What are We Celebrating at Christmas? Galatians 4:4-7

1. What are We Celebrating at Christmas? Galatians 4:4-7

2. #1 God’s Sovereignty

3. Galatians 4:4 But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,

4. Fact We don’t know the exact date of the birth of God’s Son—It is not recorded in the Bible and God did not choose to preserve the exact day. But This is what we do know—it was the right day.

5. “Fullness of Time” • This is Paul’s way of saying: • “The Right Time” • God is never early • God is never late

6. “God sent” At Christmas Let’s Remember Isaiah 46:9-11

7. Mary’s Song of Praise Luke 1:46-55

8. #2 God’s Coming

9. Galatians 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

11. Incarnation • John 1:14 • And the Word was made 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.

12. Incarnation • Matthew 1:23 • Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

13. #3 Our Redemption

14. Galatians 4:5 • To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

15. Revelation 5:9 • And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

16. The word redemption comes from the Greek word agorazo and means “to purchase in the marketplace.” Frequently, it had to do with the sale of slaves in the marketplace. The word is used to describe the believer being purchased out of the slave market of sin and set free from sin’s bondage. The purchase price for the believer’s freedom and release from sin was the death of Jesus Christ. • Paul P. Enns

17. QuestionWhen was I a slave under bondage?

18. Answer • Galatians 4:3 • Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

19. Matthew 1:21 • And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: • for he shall save his people from their sins.

20. Mark 10:45 • For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

21. The price of redemption is His blood; • the scope of redemption is many; • the result of redemption is forgiveness. • Paul P. Enns • The Moody Handbook of Theology

22. #4 Our Adoption

23. Glorious Fact God doesn’t leave us as redeemed free agents without a Father.

24. Galatians 4:5 • To redeem them that were under the law, • that • we might receive Indicates Purpose

25. Receive • To come into possession of; to acquire “the adoption of sons.” Galatians 4:5

26. Spiritual Adoption The word adoption means “placing as a son” and describes the rights and privileges as well as the new position of the believer in Christ. The word is taken from Roman custom where, in a legal ceremony, the adopted son was given all the rights of a natural-born son.

27. In this rite, four things happened. • 1] The adopted person lost all rights in his old family and gained all the rights of a fully legitimate son in his new family. • 2] He became heir to his new father’s estate. • 3] The old life of the adopted person was completely wiped out. For instance, legally all debts were cancelled; they were wiped out as if they had never been incurred. • 4] In the eyes of the law, the adopted person was literally and absolutely the son of his new father. • Paul P. Enns

28. Spiritual Adoption • Now Paul describes something for which there is NO Roman or legal equivalent—look at vs. 6.

29. Galatians 4:6 • And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

30. Ezekiel 36:26 • A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

31. Galatians 4:6 • And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Aramaic Word

32. Romans 5:5 • And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.

33. Application • Why do two people who both claim to be saved have remarkably different loves for the Lord? • Answer • One is grieving the Spirit, and the other is not. • One is quenching the Spirit, and the other is not. • One is sealed with the Spirit, and the other is not.

34. #5 An Inheritance

35. Galatians 4:7 • Wherefore thou art no more a servant, • but a son; and if a son, • then an heir of God through Christ.

36. Heir by Faith • Hebrews 11:7 • By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

37. Freedom from the legal requirements of the Law • Declaration of Righteousness • Adoption into the Family of God • Indwelling of the Spirit • Eternal Life