Christmas Is For Children

CHRISTMAS IS FOR CHILDREN

Galatians 4:4-7 - December 28, 2003

GALATIANS 4:4-7

4But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 5Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba, Father." 7So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

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Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:

Oh, to see our world through the eyes of a child! We know how children can become so excited when there is something to celebrate. They look forward anxiously when the first Christmas decorations are placed out. They get excited when they see the tree go up and realize that soon it will be that time of year again which seems to bring some of the greatest joy in a child’s heart--that time of Christmas! You may have heard the saying that Christmas is for children. So does that mean the rest of us are left out after we go beyond that age of childhood? Does it mean we are left out once we get old enough to be responsible for ourselves and responsible for others? Well, not really. Believers are blessed because the Lord calls them His children. No matter our age, no matter the responsibilities that we have, believers are ever God’s children.

So it is that each year when Christmas decorations are put out, we too ought to become excited. We too look forward to that gift of the Christ Child once again, because we are God’s children. Jesus told His disciples and reminds us this morning: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter into the Kingdom of God" (MATTHEW 18:3)." So the Lord reminds us that indeed Christmas is for children, and we come before Him today once again with a faith that is to be childlike. It is to be a faith, which puts our trust and confidence in Him and Him alone. We want to look at what Paul writes for our growth and our faith this morning with the theme that

CHRISTMAS IS FOR CHILDREN:

I. God’s Son is born as a Child

II. Believers become God’s sons

I. God’s Son is born as a Child

In Sunday morning Bible study we have been looking at the Apostle Paul and his missionary journeys in the Book of Acts. In the region of Galatia he had established a number of churches. Paul’s message was always the same; namely, mankind is saved by grace. Paul went to the Gentiles proclaiming that message of God’s grace. He went to the Gentiles telling them that Messiah who had been promised had been born. The Messiah had been put to death, and raised back to life. Thus, salvation was provided and guaranteed for mankind, a simple message. Because of that message, many Gentiles believed. Of course, there were those who were in the church who realized that all their life they had kept God’s Commandments; they had been circumcised; and they did all the things that God wanted. So, sometimes when they heard that people believed because they were saved by grace like the Gentiles, they didn’t think that was enough. Some of them went out to these congregations in Galatia and told them that they had to do more. They told them they had to be circumcised, that they had to learn all the commandments, and the list went on. They were called Judaizers.

Paul wrote this letter to the Galatians because the Judaizers had gone out and tried to add works to that faith, saved by grace. They tried to destroy this saved by grace faith. So the emphasis in Galatians like many of Paul’s letters is that mankind is saved by grace. He mentions this fact in our text too. Paul writes, "When the time had fully come, God had sent His Son." Mankind did not go looking for the gift of salvation. Mankind did not go looking for the Son of God, but God sent His Son. He sent His Son born of the woman, born under law. Jesus left His throne in heaven and was born on earth that He might keep all of the laws for all of mankind, because mankind could not keep one single law. We know that because we can turn back to Adam and Eve who had one thing not to do in the Garden of Eden. They were put into a perfect world, and the Lord said, "Do not eat from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.” Just one thing NOT to do—do not eat from that tree! But they did it!