Introduction

Friends, pull up a chair and take a deep breath. Some of us arrived today with a smile; some of us arrived with a sigh. The week may have felt heavy, hurried, or hollow. And yet, here we are. What if—right here, right now—this simple moment belongs to God’s perfect timing for your heart? What if the hush between your questions has been holy ground, where the Father has been arranging grace with a wisdom beyond the clock on your wall?

Have you ever wondered if heaven’s timing is late? If your prayers line up like planes on a runway, waiting for clearance? The Scriptures announce something gentle and glorious: God is never late and never early. He moves with matchless precision. When the world felt weary and waiting, “the fulness of the time” arrived, and the Father sent His Son. The calendar of the King clicked to a divine date, and hope came wrapped in swaddling cloths, walked dusty roads, touched lepers, lifted the lowly, and stretched arms wide on a cross. Right on time.

And why did He come? To redeem. To pay what we could not pay. To lift shame that sat like a stone on our chests. To free us from the grind of proving ourselves. The law can diagnose the heart; Christ heals it. He doesn’t hand us a clipboard of requirements; He hands us a new name: beloved.

Then comes the whisper that changes everything: the Spirit of the Son sent into our hearts, teaching our souls a new word—Abba. Not a formal title. A family word. The music of home. The Spirit helps us feel what Jesus has always known: the Father’s face is turned toward us. You are chosen. You are cherished. You are claimed. As J.I. Packer wrote, “Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher even than justification.” (J.I. Packer, Knowing God)

So today, as we open Galatians 4:4–7, listen for the heartbeat of the Trinity. Hear the Father’s purpose, see the Son’s purchase, and sense the Spirit’s presence. This is the message your soul keeps reaching for: you are wanted in the family of God. The world measures worth by what you do; the gospel names you by whose you are. Questions still come, storms still blow, and yet the Father’s love stands steady. When your confidence feels thin, when your courage feels small, let this truth steady your steps: in Christ, you are no longer on the outside looking in. You are inside the Father’s house, with the Spirit’s song in your heart and the Son’s name on your life.

Before we walk forward, let’s let the Word speak in full.

Scripture — Galatians 4:4–7 (KJV) 4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. 6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Opening Prayer Father, thank You for Your flawless timing and unfailing love. Thank You for sending Your Son to redeem us and for sending the Spirit to awaken our hearts to cry, Abba. Steady our scattered thoughts, soften our guarded places, and let Your Word wash over us with living power. Help us hear Your voice, feel Your nearness, and trust Your heart. Lift shame, loosen fear, and lead us into the freedom of sons and daughters who know they are wanted and welcomed. Glorify Jesus in our midst, and let Your Spirit seal these truths deep within us. In the name of Your Son, our Savior, we pray. Amen.

God sent His Son in the fullness of time

God works with dates and days. He knows the shape of a year and the weight of a moment. He chose an exact hour for the Son to step into our world. That hour did not rise out of guesswork. It came after long ages of promise. Kings came and went. Empires rose and fell. Yet a thin line of hope kept running through history.

When that hour came, the world had roads that tied cities together. There was a shared tongue that carried words far. There was a kind of peace that let news travel. There were scattered gatherings of Scripture in many towns. There were prophecies that had been read for years. There were hearts worn thin by guilt and by empty idols. The table was set from many sides.

The plan reached back before Moses and Abraham. God had said what He would do. The family line of David held that pledge like a lamp in the dark. The promises waited like seeds in the soil. In the chosen hour they broke open and showed life.

This timing was tender. It served people. It meant that the message could run. It meant that pain had a voice and hope had a path. The timing let the story start small and spread wide. It tells us that history is not random. It is held in wise hands.

Scripture says God sent His Son. Sent means a sender and a message. Sent means purpose and seal. The Son came with the Father’s heart and the Father’s will. Heaven did not shrug and see what would happen. Heaven moved.

Sent also tells us where He came from. He was with the Father. Before Bethlehem there was glory. Before manger hay there was the love of the Trinity. The Son stepped across the threshold by choice. He did His Father’s will with joy.

Sent carries authority. An envoy carries the name and weight of the one who sends him. The Son bears the very name of God. He shows us the Father’s face. He speaks the Father’s words. When He heals, teaches, feeds, and forgives, we see what God is like.

Sent also carries nearness. God did not send advice. He sent a Person. He did not send a list. He sent life. The Son came close enough to touch, to hear, to weep, to bless. The message wore skin and walked our streets.

Paul adds that the Son was born of a woman. God chose a mother’s womb. He took on our flesh. He grew, learned, worked, and walked. He knew hunger and thirst. He slept and woke. He smiled and grieved. He entered our small rooms and our long days.

This birth shows His kindness. He did not speak from far away. He entered the house. He sat at our table. He held babies and old hands. He stood in line and stood by graves. He knows the weight of dust on feet and the sting of tears on a face.

His birth also guards a truth. He is truly human. No mask. No pretend. Real bones. Real blood. Real mind and will. He can stand with us because He became one of us. He can carry us because He did not keep His distance.

This way of coming also honors women and family and work. A mother held Him. A home raised Him. A trade trained Him. He blessed what many think is small. He filled ordinary life with glory by stepping into it Himself.

Paul says the Son was born under the law. He entered the covenant life of Israel. He kept the commands. He prayed the prayers. He sang the psalms. He walked the calendar of feasts and days. He fulfilled what God asked of His people.

He did this for a reason. To buy out those under the law’s weight. To free people who could not meet every demand. Picture a market where a price is paid and a slave walks out free. The currency was not coins. It was His own blood and life. He paid in full.

Freedom was not the end. God gives a place in the family. He gives the status of a child with full rights. This is legal and warm at the same time. The papers are signed, and the table is open. You belong. You carry the family name. You stand in grace.

God sends the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. The same love the Son knows from the Father comes home to us. Inside, a new cry rises. A child’s word for Father. A word of trust and closeness. The Spirit helps us speak that word. The Spirit helps us feel it in our bones.

This gift changes how we live. We do not live to earn a place. We live from a place already given. We pray with ease. We obey with hope. We suffer with help. We wait with a steady core. The Spirit keeps singing the Father’s love over us.

Paul then speaks of full rights. He speaks of the share that belongs to a child. An inheritance is held for you. It is kept in Christ. It is safe. It will not fade. This hope reaches back into today. It shapes choices. It softens fear. It turns faces toward home.

All of this stands on Christ. He is the sent Son. He is the true man. He is the faithful Israelite. He is the Redeemer who pays. He is the Elder Brother who welcomes. In Him, the clock of God struck the hour, and grace came near.

Christ redeems those under the law

Verse 5 sets the tone with a purpose line: “to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the adoption ... View this full PRO sermon free with PRO