There’s a story about a man in Wales who sought to win the affection of a certain lady for 42 years before she finally said, "Yes." The couple, both 74, recently became "Mr. and Mrs."
For more than 40 years, the persistent, but rather shy man slipped a weekly love letter under his neighbor's door. But she continually refused to speak and mend the spat that had parted them many years before.
After writing 2,184 love letters without ever getting a spoken or written answer, the single-hearted old man eventually summoned up enough courage to present himself in person. He knocked on the door of the reluctant lady and asked for her hand. To his delight and surprise, she accepted.
Imagine our problem from God's perspective. Time and time again He tried to get His message of love through to His human creation with little response. Finally, when there was no other way, He wrapped up His message in person. Jesus was and is that message.
(John 1:1, 14 NKJV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Our text:
(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.
In this section of Galatians chapter 4, Paul explains that the period of Law was a dispensation, a special way in which God dealt with Israel for a special purpose.
The Bible refers to Jews as heirs (Romans 4:14), for God had made wonderful promises to them through Abraham, but it took many centuries before they received these promises. In Galatians 4, Paul uses the rearing of the Jewish child-heir to teach the relationship between the believer and the law.
(Gal 4:1-2 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, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.
The child, Paul reasons, might be heir to a fortune, but as long as he or she has not reached the legal age of inheritance, the child is no different from the slave.
We see this in some of the older "classic" movies where the house slave, “Aunt Beulah” reared the master's children, talking to them and disciplining them as if they were her own.
Paul writes, “…the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.
Even though they would one day inherit all that belonged to their parents, they in many cases were treated no differently than slave children—that is, until that one day when their parents said this relationship was to stop.
Paul is teaching that the Jews were in their “spiritual childhood” under the law. God had ordained that there would be a space of time where they would be indoctrinated or taught His Law.
Though one day they would inherit the land—that time had not come.
Though one day they would be rich in faith—that time had not come.
The Jew’s graduation into their full inheritance was kept at bay until God’s appointed time.
Word definitions for verse 3:
(Gal 4:3 NKJV) Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world.
* "We…Children" - Paul is referring to Christians, Gentiles and Jews (Wuest).
* “Bondage” - douloo, doo-lo'-o; means “to enslave” (lit. or fig.):--bring into (be under) bondage; become (make) servant.
* "Elements" - stoicheion, stoy-khi'-on; refers to something orderly in arrangement--principle, rudiment.
* "World" - kosmos, kos'-mos; system; orderly arrangement, mankind (cp. John 3:16)
The "elements of the world" refers to the first principles of non-Christian humanity. This is the predisposition of both the Jew and Gentile before the influence of Christ and the effects of Christianity.
* In the case of the Jew, they were enslaved to the symbolic and ceremonialism of Judaism and its legalities.
* In the case of the Gentiles, they were enslaved to the ceremonial and ritualistic observances of their pagan religions.
Paul wants us to know that both Jews and Gentiles, when they were children (before Christ), were in bondage under the elements of the world; they were living by the principles of the world.
* The Jews were in bondage to keeping the letter of the law to obtain salvation. For example, In Luke 6, the Jewish religious leaders taught that it was against the law for Jesus to heal a man on the Sabbath. In Matthew 15, the disciples of Jesus were scorned for failure to ceremonially cleanse their hands before eating.
* The Gentiles were in bondage to their pagan rituals. In Acts 19, silversmiths were getting rich off selling little silver shrines of the Roman goddess of fertility Diana (Greeks called her Artemis).
Before Jesus Christ came on the scene, both Jew and Gentiles were in bondage to their ceremonies and rituals and though Paul wrote some 2000 years ago, the Word of God is still relevant today.
Today people are in bondage to the principles of this world. Many of the Jews are still in bondage:
I remember the time when I was a teenager trying to make some money doing some yard work on a hot summer day for a friend of a friend in the Druid Hill Park area. I was approached by a man who asked me if I could help him do something. It turned out he was a Jewish man who was attached to the synagogue located at Liberty Heights and Auchentoroly Terrace. To make a long story short, the man told me it was a Jewish holiday and they were not allowed to do any work, so turning on the lights in the building was akin to “building a fire”—which was work. The man walked me through the building and had me turn on all the lights by flicking a switch. After all this “work” the man gave me about thirty-five cents; enough to get a bottle of soda pop.
Even the Gentiles are still in bondage to the elemental principles of the world:
Even in a 21st century society, people still rely on mysticism and astrology to guide their lives. There was a song we used to sing when I was a teen that had these words:
What’s your sign, girl
Is it compatible to mine, oh, girl
I’m a Capricorn, we believe in life for loving
We trip on love and giving
If you’re a Virgo, we can make it from the start
Miss Leo, you foxy lion heart
What’s your sign, girl
Is it compatible to mine, oh, girl
Even today, people in the church give credence to astrology. Many in our society look to tarot cards and spirit guides for advice and direction. Paul says, "When we were children…"
Our text goes on to say, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman…” Paul is referring to the incarnation. He is writing about the true meaning of Christmas, God giving His Son as a baby who would grow up to me the God-man who would die for our sin.
The Bible is telling us that this time of symbolism, legalism, ceremony and pagan ritual would run its course, having prepared the way for Jesus Christ.
(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,
Warren Wiersbe says, "Christ was born at the right time, in the right manner (of a woman—a virgin birth), and for the right purpose—to set us free."
In verse four, Paul uses the expression, “the fullness of time…" – this is not the Greek word, kairos, that means a fixed time or special occasion. It is not another word used for time, aion, ahee-ohn' that denotes a particular period or interval of time. It is chronos, khron'-os, which means, “a space or lapse of time.”
Paul is referring to a counting of time designated by God that should elapse before the coming of the Son of God in incarnation. When this time runs its course, He would send forth His Son (Wuest).
It is like God was a setting timer for the exact time in which He would send Jesus. It would in this fullness of this time where---"tick, tick, tick, tick"--then RING! RING!--God sends forth His Son!!!
There was a divine timetable put in place:
According to Scripture, the Prophet Daniel was given the date of the arrival of God’s Son; 483 years after the edict of the Medo-Persian government to rebuild Jerusalem.
(From the time of the decree to restore and build Jerusalem until the coming of the Messiah would be 7 weeks (49 years) plus 62 weeks (434 years), yielding 69 weeks or 483 years, all but 7 of the 490 years involved in the 70 weeks.) (Daniel 9:24-25)
God had ordained His Son, the Messiah would come to earth and the clock was ticking.
God ordained that the Mosaic Law would be a tutor, teaching the world that the most highly-favored nation on earth, the Jewish nation, was depraved and also giving the Gentiles a picture of their own totally depraved hearts.
Paul says in Romans 7:7, “For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet.”” In Galatians 3:24-25 he also writes, “Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”
During this space of time God gave the Mosaic Law: The Ten Commandments, the laws governing social relationships, and the Levitical system of sacrifices. God ordained that these laws would be done away with as a legal system, to be superseded by the Gospel of grace.
Paul writes in Galatians 2:16, “…knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”
In Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
During this lapse of time God ordained that:
* The Roman Empire would maintain world peace.
* Roman roads would make travel easy for those who would spread the Good News about Jesus.
* The universal use of the Greek language made the speedy propagation of the Gospel possible.
The earth-stage was all set for the greatest event in the history of the human race, the incarnation, sacrificial death, and bodily resurrection of God the Son.
This is why the Bible says, “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son…”
Paul writes that God, "sent forth…" His Son. - He exapostello - ex-ap-os-tel'-lo; He dispatched His Son.
Its root, apostello refers to the act of one who sends another with a commission to do something; the person sent being given credentials. Our English word apostle comes from it. Our Lord is called the “Apostle and High priest of our confession” in Hebrews 3:1.
Jesus was sent from or off by the Father as His Ambassador to humanity. In John 5:30 Jesus says, "I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”
Not only was our Lord sent off from the presence of the Father, but as the Greek word in our Galatians 4:4 text, exapostello, signifies the ex prefixed preposition signifies He was sent out from the presence of God. In other words, Jesus, God the Son, Creator of the heavens and earth left his home in glory and came to earth as a weak, vulnerable babe wrapped in swaddling cloths---He was sent forth!
(Phil 2:5b-7 NKJV) Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. He was sent forth!
He was sent forth to the Cross.
Isaiah 9:6 says, “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given…”
Isaiah 53:5 says, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
He was sent forth to suffer.
Hebrews 13:12 tells us, “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”
He was sent forth to die for our sins.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:3, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…”
He was sent forth to be raised from the dead!
In Luke 9:22 Jesus says of Himself, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."
He was sent forth to conquer sin and the grave!
(1 Cor 15:55-57 NKJV) "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?" The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He was sent forth!
But Galatians 4:4 goes on to let us know that the Greek emphatically declares that God sent “His own Son” …making a distinction between Christ, who is His own Son, and believers, who are sons by adoption (4:5).
The expression "God sent forth His Son" also points to the deity of Christ—meaning that Jesus is fully God.
The next expression Paul uses in our text, “born of a woman” points his readers to the humanity of Jesus Christ--meaning Jesus was also fully man.
Jesus was “born of a woman.” Paul is alluding to the truth that Jesus was born by way of the virgin birth.
The virgin birth is a reference to the belief that Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary by the miraculous action of God without a human father.
The word “virgin” is used of Mary, the mother of Jesus (Matt. 1:23; Luke 1:27). Mary was a young woman betrothed (engaged) to Joseph. From these passages comes the doctrine of the virgin birth.
Matthew gave the account from the viewpoint of Joseph. He was betrothed to Mary. Before they were married, she was discovered to be pregnant. Joseph planned to divorce her without public scandal. Only then did God reveal to Joseph that the child was conceived through the Holy Spirit.
Luke gave the events from the viewpoint of Mary. An angel appeared to her while she was still a virgin betrothed to Joseph. It was revealed to her that she would bear a son who would be called “the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:32).
It is significant that in both the Matthew and Luke accounts the Holy Spirit leaves no room or doubt as to whether or not there is a human involved in the conception or "fathering" of Jesus.
In the Matthew account Joseph says, "I'm not the man!" In the Luke account Mary says to the angel, "How can this be, since I'm still a virgin?"
It is interesting that God predicts thousands of years earlier that this kind of thing would happen.
(Gen 3:15 NKJV) And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
There is a unique allusion in "her Seed," the first announcement of the virgin birth, for biologically in conception the seed or sperm is delivered by the man; but in the miraculous conception of the Messiah, the seed was the woman's, the result of her being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit (Gal. 4:4).
Why the virgin birth?
The virgin conception of Christ guarantees the perfect union of two natures in one Person. He is Jesus, the God-Man (cf. Isa. 7:14; 9:6, 7).
Dr. John MacArthur says, "The virgin birth is an essential doctrine, for if Jesus had a human father, then the Bible is untrustworthy, because the Bible claims He did not have one. If Jesus was born simply of human parents, there is no way to describe the reason for His supernatural life.
His virgin birth, His substitutionary death, His bodily resurrection, and His Second Coming are a package of deity. You cannot isolate those truths, accepting only one and leaving the rest, or accepting them all but one. You must either believe all of those realities that are the manifestation of His deity or you are guilty of being inconsistent, because those truths are inseparably interrelated."
There is no birth ever in the history of humanity that is as singularly spectacular as the birth of Jesus Christ. And any rejection of Christ's supernatural origin leaves His supernatural life, death, and resurrection inexplicable. You must have it all, or none of it makes sense. And if Jesus wasn't virgin born, then the claim that He can save is highly questionable.
The Holy Spirit miraculously conceived this “body” in the womb of the virgin, and the result was the incarnation -God in the flesh, with sinless blood. That is why I Peter 1:19 declares that we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
The entire program of redemption and salvation stands or falls upon the foundation of the virgin birth.
Belief in the virgin birth is a central doctrine of Christian thought. There was no human father. He was the Child of God. The new creative act of God is seen in His bringing His Son into the world.
God sent forth His Son, born of a virgin. The essence of this truth is magnified in the words of this Christmas carol:
Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of the virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel,
Hark, the herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King.
Back to our text
(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, -
This is telling us that Jesus Christ was reared in conformity to the Mosaic Law. Jesus was reared by a family that observed the law of God.
Jesus was circumcised according to the Law:
(Luke 2:21 NKJV) And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.
After giving birth to Jesus, Mary was purified according to the Law
(Luke 2:22 NKJV) Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord
(Luke 2:23 NKJV) (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD"),
(Luke 2:24 NKJV) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."
Why would there be concern that Jesus was born under the Law? Paul answers the question in verse five of our text:
Jesus was born under the law “to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
In order to help us understand what Paul means in verse 5, let me offer an illustration:
In the History of Persia there is a story about twelve men who were robbed and murdered under the very walls of the city. The King determined that the crime should be investigated and all who participated in it put to death.
After a long search the guilty ones were found and their guilt established beyond a doubt. The King had sworn that they should be put to death. The sentence had been passed and the day of their execution had come.
Great efforts had been made to obtain a pardon for the prisoners, but it was impossible, even though some were even relatives of the king.
Among the men to be executed was a young man, scarcely twenty years of age. His very appearance drew widespread interest and sympathy to him. Men and women were in tears, crying out, "Can't this young man be pardoned?" But no way was seen. He was to be executed in a few hours.
Just then a tender scene was witnessed; the father of this young man came rushing forward and was admitted to an interview with the King. He addressed the monarch in words something like these:
"You have sworn ... that these men should die, and it is right they should, but I who am not guilty, come here to ask a great favor; it is that I may die in my son's place.
He is young and just engaged to be married, and has hardly tasted the sweets of existence. Oh, sir, be merciful! Let me be executed in his place!
Let my son live to taste of the waters and till the ground of his ancestors!
I will meet the just demands of the law for him. I know he is guilty and deserves it all, but I love him and will voluntarily die for him."
The monarch was deeply moved by the father's appeal and so accepted this kind, loving father in the place of the son. The son, almost overcome with grief, begged the king to reverse his decree to accept his father, and to inflict on himself the punishment he justly merited and save the life of his aged and innocent father.
There was not a dry eye on those at the scene. But the son was spared while the innocent father met the just demands of the law, and was executed instead of the son, and so the law of the kingdom of Persia was satisfied and made honorable.
Now if I may change one detail of this story you will see how it affects the outcome of the story.
The father approaches the king and pleads to give his own life in exchange for his son's. One of the king's officers recognizes the father, who has an outstanding warrant for his arrest for tax evasion. The father is thrown into jail and his young son is executed.
What is the difference between the first version and the second? In the first version of the story the father is innocent making him a suitable substitute. In the second version the father is himself guilty of breaking the law--making him an unsuitable sacrifice.
Paul writes that Jesus was "born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law…" Jesus never transgressed or broke any of the Old Testament laws or commandments.
(Isa 53:9 NKJV) And they made His grave with the wicked; But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
(Heb 4:15 NKJV) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
(1 Pet 1:18 NKJV) knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers,
(1 Pet 1:19 NKJV) but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
(1 John 3:5 NKJV) And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
Jesus was “born under the law” - He was reared in conformity to the Mosaic Law. He kept the law in every point, thus qualifying to be God’s sacrifice for sin.
Paul writes that Jesus was "born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law…"
Jesus was the fitting sacrifice for paying the penalty of our sins because He never committed any sin—He never transgressed or broke any of the Old Testament commandments.
Jesus would be the perfect sacrifice for sin and would satisfy all the Old Testament requirements for a pure sacrifice.
This is why Jesus was qualified to be our Redeemer! Found in Galatians 4:5, word “redeem” is exagorazo, ex-ag-or-ad'-zo and means “to buy up and to rescue from loss.” It was used when someone was purchased out from the slave market.
Remember, we were in bondage to the elements of the world. The Jews to their law and the Gentiles to their pagan rituals. Jesus’ death purchased out of slavery, the one who would follow Him by faith.
Not only did He redeem the Christian from the slave market of sin, He made it so that we could be adopted.
Adoption is the act of God that places the believer in His family as an adult son (v. 23; 9:4; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5).
When it comes to biblical adoption, Jesus is the "only begotten" of God (John 1:18; 3:16, 18) meaning He is the unique Son in a way totally different from any other who believes and is born as a child of God.
Jesus is unique because He is equal with God but sons and daughters of Adam become "sons of God" by means of the new birth (John 3:3) as they are adopted into the family of God.
Why do people need to be adopted by God? In Romans chapter 5 Paul lets us know that there is spiritual death for the one who remains in Adam but life for those who are in Christ.
* For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
* For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.
Because of Adam's sin, many were condemned to spiritual death.
Because of Jesus Christ, many are made alive.
Because of Adam's sin, judgment came to all men.
Because of Jesus Christ, the free gift of being declared righteous came (justification).
Because of Adam's sin, many were made sinners.
Because of Jesus Christ, many will be made righteous.
Because of Adam's sin, sin abounded.
Because of Jesus Christ, Grace abounded much more
The “adoption as (God's) sons” was needed in order to place us in a position where we might benefit from all that God wanted to lavish on us because of His Son.
In Ephesians chapter one, Paul gives us a list of the blessings lavished upon the believer because of being adopted by God:
* He blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
* He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world
* He is making us holy and without blame before Him
* In love He predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
* He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
* He has redeemed us through His blood
* He granted us the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
* He made His grace to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
* He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself,
* He gave us an inheritance
* He sealed us with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance
Aren't you glad you've been adopted!
(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!"
"Abba" is Aramaic for "father" or "Daddy." You can’t cry out “Abba, Father!” unless you’ve been adopted!
You see, before the Christian’s adoption, he or she is alienated from God in their minds by wicked works. (Col 1:21)
Before Christ, we didn’t want to have much if any to do with God. And even if we believed that there was a God, we set out like the tribesman in the King Kong movie who wanted to appease him with sacrifices.
Today men and women do it with sophistication.
They come to church on Christmas and Easter hoping that God will forget all the sin they did during the other parts of the year. If church attendance alone doesn’t appease God, they will occasionally give Him a tip when the offering plate is passed around. Many volunteer their time and talents here and there to cool down the fiery wrath they suppose God is about to unleash—an appearance at the youth event or even serving a meal at the potluck dinner.
But God is just “God” to them. However, when you come to Christ, the Holy Spirit does a work in your heart and God becomes “Abba Father.”
No more fear; no more alienation; no more appeasement; no more bargaining…You are His child and He is your Father.
You can cry out to Him in the morning; You can cry out to Him in the noonday; You can cry out to Him when the sun goes down!
Gal 4:4 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 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
Gal 4:6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"
Gal 4:7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
