Marian Obeda, from London, Ontario, talks about a time when her husband, a pastor, was asked to officiate at a lot of weddings over a short few months. During that time, they were also preparing for their son's birthday party, so Marian asked her son who he wanted to invite. He responded with a list of names that only included girls.
Then she jokingly asked him, “Who are you going to marry when you grow up?”
And without hesitation he replied, “When I grow up I'm going to be a pastor and marry them all.” (Marian Obeda, London, Ontario, “Rolling Down the Aisle,” Christian Reader)
Most children look forward to growing up, because there is greater freedom with fewer restrictions. That’s why it’s so tragic when you see an adult still living with his or her parents, still dependent on someone else to make all their decisions for them.
However, it’s even more tragic when a believer, whom God considers as an adult son, lives like a child. It’s tragic when God’s adult sons live like children, dependent on rules and regulations, a list of do’s and don’ts, or some “magic formula” to live the good life.
The problem is there is no magic formula. There is no “law” which guarantees the good life. So…
QUIT BEHAVING LIKE CHILDREN.
Stop depending on rules and regulations to find the good life. Stop relying on some-kind-of law or magic formula to get ahead in life.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Galatians 4, Galatians 4, where God’s Word invites us to grow up.
Galatians 4:1-2 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, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. (ESV)
A child is like a slave, because someone else is managing his life. He cannot manage his own estate, and he cannot make his own decisions.
When Princess Diana died in 1997, she left a sizeable inheritance for her two sons, William and Harry, in the amount of $20.4 million. With investments and interest, that amount grew during their teens and twenties to $31.4 million. But the provision was such that William and Harry were only able to inherit this considerable estate after their 30th birthdays. In June, 2012, William turned 30 and received his portion of the inheritance. Later, Harry received his portion on his 30th birthday as well. (Frank Lovelace, “Prince William turns 30, inherits share of Diana estate,” Newsday, 6-20-12; www.PreachingToday.com)
You see, you don’t give a child nearly $16 million! No! You wait until he or she is old enough to make responsible decisions!
That’s the way it was for God’s people. For nearly 1500 years, from the time of Moses until the time of Christ, God’s people were like children in His eyes. They were like slaves under the guardianship of the law.
Galatians 4:3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. (ESV)
Literally, to the ABC’s of the world. It’s like we were in kindergarten, where we had to get permission just to go to the bathroom. We couldn’t make our own decisions. Instead, the law did all that for us, even to the point of what to eat and where to go to the bathroom. Have you read the Mosaic Law recently? There’s some really interesting stuff in there.
For 1500 years, the law dictated our lives; because like children, we really didn’t know how to make good decisions; we really didn’t know how to handle the rich blessings or the inheritance we had from God; and we really didn’t know how to handle the rough waters of life itself.
Not too long ago, a teenaged boy was in such a hurry to try out his new surfboard that, oblivious of the warning flags, he dashed straight out into the waves. Immediately, an authoritative voice boomed, “You are an inexperienced surfer. Return to shore.”
Embarrassed, he came ashore but not without asking the lifeguard how he knew he was a novice. “Easy. You've got your wet suit on backwards.” (H.J. Duffy, Livingston, Texas, “Lite Fare,” Christian Reader)
We restrict children for their own safety, and that’s what God did for His people by giving them the law. But now that Christ has come, God wants you …
START BEHAVING LIKE ADULTS.
Come out from under the constraints of the law, and make responsible decisions like grown-ups in dependence upon His indwelling Holy Spirit.
Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (ESV) – or better, “the full rights as sons.”
The picture here is of an ancient Roman ceremony in which a boy officially “comes of age” and is thereafter recognized as a man. His father set the “time” or the date, usually sometime between the boy’s 14th and 17th birthday. And on that day, several things would happen at a sacred family festival:
1st, The father would officially adopt the boy, acknowledging him as his legitimate, full-adult son and heir. 2nd, The boy would exchange his childhood garments (toga praetexta) for the garments of manhood (toga virilis). And 3rd, The boy was granted liberalia (liberty) on that day.
That means he was no longer under guardians and managers. He was responsible for making his own decisions, and his inheritance was no longer handled by a manager. He could manage it himself. He could spend his wealth any way he wanted to. His father had set him free from the constraints of guardians and managers, and granted him his full rights as an adult son.
Well, that’s exactly what God did for His people. When the time had fully come, on a day which He had set, God sent his Son to redeem you as an adult son. God gave you Jesus to set you free from the law. God gave you Jesus to set you free from the rules and regulations, which were your guardians and managers. That means that if you are a believer in Christ, God has granted you full rights as His adult son, and He considers you responsible enough to make your own decisions.
In the early 1980s the city of Philadelphia had a huge problem with graffiti. The mayor established the Anti-Graffiti Network, committed to combatting the vandalism, which morphed into the Mural Arts Program, led by the artist Jane Golden.
Golden said, “I spent the first five years of my life in Philly being told that graffiti is never going away and the kids you're working with are going to end up in jail.” But she didn't give up. When police caught kids painting graffiti, program officials first asked them to sign an amnesty statement, pledging to refrain from graffiti writing, then assigned them scrub time, cleaning spray paint from walls.
Then without warning one Friday night, about a dozen guys showed up at Golden's door. As they introduced themselves, she recognized most from their graffiti tag names, like “Rock” and “Cat.” Golden invited them inside. They came in and went right for her art books, pulling out all the books on abstract expressionism.
Many of them had dropped out before high school, but they had learned about art from books they had checked out or stolen from the library. Most had brought Golden their sketch books, so she could see the type of work they were doing. “They'd learned about drawing from comic books; they had an intuitive sense of color and design,” Golden said. After talking with the young artists about their work, Golden explained the anti-graffiti program, and before they left her house, all had agreed to sign the pledge and commit themselves to scrub time.
Golden connected with the young graffiti writers not as “criminals,” but as artists. She offered them a lifeline, a way they could be paid money to paint murals legally. The organization is now the largest public art program in the United States, with a collection of over 4,000 murals. (Larry Platt, “For Phila.'s next mayor, think outside the usual canvases,” Philadelphia Inquirer, 7-9-12; www.PreachingToday.com)
In essence, that’s what God did for you when Jesus came and died on the cross for your sins. Instead of treating you like an unruly brat or criminal; He treats you like an artist, as an adult son, capable of creating a beautiful life, reflecting His glory! You see, God sent His Son to redeem you, to free you up to be His adult son.
And if that wasn’t enough, God also sent his Spirit to remind you that you are indeed his adult son. God gave you the Spirit of Christ to whisper to your heart that you are His cherished heir.
Galatians 4:6-7 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. (ESV)
If you have trusted Christ with your life, you are no longer a little child in God’s eyes. You are a full, adult son, ready to take on the responsibility of managing the spiritual riches that are yours as His heirs.
Tim Keller points out that some people are put off by Paul's language here because it's “gender insensitive.” They argue that it would be better to say “you are a son AND A DAUGHTER of God.” Tim Keller thought the same thing until he met a woman who was raised in a non-Western family as part of a very traditional culture. She helped him to see these verses from her perspective. You see, there was only one son in her family, and it was understood in her culture that he would receive most of the family's provisions and honor. In essence, they said, “He's the son; you're just a girl.” That's just the way it was.
Then one day she was studying this passage, or a passage like it in Paul's writings. She suddenly realized that the apostle was making a revolutionary claim. Paul lived in a traditional culture just like she did. He was living in a place where daughters were second-class citizens. When Paul said – out of his own traditional culture – that we are all SONS in Christ, he was saying that there are no second-class citizens in God's family. When you give your life to Christ and become a Christian, you receive all the benefits a son enjoys in a traditional culture – whether you are male or female. (Tim Keller, in his sermon, The Christian's Happiness, www.PreachingToday.com)
This is NOT the language of a sexist. This the language of a man, inspired by the Holy Spirit, who had the highest respect for women, putting them on the same level as men.
The Apostle Peter is even more direct when he addresses the Christian husband. He says, in 1 Peter 3, “Husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman… since they are heirs WITH YOU (literally, as heirs together) of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered” (1 Peter 3:7).
Believing men and women are heirs TOGETHER. They are equal heirs, co-heirs in God’s family. All who believe in Jesus are SONS! Do you see it? They are full, adult sons of the Living God, with all the rights and privileges of the oldest son in His family.
That’s the message of God’s Holy Spirit to ALL of our hearts, no matter who we are as believers in Jesus Christ. God sent His Son, Jesus, to redeem us as adult sons, and God sent His Holy Spirit to remind us that we are indeed His sons.
My friends, let that assurance fill your heart today, no matter how bad your circumstances are. For this is NOT the promise of better life circumstances. This is the promise of a far better life. This is the promise of a life of greatness. This is the promise of a life of nobility. This is the promise of eternal life!
Please, let the Holy Spirit get that message through to your heart today! Please, let Him fill your heart with hope, no matter who you are or how bad off you are.
Vincent van Gogh, the famous Dutch painter was raised in a Christian home, but sadly he tossed those truths away when he became an adult and sank into depression and destruction. By the grace of God, though, he began to embrace the truth of his Christian faith again and his hope returned.
You can see it in his paintings, because he gave that hope color. As he moves out of his depression, his paintings include more and more yellow, which for van Gogh evoked the hope and warmth of God’s love.
In his famous painting, called The Starry Night, you can see a little yellow in the moon and the stars. Van Gogh painted this during one of his depressive periods when God’s love seemed distant to him. Tragically, the church, which stands tall in the bottom center of this painting shows no traces of yellow.
But by the time he painted The Raising of Lazarus, he was finding his hope again. The entire picture is bathed in yellow. In fact, van Gogh put his own face on Lazarus to express his own hope in the Resurrection. (Scot McKnight, The Jesus Creed, Paraclete Press, 2004, pp. 65-66; www.PreachingToday.com)
Dear believer in Christ: That’s the picture the Holy Spirit wants to paint on your heart. Please, let Him fill your heart with hope this morning. Listen to Him, as He reminds you that you are indeed an adult SON and HEIR of God Himself!
Then put on our “big boy pants” and live like it. Stop behaving like children. Start behaving like adults. And…
STAY AWAY FROM CHILDISH RULES.
Don’t make yourself a slave again to some magic formula. Don’t depend on the law again to find the good life.
Galatians 4:8-11 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 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? You observe days and months and seasons and years! I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain. (ESV)
Paul is afraid that after all his work, his new converts are going back to their old way of living; they are going back to living under law. Oh, they may have swapped their pagan religion for the Jewish religion, but they’re still trying to earn God’s favor and blessing through their own efforts.
They had forgotten that God already treats them like adult sons and heirs. They had forgotten that God has already entrusted spiritual riches to them. They had forgotten who they are in Christ. It’s like they’re going back to kindergarten again, and Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, “Don’t do it!”
Do you know, the Holy Spirit is says the same thing to you today? Stop trying to earn God’s favor when you already have it. Stop trying to prove yourself to a God who already approves of you as adult sons and heirs. Stop trying to get God’s blessing through your busyness. It doesn’t work! Blessing is not found in busyness. It is found in believing what the Holy Spirit is saying to your heart right now: You are an adult son and heir of God!
Rest in that fact, and stop trying to find the good life in a magic formula. Stop trying to find the good life in a list of do’s and don’ts. Stop trying to find the good life in a law, because you can’t.
Besides, who would want to go back to kindergarten again? Who wants to be told what to do all the time? That’s not the kind of life God wants for His adult children.
Elizabeth Elliot put it this way in an article, called The Liberty of Obedience: “It appears that God has deliberately left us in a quandary about many things. Why did He not summarize all the rules in one book, and all the basic doctrines in another? He could have eliminated the loopholes, prevented all the schisms over morality and false teaching that have plagued His Church for two thousand years. Think of the squabbling and perplexity we would have been spared. And think of the crop of dwarfs He would have reared! He did not spare us. He wants us to reach maturity. He has so arranged things that if we are to go on beyond the “milk diet” we shall be forced to think. (Elisabeth Elliot, “The Liberty of Obedience,” Christianity Today, Vol. 31, no.14)
God is not growing a family of little children. He is growing a family of adults. You are adult sons of God, so behave like adults. Think for yourself, and do not depend on others to tell you how to think and behave. Don’t behave like children. Behave like the adult sons you are.
A popular 19th century American preacher once said, “A nest is good for a robin while it is an egg, but it is bad for a robin when it has got wings. It is a poor place to fly in, but it is a good place to be hatched in.” (Henry Ward Beecher, Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 2)
My friends, as a believer in Christ, you’ve got wings. Get out of the nest and fly!
