All in the Family

When she was 2 months old and fell ill. Her doctor was out of town. A man pretending to be a doctor prescribed for her “hot mustard poultice” for her eyes. Rather than healing her, it blinded her for life.

You would think that she would grow up being resentful and angry with God. You would think that she would consider herself disabled and maybe even unloved by God. Yet, she did not. She actually became one of the greatest hymn writers in the life of the church.

As Christians, do we have a good understanding of the blessings that surround us, even today? Do we truly grasp what it means that we are a people who are being saved?

Salvation, while something we speak of in past terms, is actually something that will come to full fruition at a later date.

The Christian is forced to have a mindset of the future life to come. Yet, we still live in this world, in full anticipation.

Anticipation like a child at Christmas. Do we have the same excitement about Jesus second coming that we had about Christmas morning as a kid?

Paul uses that as an example here.

A child waiting for their inheritance

4:1

a child who has to wait on his inheritance

under the watch of guardians and managers

under the authority of his Father

Paul, uses this to show that this is how God operated in the world until Christ came to bring salvation

But, we weren’t just children we were slaves

a misconception due to our lack of indentured servitude.

Paul is saying that because of the Fall of man in , because of sin, that all of mankind was a slave to the “elementary principles” of the world. Our eyes were closed and hearts darkened to the light that would come, Jesus the Christ.

And, when this happened everything changed for those who believe in Him. What does that change include?

Principles of Faith

It means that you have been acquitted

Our relationship with God changed in the Fall -

Adam and Eve communed with God, walked and talked with him

Everything changed when they ate the fruit

Our relationship with God was restored through Jesus Christ

4:4

“God sent his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law

Redeem - purchase back

English Standard Version Chapter 3

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Shows us that God desired that restored relationship with his people

English Standard Version Chapter 3

How awesome is it that God wanted you. Many of us don’t grasp this fully. He desired a relationship with you that he met his own requirements to make it happen.

Illus: Fanny Crosby, hymn Redeemed, How I Love to Proclaim It!

READ Hymn #701

God, gave his only son to redeem a bunch of sinners. He bought me back, with the blood of Jesus, his Son, for a broken, useless sinner. Me.

We have been acquitted, and when Jesus does return we will received by this loving God as righteous.

And, closely related to that is the idea of adoption.

Being a Christian means we have been redeemed by Jesus Christ and:

It means that you have been adopted

ANE idea of adoption

bringing someone into the family who would not have any status otherwise.

The purpose was to acquire an inheritance

4:5

“so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Illus: Adoption in the US and among the church. It is often understood by many Christians as a solution to the problem of abortion that we have in America.

Many of us have read a book or seen a movie about one who is without a family looking to be adopted. There is always a longing a desire. And, it is more than just a desire to belong, it is a desire to be loved.

By God adopting us he gives us all rights and privileges as His Children. The WCF reminds us that adoption includes: his name being placed upon us, receiving the Spirit of adoption, access to the throne of grace with boldness, and an ability to cry, Abba Father.

It means our relationship was not only restored, but transformed. Rather, than only seeing God as a Holy and unreachable being to fear, He is a relatable God. No other religion offers this. The God of the Bible is a God who is restoring all things so that He can again walk in the garden and commune with you and I. Why? So that he may be glorified in the work.

All those that are justified, God vouchsafeth, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption:a by which they are taken into the number, and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God;b have his name put upon them,c receive the Spirit of adoption;d have access to the throne of grace with boldness;e are enabled to cry, Abba, Father;f are pitied,g protected,h provided for,i and chastened by him as by a father;k yet never cast off,l but sealed to the day of redemption,m and inherit the promises,n as heirs of everlasting salvation.o

So, as Christian, by faith in Jesus Christ, you have been redeemed and you have been adopted. And, as Paul continues:

It means that you have been actualized (to realize in action)

This work of God is something real

We must be made holy again to be able to approach a holy God

So, through Jesus Christ and His Spirit this is actually happening to you now

In the Fall, sin entered into the world, and drove us from God

Someone had to fix that broken relationship

God, did through His Son Jesus Christ

4:6

God sent the Spirit of His Son in to our hearts

If you believe, you also have been given the Spirit of Jesus

This distinguishes a child of God and those who are not

A Spirit that gives us the ability to turn from ourself to God

To Cry out to God

Different than self-actualization

Fanny Crosby: Once a well intended Scotch minister approached Fanny Crosby and said: “I think it is a great pity that the Master, when He showed so many gifts upon you, did not give you sight.”

She rebuked him “Do you know that if I had been able to make one petition to my Creator, it would have been that I should be born blind?”

“Why?” He asked

“Because, when I get to heaven, the first face that shall ever gladden my sight will be that of my Savior”

This is actualization. This is the Sprit of Jesus giving her the ability to hold a different and thankful perspective. This does not come from a sinful, selfish heart, but from the Spirit of Jesus living within her heart.

This is adoption actualized.

Conclusion

In a spiritual sense we too are heirs, like children, awaiting for our full inheritance in salvation.

These verses though should be encouraging to us as we wait on Jesus Christ return. They are given to the Galatians who had turned from the gospel they hear from Paul. They had turned from placing their faith in Jesus and putting it somewhere else. They had become impatient.

Paul is reminding them of the benefits of being called by God’s name. When we become Christians we must live in this life, as we await that glorious end, where salvation is actually reached by us. And, while we wait I would encourage you to consider the following reminders from this passage:

By being adopted we have reassurance of our salvation

We taste a bit of the glory to come

By being adopted we know we will not be abandoned by God

By being adopted we know we are part of a family through faith

Read Hymn #701

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