Christmas - Part 3

(Gal 4:1 NKJV) Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all,

(Gal 4:2 NKJV) but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.

(Gal 4:3 NKJV) Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.

(Gal 4:4 NKJV) But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

(Gal 4:5 NKJV) to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.

(Gal 4:6 NKJV) And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

(Gal 4:7 NKJV) Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Last time we learned that both Jews and Gentiles, before Christ, were in bondage the "elements of the world." The “elements of the world” referred to the principles of non-Christian humanity, that is, humanity outside of Christ.

Paul uses this same expression in Colossians 2:8 (turn):

(Col 2:8 NKJV) Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

The phrase "basic principles of the world" refers to the unseen host of evil angelic beings who were thought to be in control of the universe in pagan belief (cf. v. 20, note).

In Colossians Paul describes these basic principals as a movement of false teachings within the church at Colosse which threatened the Christian faith.

* He describes these principals as being very persuasive, alluring men to heretical opinions (v. 4).

* They are based upon human tradition rather than divine revelation (Col. 2:8).

* These principals are legalistic, defining religion in terms of laws governing what you eat and what you drink. (v. 16)

* They involve the worship of angels (v. 18).

* These basic principals are mystical claiming visions and revelations and leading to the formation of a group of the "spiritual elite" (v. 18).

* They are principals which call for the destruction of the flesh--injuring of the body in order to appease God. (v. 23).

Our text reads, “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world…

There are many who are still in bondage under the elements of the world.

* They are spewing forth their false doctrine and taking people captive whose ears are being tingled by it.

* They are finding their principals for living from other sources than the Word of God.

* They have trapped their followers into thinking that following their rules is the same as following God.

* They claim to have a pipeline to God given to few others. They can see what few can see; have heard what few have heard--God trusts them with the "secret things of God."

* There are those in our culture who practice body art and modification, i.e., body piercing and tattooing as a way to connect the mind, body and spirit in the way they function. Many of these people attach a deep spiritual significance to how and where they pierce and tattoo their body even to the point where the Acupuncturists are concerned about the impact on the body’s Ch’I.

But Paul writes, “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world but when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…”

There was something in history that caused Paul and his readers to grow up.

There was something that set Paul and his readers free from bondage to these worldly principles—and it happened “when the fullness of the time had come.” It happened when “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.”

Paul was referring to the incarnation. He is writing about the true meaning of Christmas, God becoming flesh and dwelling among us in the person of Jesus Christ.

The “fullness of time” referred to a space of time in which God prepared the earth-stage for the greatest event in the history of the human race, the incarnation, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection of God the Son--"In the fullness of time God sent forth His Son."

Jesus was sent forth by God the Father from His home in glory to come to earth as a weak, vulnerable babe wrapped in swaddling cloths---He was sent forth, out from the presence of the Father to earth to become our Savior!

Last time we learned that the expression, "God sent forth His Son," points to the deity of Christ—meaning that Jesus is fully God.