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God Extended His Grace to Us – Galatians 4:4
December 24, 2017
Reemphasizing from past weeks, the Christmas season is much more than tinsel and lights.
It’s all about Jesus, and the reason why He came.
God was with mankind, but with the fall in Genesis 2-3 things changed and we find the purpose of Jesus coming.
1. Sin is severe and results in judgement
2. Sin separates us from a Holy God
3. Sin has been defeated by Jesus
Understanding that God was with us, but that sin changed that relationship, is the first step in truly celebrating Jesus this Christmas.
Although sin changed things, God wasn’t caught off guard - He had a plan after all.
God was with us, but man sinned and broke that relationship.
However, God had a plan - and that plan is Jesus!
On this Eve of Christmas, we will see how Paul unfolds for us the blessings of this plan in the Gospel.
Turn with me please to Galatians 3.
3:26 - Sinners become part of God’s family through faith in Jesus Christ alone
3:27 - Following faith, we identify with Christ through baptism
ἐνδύω (enduō) - to clothe or be clothed with a garment (military uniform)
3:28 - In Christ, there are no differences when it comes to God’s acceptance
3:29 - By faith we become Abraham’s descendants
4:1-3 - The law is insufficient and binding
Paul contrasts between being a son and a slave aiming to help the Galatians understand that reliance on the law is a sign of immaturity.
Under the law, there is no freedom - only bondage.
He writes later on in verse 9:
Then we come to verse 4:
4:4 - Christmas was a detailed plan with a purpose
fullness of time - highlights that the life, death, and resurrection of Christ occured according to God’s plan.
God sent forth His Son - highlighting that Jesus existed before He was sent which promotes His eternal deity.
Jesus was not just another baby.
He is the God man.
He is Immanuel - God with Us.
Born of a Woman - Speaks of Christ’s humanity (hypostatic union)
Born under the law - Jesus was a Jew and was subject to living under the law.
4:5 - Jesus came to exchange bondage for redemption/slavery for adoption
Paul is driving home the overarching theme of Galatians that we are justified by faith in Christ alone.
Here we find the great exchange of redemption and justification.
God became man, so that man could know God.
God in the flesh became sin, so that we could become righteous.
Illustration of Justification - 2 parts - forgiveness of sin/imputation of Christ’s righteousness
Paul finishes this section with the affirmation that those in Christ are no longer slaves to sin and the law, but are sons and heirs of God through Christ.
All that comes with being a child of God is ours in the present.
It is said that In rabbinical schools in Israel today a student is not allowed to read the Song of Solomon or Ezekiel 1 until he is forty years old.
The Song of Solomon is considered too explicit for a younger mind, and Ezekiel 1 contains a description of the glory of the ineffable God.
The Talmud tells that when a certain person under forty began to read Ezekiel 1, fire came out from the page and consumed him.
What this shows is that a person under law is not considered a man until he is forty.
(The well-known bar mitzvah at age thirteen only makes a Jewish boy a “son of the covenant”—the meaning of the term—and thus responsible to keep the law.)
Up to the age of forty the Orthodox man is considered a minor.
However, this is not so with believers under grace.
The moment they are saved the whole inheritance is theirs.
They are treated as adult, mature sons and daughters, and the whole Bible is theirs to read, enjoy, and obey.
What does this have to do with Christmas?
What does this have to do with celebrating Jesus?
The reason to celebrate begins back in Genesis at the fall, extends through Old Testament prophecy of the coming Messiah, and culminates in the Gospel of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
Christmas is all about the incarnate Christ, coming of a woman, under the law, to redeem those under the law.
Christ came to exchange your unrighteousness for His righteousness, your sin for His sinlessness, your bondage for the benefits of being in God’s family.
As you walk through the busyness of Christmas this season, remember what it’s really all about.
Jesus - the One planned to redeem you.
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