The Greatest Gift
Galatians 4:4-5
December 9, 2007
Morning Worship
Introduction
Pastor Clifford S. Stewart of Louisville, Kentucky, sent his parents a microwave oven one Christmas. Here’s how he recalls the experience: "They were excited that now they, too, could be a part of the instant generation. When Dad unpacked the microwave and plugged it in, literally within seconds, the microwave transformed two smiles into frown! Even after reading the directions, they couldn’t make it work. "Two days later, my mother was playing bridge with a friend and confessed her inability to get that microwave oven even to boil water. ’To get this darn thing to work,’ she exclaimed, ’I really don’t need better directions; I just needed my son to come along with the gift!’" When God gave the gift of salvation, he didn’t send a booklet of complicated instructions for us to figure out; he sent his Son.
Source Unknown.
Our need was so great that first Christmas that God sent us an incredible gift, the gift of salvation. We needed not only the gift of salvation but we also needed Jesus to come with the promise of that gift. God sent His Son with the greatest gift of all time.
The apostle Paul tells us a great deal about the nature of God’s greatest gift in his letter to the Galatian churches. If you have your bibles with you please open them to Galatians 4:4-5.
But 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. Galatians 4:4-5
Jesus had the greatest arrival
But when time had fully come
History gives us an incredible account of all the things that needed to be in place before the birth of Jesus could happen. God was preparing the time for His Son to arrive in a variety of ways.
The spread of Judaism across the world
When the Roman Empire conquered the world, they began to disperse people from their homeland to various locations throughout the reaches of the empire. The result was that every major city in the Roman Empire now had some form of Jewish presence. This presence usually gave each area a synagogue.
These existing Jewish communities were one of the key sources for early Christian evangelism. During his missionary journeys Paul usually began his work at the local synagogues, spreading the message of Jesus Christ. Remember that the Jews would have been expecting the Messiah and news of Jesus would have been of great interest to them.
If this dispersion had not taken place, the prospect of worldwide evangelism would have been extremely limited. For all practical purposes the church would have been limited to Israel. God had made the Roman government a tool in the spread of the gospel.
The favorable legal situation
The Romans had conquered many different nations with a variety of different religions. Rome did not force their religious practices on Israel but there was one condition that was given to every conquered nation. All people must proclaim that Caesar is Lord. The Jews believed that there was only one Lord over all creation and that was God. The Jews refused to call Caesar lord and resisted the condition.
The Romans killed thousands of Jews trying to force them to submit to the law but they would not give in. After much senseless slaughter the Romans saw that they were not going to be able to force the Jews to submit. The Romans granted their only exemption to the law with Israel. Once the exemption takes place God sends Jesus as the Messiah and prepares for the early church.
The favor for the Jews extends to the early church. For many years the Romans believed that there was no real difference between the Jews and the Christians. The Romans has classified the Christians as a sect of the Jewish religion, much like the Pharisees were seen as a sect. This allows the church to begin without persecution from the Romans. The Christians were not required to call Caesar lord and when the distinction was discovered the church already had a presence in most of the world.
The favorable political situation
The ancient world was well known for its political infighting and civil wars. The Romans were not exempt from this. In fact, the empire had suffered from a lengthy period civil war that involved Julius Caesar. Augustus comes to power about 25 years before Jesus is born and brings not only lasting peace but new stability to the empire. It was this peace that allowed the Romans to shift their efforts toward innovation rather than war.
The Roman legions were used primarily as a peace keeping force throughout the empire. This made it possible for the empire to build a system of roads and then used the legions to patrol the empire. The element of safety rose and crime plummeted to an all time low in the empire. With the new system of roads and the patrolling legions, travelers were well protected. This made it possible for the church to travel and thus spread the gospel.
The favorable cultural climate
One of the keys to the spread of the gospel was the fact that the majority of the ancient world spoke the same language. When Alexander the Great conquered the world, his empire was larger than that of the Romans. Alexander not only spread the Greek culture across the known world but also required the use of the Greek language.
Every nation that was conquered by Alexander used Greek in both verbal and written communication. Greek was nearly a universal language. The New Testament was written in Greek. Nearly every person could speak and read Greek. The Greek language became the tool to communicate to the world that Jesus was the Messiah.
The favorable philosophical situation
The great philosophers in the Greek culture prepared the ancient world well for the arrival of Christianity. The basis of Greek philosophy was to provide great questions to the world’s problems. The questions prepared the world for facing the dilemmas of life. The problem was that Greek philosophy was unable to provide any real answers for the questions that were given.
These general philosophical questions about life left a logical void in dealing with life. The truth of the situation became clear when Christianity came into existence. It was Christianity that provided the answers the philosophical questions left unanswered by the Greeks. Christian theology provided the answer in the gap.
Please note that this section of the outline was adapted from John Maxwell’s message “A Gift Worth Waiting for” and John Macarthur’s Commentary on Galatians.
Jesus is the greatest atonement
God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law,
Christmas is the season of the coming of the Christ. It is the arrival of the Son of God. God did not send an angel or raise a great leader to save humanity. God knew the vast need of humanity and sent His Son. Nothing less could have met our need and God’s desire was to meet our spiritual needs completely and compassionately
The New Testament does not say that Jesus was merely sent by God but that He was God. Jesus is not only human, he is also divine. Paul shows us that Jesus is from God and was sent by God to this world. He also very clearly states by this that Jesus is God. He is divine in nature.
34 Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your Law, `I have said you are gods’ ? 35 If he called them `gods,’ to whom the word of God came--and the Scripture cannot be broken-- 36 what about the one whom the Father set apart as his very own and sent into the world? Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, `I am God’s Son’? 37 Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. 38 But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father." 39 Again they tried to seize him, but he escaped their grasp. John 10:34-39
Jesus is the personal fulfillment of humanity. Jesus is the fulfillment of humanity. He is the perfect man. Jesus is both God and human in one package. Paul tells the Galatians that Jesus was born of a woman. When we read that statement we often think that Paul is referring to the Virgin Birth. In one sense he is because Paul gives the clarity that Jesus entered the world like everyone else, by birth. However, Paul is also simply making the point that Jesus was human.
In Jesus divine omnipotence moved in a human arm; In Jesus divine wisdom was cradled in a human brain; In Jesus divine love throbbed in a human heart; In Jesus divine compassion glistened in a human eye; In Jesus divine grace poured forth in human lips. -- Lloyd Cory, ed., Quotable Quotations, p. 61
Jesus came to save humanity from the power and penalty of sin. In order to do this, Jesus needed to fulfill the Law. Jesus was born under the law in order to fulfill the law. Jesus lived a perfect life that was completely without sin and He secured salvation for all of humanity. Jesus came to do what we could not do ourselves.
A television interviewer was walking streets of Tokyo at Christmas time. Much as in America, Christmas shopping is a big commercial success in Japan. The interviewer stopped one young woman on the sidewalk, and asked, "What is the meaning of Christmas?"
Laughing, she responded, "I don’t know. Is that the day that Jesus died?"
There was some truth in her answer.
Donald Deffner, Seasonal Illustrations, San Jose: Resource, 1992, p. 16.
The purpose of Jesus was to redeem us. Jesus came to redeem those who were under the Law. The only way that Jesus could redeem us was to be a sacrifice on our behalf. He gave Himself willingly on the cross to pay the price of our redemption. Jesus died so that you and I could experience redemption. The term redeem literally means “to purchase release from captivity with a ransom.” What Paul is telling us is that we are now bought back from the reality of sin. Jesus rescued humanity from the results of sin. To rescue us, jesus had to come and be with us.
Jesus gives us the greatest adoption
that we might receive the full rights of sons.
In the ancient world, once an adoption was done it was total and complete. Once the adopted child was brought into the family, the child could not be disowned. When the process of adoption was finished the results were immediate. There was no delay, the child was given a place in the family and all the rights of being in the family. Once the child was adopted, all rights with the previous family were lost. The understanding is that the child had become a new person with a new identity.
Paul describes the relationship that we have with God as an adoption for several reasons. First, by accepting Christ, we are given a new relationship with God and are adopted into His family. Once we accept Christ as our savior, God becomes our father. Think about that for one moment, the God who made all things as your father. What a gift!
This spiritual adoption creates a family for those who believe in Christ. We are known as children of God and call one another brother or sister. The adoption into the family of God makes you a new person. The old life and the old family are no longer our means of identity. We are known by a new family and a new identity. The old has gone and the new has come. By being adopted into the family of God, we are given a new home, a place to be with Him.
Conclusion
Christmas means that:
He descended that we might ascend (John 6:38, 14:3).
He became poor that we might become rich (2 Cor. 8:9, Jas. 2:5).
He was born that we might be born again (John 1:14, 3:2,7).
He became a servant that we might become sons (Phil. 2:7; Gal. 4:6, 7).
He had no home that we might have a home in heaven (Matt. 8:20; John 14:2).
He was hungry that we might be fed (Matt. 4:2; John 6:50).
He was thirsty that we might be satisfied (John 19:26).
He was stripped that we might be clothed (Matt. 27:28; Gal. 3:27).
He was forsaken that we might not be forsaken (Matt. 27:26; 28:20).
He was sad that we might become glad (Isa. 53:3; Phil. 4:4).
He was bound that we might go free (Matt. 27:2; John 8:32-36).
He was made sin that we might be made righteous (2 Cor. 5:21).
He died that we might live (John 5:24, 25).
He came down that we might be caught up (1 Thess. 4:16, 17).
-- Larry Farthing
This Christmas we need to remember that the greatest gift we could receive has already been given to us long ago in the stable of Bethlehem. We have been given all that we could ever need through Jesus. The only question that needs to be answered is have we accepted that gift? Have we allowed that gift to take it’s rightful place in our lives?
