's just do a little review. Right now, we'll only review verse 4 from last week. When the fullness of time came, God sent forth his Son. We're only doing that one verse, but we'll be reminded of the first three verses as we get into today's text. The phrase, fullness of time, it appears twice in the New Testament. both referring to Christ.

Here in Galatians 4.4 concerning His first coming and in Ephesians 1.10 concerning His second coming. We normally think of the fullness of time as relating to a perfect set of conditions in history. That's the way we normally think of it. That perfect time was apparent in the first century.

Politically, the Pax Romana, which is the Roman government at that time, had brought in a safe and stable environment. There was a unified empire and thousands of roads which led to the spreading of the gospel. It was unified in the fact that Rome had taken the whole empire and unified it under a Greek culture. Even though the Jews had their own culture, they were still under that Roman empire. And then not only the Jews, but everybody in the Roman Empire were unified. And also, there were thousands of rows. which was the perfect time or the fullness of time in which we could spread the gospel. Here's a picture of the Roman roads. This picture depicts all the main highways in the Roman Empire and there were 50,000 miles. Wow. 50,000 miles of major roads. That's 80,000 kilometers. And this is a picture of the Roman Empire in its total. You can go all the way from India, all the way up to Great Britain, and parts of Northern Africa, which was the Roman Empire. And all this was unified by Rome.

And here's another map showing all the minor roads. And if you count all the minor roads, you're actually looking at 250,000 miles of Roman roads. And the main reason Rome put all these roads in, the major reason, was for their military to move. exactly like President Eisenhower did with the interstate system. We have the interstate system because after World War II, we needed a way to move our military from place to place and that's why we have our interstate system and that's why Rome made all these roads.

So, Politically speaking, we have all that. Now, culturally speaking, we have Koine Greek, which is the common Greek language of the people. And that enabled the Gospel to reach everybody. You didn't have to worry about language barriers any longer. So you notice the fullness of time. God had planned all this to happen at this time.

And scripturally speaking, Years before, the Old Testament predicted the coming of the Messiah. This is seen in Daniel 70 weeks, in the book of Daniel. And the Jewish calendar accurately predicted the day in which Jesus would ride into Jerusalem on a donkey. This is predicted to the day, if you study the Jewish calendar.

It's amazing. This was also seen in the statue in Daniel depicting the successive world governments leading up to Rome which you'll find in Daniel chapter 2. This was accomplished ultimately by Alexander the Great and his four generals as predicted in Daniel chapter 8. It's amazing that we had all these predictions several hundred years before all this happened. All this is actual world history.

You don't find that in any other writings. You don't find that in the Muslim writings. You don't find it in Hindu writings. You find it in scripture though. The stone depict the Christ's first and second coming, which originally destroyed the Roman Empire and ultimately in the millennium will destroy all the other empires.

Then we have the wise men from the East, the Magi, knowing precisely when the Messiah would arrive from their study of Daniel's writings in Babylon, and you find that in Matthew chapter 2. This would be the normal meaning of the phrase, the fullness of time. And that's all great. It's wonderful to study. But, now here in chapter four, the fullness of time takes on a far greater meaning. And this is important. This marks a precise turning point in God's promise to Abraham when God sent forth his son.

I think it would be safe to say everything in history either looks forward to or back to God sending forth His Son. Everything in history. Everything in the Word of God. Everything in secular history. All that is predicated on God sending forth His Son.

You might say that the fullness of time is just like the Roman father making his child an adult son. When the father chose the perfect time to remove the tutor and allow the son full possession of all he had. Now the last three weeks we've been studying Roman culture in order to understand what's going on in these passages of scripture. Notice the precise language here. He sent forth His Son. It doesn't say, when the fullness of time came, Jesus was born. It doesn't say that. It says, when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son.

This speaks of the pre-existence of Christ. Jesus is the only one in history who lived before he was born. Have you ever considered that? The night before his crucifixion, Jesus actually prayed to the Father, Now Father, glorify me together with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the world was. He's looking forward to going, his mission on earth will be finished and he'll be going back to that glorified place where he was, clear back before the foundation of the world.

Now this brings us up to today's passage. All that was review. All that Andrew brought out pretty nice last week. We're going to divide this passage up into two main sections. The birth of Jesus, which will include born of a woman and born under the law. And then the second section, the principle of redemption. And this will include resulting in adoption, resulting in the indwelling of the spirit of God, and resulting in inheritance.

Now, I like outlines. As a matter of fact, I think Wayne likes outlines as well. Wayne appreciates outline. So I think I could ask Wayne, why in the world do you like outlines so well? And I think his answer would come up is, when you get down to part C, I know about the time you're going to quit talking. Now he didn't really say that to me, but I'm sure that's what he thinks.

So let's start with point number one, the birth of Jesus. Born of a woman, born under the law, born of a woman. Jesus didn't just appear as a man, he actually became human. By saying he was born of a woman, this emphasizes the incarnation as a real human birth. The Son of God entered the human condition the same way we all do, yet without sin, the virgin birth. The main point here, Jesus is God incarnate, not some celestial being detached from human experience. He was actual man.

Part B, born under the law. Although there is no definite article here, the law, even though I have it in my NASB, it is obvious from the context Paul is referring to the Mosaic Law here. Under law means being in subjection to its authority and its obligations. Chapter 3, verse 23, we read, But before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed.

Jesus was born a Jew. He was circumcised the eighth day, and he lived his life in full compliance with the Mosaic law, something no other human had perfectly done. He's the only Jew that was compliant perfectly with the law, and that's important. The fact that Christ was human like us, and lived a perfect life under the Mosaic law, qualified Him to be a substitute for us. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us.

Before Christ's coming, Israel was in bondage under the law. That also applied to all of us, Jew and Gentile alike. Chapter 4, verse 3, So we also, that's us Gentiles, were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. Both Jew and Gentile alike were in bondage under law, whether it be the Mosaic law or the human law.

Paul's use of the word under emphasizes subjection, bondage, and slavery. under sin, in verse 3.22, under guardians and managers, 4.2, under the elemental things of the world, 4.3, under the law, 4.5, Christ temporarily entered into that same position, born under the law, but not because He was enslaved to it, like we were, but to set us free.

And we see this all the way up in chapter 5, verse 1. It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. This brings us to our second section. The principle of redemption. And the principle of redemption, these verses here, like I said earlier, is the foundation of everything we're going to be reading as we go forward in the book of Galatians.

Everything in chapters 3 and 4 can be summed up in these next three verses. Verse five, so that he might redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Verse six, because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And verse seven, therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

The word redeem, its Greek meaning is to buy out of the slave market. It pictures a transaction, purchasing a slave out of bondage. Once purchased, the slave becomes the property of the new master, and in our context, that would be Christ. This redemption describes both what Christ accomplished for believers and what that accomplishment produces in them. And this passage brings out three results of our redemption. Our adoption, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and our inheritance. We will start with adoption. And this is basically going to be a review of what we've been studying the last three weeks.

There were two forms of adoption in the Roman family. the adoption of a natural son within the family, and the adoption of an outsider from another family. First we'll look at the Tocca Virilis Ceremony. The Roman Tocca Virilis Ceremony marked a boy's passage into adulthood, his coming of age as a Roman citizen. At age around 14 to 18, a boy would remove his toga protesta, the child's toga with the purple border, and put on the plain white toga virilis, that was the toga of manhood. It represented his entrance into public life and legal adulthood, no longer under the protection of the tutor, but with all the rights, privileges, wealth, and inheritance of the family.

Although a natural son, this was considered an adoption, and that's important. Every son, as he became of age, was actually adopted as an adult son. And then we have the Roman adoption ceremony. Roman adoption outside the family was a legal act by which a man, usually without a male heir, brought someone from another family, often a young adult male, into his own family line, identified with a signet ring and a purchase, which he is redeemed.

The adopted son left his birth family completely, losing all previous rights and inheritance, and came fully under the authority, patria potestas, which means the authority of the father. He received the family name, status, and inheritance rights of his adopter as if born to him.

The Jew was illustrated by the son within the family. The young child, a Technon, was under the authority of the Tudor, the Mosaic law. When he became an adult son, a Wios, at the Toco Virilis, the coming of Christ, the Tudor, the Mosaic law, was no longer needed and done away with. Number two, the Gentile is illustrated by the outsider from another family.

The Gentiles were not natural heirs of the Abrahamic covenant, nor were they under bondage to the Mosaic law. And this is important. How in the world are we going to let the Gentiles in on Abraham's promises? But they were in bondage. They weren't in bondage to the Mosaic Law, but they were in bondage to basic pagan religious systems. Astrology, superstition, rituals, cosmic powers. Essentially, the Gentiles were enslaved to the spiritual forces that ruled the world system apart from God. They were enslaved just like the Jew.

Chapter 4, verse 9. We read, but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? As believers, we have been purchased out of that slavery and now are full-fledged members of God's family.

This is adoption. Second part of this section is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. A lot can be said concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit. As a matter of fact, we could spend months. And in the past, if you go to the website where we have everything in the past, you'll see we've spent several weeks, two or three different times, studying the Spirit of God. But we are only going to deal with it as it relates to our context here.

Redemption from slavery leads to adoption as adult sons. And because we are sons, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Paul is pointing out the importance of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Galatian believers as well as believers today. And as we go through the rest of Galatians, you're going to see how the Holy Spirit is brought out in our lives as believers every day.

We are no longer under the law or any set of rules. If we are no longer under the law or any set of rules, does it really matter how we live our lives if we're no longer under law? Does it really matter? Well, yes. By faith in the leading of the Holy Spirit. Paul begins in chapter 3 developing the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We read this in the first part of chapter 3. This is the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish having begun by the Spirit? Are you now being perfected by the flesh? This is the first time in Galatians he has brought up the Holy Spirit. Chapters 1 and 2 he didn't bring it up. But now we're bringing up the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

It's through the Holy Spirit that we can have a personal, intimate relationship with Christ. And it's only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can have this. Because you are sons, God sent forth the spirit of his sons into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. It's a very personal relationship that we can have with Him. It's through the Holy Spirit that we can have victory over our own sin nature.

We read in chapter 5 verse 16, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. It is through the Holy Spirit that we are to live our life from day to day. Chapter 5, verse 25, If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. You see how the Holy Spirit is being brought out throughout the rest of the book of Galatians?

It's what's done by means of the Holy Spirit that will actually last into eternity. Chapter 6, verse 8, For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. What's done in the Spirit is eternal. What's done in the flesh is nothing. There are at least 11 direct mentions of the Holy Spirit in the book of Galatians.

And there they are. Go ahead and memorize all those as I move on. The opposite of living under the law is living by means of the Holy Spirit, which is by faith. Very important. In addition to our adoption and our indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ's redemptive work results in our inheritance. And this is part C of that section. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Just as a slave was brought out of the slave market, the believer is freed from law, sin, and bondage. This freedom came by the redemptive work of Christ at the cross. With that redemption comes a fantastic inheritance in Christ.

And I'm going to list a few of these, but there's no way in the world I can list them all. We wouldn't have time to list everything that we have in Christ, not only in eternity, but right here today. Ephesians chapter one, that's a good place to go. Ephesians chapter one describes the believer's inheritance as both present today and in eternity.

Paul repeatedly uses the phrase in him or in Christ, emphasizing our union with Christ as a source of all blessings. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. And we have a new identity and a position in Christ, in verse 4.

Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. We have been chosen. We have this new identity, this new position that we've never had before. This is our new standing before God. not based on what we do, and this is important, not based on what we do, but on what Christ has done.

Our position means that God sees us in Christ's perfection. That's how he sees us. We are in Christ. And we are seated now with Christ at God's right hand in chapter 2, verse 6. and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. This shows our position, not striving, but resting in His finished work. We also participate today in His power and resurrection.

Verses 18 and 19 of chapter 1. so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. Inheriting Christ's life means progressively becoming like Him in thought, word, and deed. Finally, let me repeat verse 18 one more time. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.

We could say a whole lot more about our inheritance, but I think it could be summed up in this. Our inheritance isn't what we get from Christ, and this is what I want to leave you with. But our inheritance is Christ Himself. We inherit Christ Himself. Everything that Christ has, we have. And that's a fantastic inheritance. So now, we're through with our lesson.

You can leave if you want, Wayne. Andrew gave me the job of defining a woman. Our leaders in our universities, and the government, and the media, they can't even define a woman. And Andrew wants me to define a woman? Well, I'm going to give it a try. Thanks, Andrew. And by the way, Andrew, you owe me a box of cookies. Actually, I don't know if I could define a woman. I think I'll let a wiser man than me do that.

We're going to take a look at King Solomon. What is a woman? We find this in the Song of Solomon, which originated Song of Psalms in the Old Testament. Song of Solomon, chapters four and seven. We're going to find out what a woman actually is. Well, here goes. You all got this? In chapter four, verse two, Solomon says, your eyes are like doves. You see her eye there, that little bird? Let's move on.

Your hair is like a flock of goats. Your teeth are like a herd of sheep. Your temples are like pomegranates. Your nose is like the Tower of Lebanon. Are you all getting this? Your lips are like scarlet thread. Your neck is like the Tower of David on which are hung thousands of shields. Your lips drip honey. Honey and milk are under your tongue. Your breasts are like twin fawns. And your belly is like a heap of wheat. So I have defined what a woman is. Did you put that together? I've had that picture for years.

Anyway, there's King Solomon's woman. Isn't she a beauty? So, that's our lesson for today. That's quite a woman. Any comments or questions? Well, I like Adam's expression about the first woman. She's bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. When God reveals the woman to you, he says, in the original Hebrew, it says, wow. I mean, he's amazed by a woman. He's totally amazed. When he woke up after the woman was created, he looked at her and he said, Wow, that's exactly right. I know, it's cool. Wow, man. I like this. Okay, so that's what a woman is. Amen. So, if you don't like my depiction of a woman, blame Andrew. Oh my God, blame Andrew. So, yes. Andrew owes us all a lot.

When I was seeing the three babies out there in Virginia, I'm thinking, Jesus actually came down as a baby. A helpless, dependent on his mother baby. What did that little baby think of? Being perfect and being God himself. I'm thinking, wow. as a child is when he was 12 years old in the temple just baffling the Pharisees. And that's right, he was old. But did you realize that as a baby, he held the whole universe in his hands? He held it all together, even as a baby.

And you think, Why didn't Christ just come down as a man, get on the cross, redeem us all? No, He had to become a human like us, live like us, go through the same things that we went through, go through the same sufferings, go through the same temptations, in order to redeem us. He had to grow up as a man. All that was in preparation for the cross, but it was very necessary.

Well he had to live under the law. Yes. And under the law he had to be circumcised in eight days. That's right. And he had to go through all, through his parents of course, he had to go through everything. He had to be obedient to the law. And he was obedient to the law. You read in the Gospels where the Pharisees say, why are you doing this? That's not lawful. The law they were talking about was the oral law, or the Talmud, which had nothing at all to do with the Torah. It was their traditions. It was traditions. The traditions weren't biblical. That's why Jesus didn't obey them.

Good point, Jim. Well, thanks, Bob. That was great. Roger, you want to close us in prayer? Sure. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for today. Father, thank you for the blessings we have. Lord, thank you for our Savior who came as a man and became a child and became a man and died on the cross. Lord, we thank you for that. We ask it in His name. Amen.