Sermon: It’s Christmas, The Fulness of Time Has Come
Scripture: Galatians 4:1-5 “Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. Having been redeemed from being under the law, we receive something else: adoption as sons. In Roman society, the son was the one who would inherit the position and property. He was the heir of the father. Now, our passage tells us that Jesus came so that we might receive the adoption as sons.”
Introduction: The origin of Christmas can be traced to pagan celebrations of the winter solstice. Before Christianity, pagans celebrated the winter solstice at the end of December. Church officials later adopted Christmas as a celebration of the birth of Jesus. I want to look at the Coming of Christ in the fulness of time, God’s time. In our lesson today, Apostle Paul draws our attention to When Christ came, Where Christ came from, How Christ came and Why Christ came. I am not concerned with the 25th day of December, I am concerned with the fulness of time. God’s timing is perfect.
In his letter to the churches of Galatia, Paul affirms that the Son of God came to this earth at just the right time in the divine scheme of things. He expresses the thought like this: “But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. Having been redeemed from being under the law, we receive something else: adoption as sons.”
For centuries, this time had been in preparation with all the various element falling in place. Everything was arranged by the unseen hand of God. The Jews, with their concept of monotheism and the Old Testament Scriptures (with scores of prophecies regarding the Messiah) had prepared the way. The Greeks had provided a language that was the most precise instrument for the conveyance of human thought the world had ever known. The Romans had given humanity a time of peace and marvelous transportation and communication systems. When Jesus was born, it was indeed the fullness of time. The “fullness of time,” was a time when the world was in darkness, although the Jews had the Scriptures with many prophecies pointing to His coming. The Greeks had given the world a common language, the Romans had given the world a forced peace, road, communication and commerce. All these things had come together under the providential preparation of God in anticipation of the moment God himself who send His Son. And when the fullness of time had comes a decree was given by the Romans, Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem. The Shepherds was stationed in the field, the stars had aligned themselves and every detail was complete, God sent His only begotten Son into the world. Christ came from the Father in the fullness of time.
Christ came from the Father, as the sinless lamb of God, to redeem us and bring us back into fellowship with the Father and the Son. Galatians 4:5 also reveals “That he (Jesus) might redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons”.
Before Jesus came, the animal sacrifices under the Law were unable to satisfy the sin debt. It was only a temporary fix to cover man’s transgressions. We were like children; we were slaves to the world, the flesh and the devil. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children.
The main point of Galatians chapter 4 is that now Christians are adopted into God's family and are no longer under the law of Moses. The benefits of Jesus coming the first Christmas changed everything. Jesus came to satisfy man’s sin debt moving believers from legalism to Grace. The overarching theme of this lesson is God’s free grace over legalism. Jesus came to move us from enslavement to freedom. It’s about being set free from the enslavement of the law so that Christians can live in the freedom of sonship. Jesus came to adopt us, who believe, into God's family. Christians are adopted as full children of God and are given the Holy Spirit. Jesus came to give believers access to everything that belongs to God. Christians have access to everything that belongs to God, and to everything God has provided for them. Jesus came that the Just could live by faith. Christians are saved by faith and live by faith in the power of the spirit. Paul uses an analogy of an heir to a wealthy Man to illustrate his point. The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. When we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to redeem those under the law. Galatians 4 reflects on God’s sending of his Son that we might be children of God and co-heirs with Christ.
The Galatians were Gentile believers who are being persuaded that they need to adopt circumcision and law observance in order to be fully included in God’s people, Paul responds with a forceful scriptural argument in chapter 3, by saying that God’s promise to Abraham precedes and takes priority over the law. The law served its purpose, holding a safeguarding function with the authority to restrain sin, yet lacking the power to liberate us from sin. The law served as a schoolmaster until Christ came. But now in Christ we are set free, justified, and made children of God through faith. This is true for Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female alike. By faith, we all belong to Christ; we are all one in Christ and heirs to God’s promises.
In chapter 4, Paul expands on what it means to be an heir. While heirs are still minors, they are “no better than slaves,” for they and the property they will inherit remain under the control of guardians and trustees “until the date set by the father.” Paul continues, “So with us while we were minors, we were enslaved to the world, the flesh and the devil. Paul tells the Galatians that formerly, when they did not know God, they “were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods.” He then pleads: “Now, however, that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and beggarly elemental spirits? How can you want to be enslaved by them again?” Paul was concerned that the Galatians are “observing special days, and months, and seasons, years and the like to be right with God.
Paul makes the astonishing claim that for the Galatians to adopt the Jewish law is the equivalent of returning to their former pagan practices. Being “imprisoned and guarded under the law”, or being minors, means being “no better than slaves.” But there is no need for that, because the “date set by the father” has arrived!
“But when the fullness of time had come” We have come to the end of one age and the beginning of another, at the time God deemed just right, “God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children.”
God’s sending of his Son ends the reign of the law and inaugurates a new age. The Son is “born of a woman,” fully human, and “born under the law.” Jesus came fulfilling the prophecies, the lineage of David, to the right city, at the right time and in the right way to identify with all of humanity. Jesus came that we all could be adopted as God’s children. None of us have any prior claim on the father. Our adoption as God’s children is a pure gift. Jesus alone is Son of God from birth, but he lowered yourself to share his kinship and inheritance with us. Paul continues: “And because you are, God sent has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba! Father!” The Spirit links us with God’s Son as fellow children of God and enables us to call upon God with the same intimate language Jesus used.
Our adoption as God’s children means that in Christ, we are children of God and full heirs with him to all that God has promised. We are children of God purely by God’s grace and not by circumcision or keeping the law, whatever form that law may take. Don’t go back to that life of slavery under the Law. The fullness of time has come! God sent his Son to redeem us from under the law, so that we might receive adoption as God’s children. God’s gift to us will not be revoked, regardless of how well we live up to our own expectations or the expectations of others. We do have a fresh start — not by our own will power, but by the gracious initiative of God in sending his Son, claiming us as God’s children, and sending the Spirit into our hearts. This is a pure gift; we cannot earn or deserve it. We can only give thanks and share this gift with others. That’s great news!
Yet, the gift must be personally received. Jesus comes into our lives by invitation. Many choose to celebrate the season and ignore the reason for the season. Christmas is about God making Himself available to us. It’s about forgiveness and redemption. It’s about sonship and adoption. What will you do with Christ this Christmas? It’s Christmas, The Fulness of Time Has Come! Joy to the world, let earth receive Her King, Let every heart prepare Him room, then heaven and nature will sing! Amen. Amen!
