STUDY THEME: CHRISTMAS: CELEBRATE JESUS’ BIRTHDAY. 12-02-01

“THE MESSAGE OF CHRISTMAS.” GALATIANS 3: 26-4:7.

GALATIANS 3: 26-27, 28-29, 4: 1-3, 4-5, 6-7.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO GALATIANS 3.

The Christmas season provides a wonderful opportunity to think carefully about the true message of Jesus’ birth. Jesus was born of a virgin, but he experienced the human birth process. When Jesus came, He was God in human flesh who identified with the people He came to redeem. This lesson addresses the Life Question: What’s to celebrate at Christmas? Today we will explore the Biblical Truth: At exactly the right time, God sent His Son to redeem people from their sins. The Life Impact desired for this lesson is to help us celebrate Christmas by focusing on God’s provision of redemption. We celebrate Christmas because God sent His Son to provide humanity with salvation and sonship.

The Epistle to the Galations is addressed to a group of churches in the Roman province of Galatia, which was located in the center of what is now Asia Minor. The Galations were noted for their empetuosity, fickleness, and love for new and curious things. Paul visited southern Galatia on both his first and third missionary journeys. Iconium, Lystra and Derbe were situated in southern Galatia. Paul had founded the churches there on his first missionary journey and visited them on his third missionary journey.

Paul had preached among them the Gospel of the free grace of God through the death of Christ. The reception of Paul and his message by the Galatians had been warm and affectionate. The converts willingly endured persecution for their faith and “were running well” when Paul left them. The startling information received by Paul that a sudden and drastic change in attitude toward him and his Gospel was taking pace in the Galatian churches caused the writing of the Epistle.

The change was being induced by the propaganda of certain Jewish teachers who professed to be Christians, acknowledged Jesus to be the Messiah, but overlaid and obscured the simplicity of the Gospel of free grace by their insistence that, to faith in Christ. must be added circumcision, and obedience to the Mosaic Law. Galatia was a church that had embraced Christianity by faith, but now had reverted back to Judaism.

Paul realized clearly that this teaching neutralized the truth of Christ’s all sufficiency for salvation and destroyed the message of justification by faith. From this fatal mixing of law and grace Paul sought to save his converts by means of this Epistle.

The Epistle to the Galatians ha been aptly described as “the Magna Charta of spiritual emancipation,” and it remains as the abiding monument of the liberation of Christianity from the trammels of legalism. This is the only Pauline Epistle that is specifically addressed to a group of churches.

The good news Paul delivered to the Galatians, and the message of Christmas, is that a person is made right with God through faith and faith alone. And further, Paul declares, that has always been God’s plan. That’s the way it was with the Galatians. They had received the gospel through faith. That’s the way it was with Abraham. Righteousness was reckoned to him by faith. But what about the Law of Moses? How did that relate to God’s plan of righteousness by faith alone? Paul calls on common sense to answer that question.

1. PLEASE READ GALATIANS 3: 26-27

Paul began Ch. 3 Vs. 1-2 with “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by hearing of faith?” Paul did not question their salvation but challenged them to consider whether they were saved by faith or on the basis of works. The problem was that the Galatian church was living as if Christ had never died. These believers, through faith in Jesus Christ, should have come of age as God’s children. Thus, they are no longer under the tutelage of the Law; yet they had embraced a doctrine which declared the death of Jesus unnecessary.

In Vs. 15-18 the covenant made with Abraham was based on a promise. The giving of the Law, 400 years later, did not change the basis of God’s plan. You say, “ then why did God give the law?” God gave the Law for the purpose of REVELATION: to make Israel aware of their sinfulness. In Vs. 24 Paul said God gave the law for the purpose of PREPARATION: to prepare Israel for the coming of Christ. The Law neither justifies a sinner nor sanctifies a believer.

Paul points out in Vs. 6-9 that Abraham was justified by faith, not by the law; thus, Justification is by faith, not by the Law. The law was given to drive us to faith. We celebrate Christmas because God sent His Son so that those enslaved by sinful powers could be redeemed and become sons of God. Paul used the word ADOPTION to describe the tremendous transformation that happens when a sinner believes in Jesus Christ. It connotes the status and “full rights of sons.” Believers are not called to become Saints—they are Saints and that by divine call just as Paul was called to be an apostle by divine call.

As this new section of the epistle beings, Paul states confidently that the believers in Galatia are all sons of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Whereas 3:6-25 dealt with believers as children of Abraham, Vs. 26 deals with them as children of God. While God is the Father of all people in a general sense because He created them, only those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ are God’s true spiritual children. Unbelievers are the children of the Devil.

Every word in Vs. 26 is important. By faith shows that the human response to God’s grace is faith. The opposite of faith is “works”, which meant obedience to the Jewish law as a means of salvation. Just as Abraham was justified by faith, so are all who are truly saved.

All is another crucial word. In this context, all refers to all believers, Jews and Gentiles. Paul’s opponents claimed that to receive Israel’s Messiah, a person needed to be a Jew—either by birth or by becoming a convert to the Jewish religion. Becoming a proselyte demanded circumcision and obedience to the law. Paul insisted that a Gentile could become a saved person by faith in Christ.

Vs. 27 raises the issue of baptism. This is the only mention of baptism in the Letter to the Galatians. Some people make baptism part of the process of Salvation. They understand verses like this to mean that water baptism is necessary for salvation and sonship. Timothy George pointed out the major fallacy of this view. Would Paul, who denied that the ritual of circumcision helps to save from sins, have substituted this ritual as necessary for forgiveness? Was he saying to the Galatians, “My opponents were wrong in trying to circumcise you. What you really need is to be baptized?”

The emphasis throughout the letter is on faith as the only way of salvation. What then did Paul men by vs. 27. What is “being baptized into Christ”, and of what importance is it? Paul wrote that it is to have put on Christ. Practically, we need to “put on Christ” before men in our conduct. When we have been made sons of God, it makes it possible for us to resemble our Father because we get to “clothe ourselves with Christ.”

The water of baptism signifies this inner experience of coming to Christ—coming to be in Him—and of the new life this leads to. To put on Christ seems to refer to removing the old garments of a life of sin and to be clothed in the garments of a new life. Baptism by immersion depicts death, burial and resurrection---three of these: that of Christ, that of the believer who passes from death to new life, and to the future resurrection of the dead.

How do Vs. 26-27 relate to Christmas? They remind us that the purpose of the coming of the Son of God is not fulfilled in our lives until we through faith come to be sons of God who are in Christ.

2. PLEASE READ GALATIANS 3: 28-29

Vs. 26-27 set the stage for Vs. 28. The word all in Vs. 26 led Paul to spell out what this means for human distinction. Human beings are experts at creating distinctions that separate us. Many of these are religious, racial, or cultural. All these—and more—are summarized by Paul’s contrast between Jew and Greek. Each group looked down on the other. Paul’s original contrast is certainly understandable. Those who have become Sons of God are to realize that such distinctions are transcended in Christ Jesus.

The Jewish cycle of morning prayers include:

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God. King of the universe, who has not made me a foreigner.

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God. King of the universe, who has not made me a slave.

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God. King of the universe, who has not made me a woman.

Paul’s main point is that he was emphasizing that the most import characteristic of every Christian is that the person is in Christ Jesus. This reality is more important than belonging to any of the groups of which humans distinguish their group from other groups. In other words, Paul was a Jew, free, and male; but more import, he was in Christ Jesus. I am an American Gentile and a white male, but more importantly, I am a Christian.

Paul cut across the distinctions and stated that they did not exist in the body of Christ so far as spiritual privilege and position are concerned. Elsewhere, while affirming the co-equality of man and woman in Christ, Paul did nontheless make it clear in 1 Cor. 11:3 that there is a headship of the man over the woman and in 1 Timothy 2:12 that here are distinctions in the area of spiritual service.

Being one in Christ Jesus has implications about how we treat one another and how we think of ourselves. Paul gave most of his attention to the Jew-Gentile issue. He emphasized that Gentiles could become followers of Christ in the same way as Jews—only through faith. He also emphasized that when gentiles became believers they were to be accepted as brothers in Christ.

Paul followed Jesus in helping to raise the status of women from drudges and slaves to human beings. This is consistent with the creation of the male and the female in God’s image. Notice that Paul wrote, neither male and female, not neither husband and wife. He still maintained distinct roles for each, but it was not based on inferior versus superior status.

Vs. 29 draws together Vs. 6-28. After showing that the true children of Abraham are people of faith, Paul showed that they are also children of God through faith in Christ. Those who belong to Christ also belong to the line of Abraham and thus are heirs according to the promise made to Abraham and fulfilled in Jesus. All believes are heirs of the spiritual blessings that accompanied the Abrahamic covenant---;justification by faith. We have the privileged status brought about by God’s grace rather than by our goodness, not the Law but by faith.

How do these verses relate to our celebration of Christmas? They remind us that the most important thing about any believer is that he or she is in Christ. They also emphasize that all who believe are one in Christ, regardless of the human categories into which human divide and identify themselves. Our return to Christ is more important than any relationship or group.

3. PLEASE READ GALATIANS 4: 1-3

Vs, 1-2 paint a picture that would have been familiar throughout the civilized world of Paul’s day. Although modern laws concerning inheritance are slightly different, we can easily imagine the situation. Suppose a certain minor child will one day inherit a whole estate. He is the heir and in a sense already owns the while estate. Yet the terms of the father’s will specify that the estate is to be managed by guardians and trustees. In the first century homes of the rich Roman families, a son often was placed under the care of tutors or guardians.

In this sense the young master is no different from a slave. He must get permission from a trustee to spend the estate’s resources, just as the lowest employee must get such permission. Every thing stays this way until the time set by his father. When that time arrives, a wonderful change occurs. We are free from immaturity.

In Vs. 3 Paul applied the illustration to the Galatians, but he used the difficult phrase basic principles of the world. The phrase likely refer to the spiritual powers in the world, particularly demonic spirits, to which the Gentile believers had been in bondage when they were still pagans. Before the Galatians experienced salvation by grace, they were in slavery, just like the child who was managed by guardians and trustees.

4. PLEASE READ GALATIANS 4: 4-5

Because the law was inferior and incomplete, it could not provide redemption. Therefore the Father sent His Son. Christ came at a time when there could be no doubt about the fulfillment of prophecies.

Vs. 4-5 contain four central truths.

First, Paul noted the time of Christ’s coming. This corresponds to the time set by His Father in Vs. 2. Jesus came at exactly the right time to set people free from their spiritual slavery. The Roman Empire was at peace; and efficient system of roads and navigation was in place; Greek had become the world’s trade language; and pagan religions were increasingly recognized as empty. World conditions were well suited for the spread of the gospel.

Second. Paul affirmed the greatness of Christ’s coming—God sent His Son. The coming of Jesus was no accident; but rather, it was the plan God had determined from before the foundation of the world. Further, the on God sent was His Son, not just a prophet or messenger. God’s sending His Son is a bold declaration of Christ’s deity.

Third. Paul noted the nature of Christ’s coming. He came in space-and-time history. He was not a myth. Jesus was born of a woman just as all humans are. Jesus came into the world clothed in human flesh. He was fully man as well as fully God. Paul also may have had in mind the virgin birth of Christ, since no earthly father is mentioned. Because Luke, recorder of the virgin birth narrative, was also Paul’s traveling companion, it is hard to imagine that Paul was ignorant of the miraculous virgin conception of Jesus.

As a further part of His human experience Jesus was born under the Law. He was not only a man: He was a Jewish man. In order to deliver us from the Law He had to be born under the Law; that those born under the Law might be redeemed. He was circumcised the eighth day. He lived as a Jew subject to Mosaic Laws. He lived in full obedience to the Law of Moses yet was always without sin. As the God-Man He demonstrated both humanity and divinity.

Fourth. Paul concluded with the purpose of Christ’s coming. First. Christ came to redeem people from something. Those who were slaves under the law were set free from the curse of sin. Those in the marketplace of sin were purchased and liberated by His death. A slave could be redeemed by the payment of a ransom. Second. The other benefit of Christ’s coming was so that we might receive the full rights of sons; that those born of woman might be adopted by God. God’s adopted children in Christ enjoy a secure personal relationship with their Heavenly Father that is received by faith. Not by keeping the Law’s requirements.

By God’s grace we are delivered from slavery to sonship. No concept is more meaningful to a believer. Adoption deposits everything that God owns to the accounts of His sons and daughters. Adoption is all about position and privilege. To take a hopeless sinner and elevate him to become a hopeful child requires a miracle—a miracle which the Apostle Paul calls Adoption. I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God; I have a new name, a new family, a new purpose, and a new destiny. At death God is going to give me a new body and a new home. Now that is some adoption! 1 John 3:1 says “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we shall be called the Children of God.”

God takes into His family by adoption all those---Jew and Gentile alike—who are united to His Son Jesus. Paul possibly had in mind the Old Testament concept of ancient Israel’s sonship through God’s initiative in choosing the Israelites to be His people. For believers the age of slavery to the basic principles of the world is over. The age of joyful freedom for the children of God began with the coming of Jesus into our world. Christmas is celebrated because Christ came to break the bondage of sin; to provide salvation; and to adopt us as sons.

In Ephesians 1: 45 Paul wrote “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will.”

5. PLEASE READ GALATIANS 4: 6-7

Paul wrote that Christians are now heirs with the “full rights of sons”. He did not explain here what the full inheritance consists of. He did describe the down payment: God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts to redeem us. He also sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts to provide assurance of our salvation. Through the spirit’s presence within we have a warm, personal relationship with God.

Just as certainly as God sent His Son when Jesus “invaded” our planet, so now He has sent “the spirit of His Son,” invading” the lives of all who believe in His Son. The indwelling Holy spirit enables Christians to pray to God as “Abba, Father.” Jesus Himself used the word Abba, the Aramaic language equivalent of “Daddy,” in His own prayers in Mark 14:36. So intimately are believers now the children of God that they can approach Him in prayer with the identical language God’s Son used.

The Spirit within calls out with fervor to the Heavenly Father. The Christian does not recognize the Heavenly Father as a distant deity or One whom a slave would approach in cringing terror. Rather, God now welcomes the believer as a son. Vs. 7 summarizes every thing Paul said in the Focal Passages of this lesson. It essentially repeats Gal. 3:26 in which the study begins. Each one whom God has declared a son through faith in Jesus has equally been declared an heir. All who truly entered a relationship with God by faith are thus assured of a glorious eternity in heaven. By grace we have moved from slavery to sonship and to being God’s heirs.

My heart’s desire for myself, for my family and for you is this: That we would so resemble Christ that no one could mistake us for anything other than an adopted son of the Father, children of the Most High God. (Share the story, “He who takes the son takes all.” )

At this Christmas season, we do well to take seriously the true purposes for which God sent His Son: to se us free from the slavery of sin, death, and Satan: and to make us His children. True children of God love Him and one another. It will be a merry Christmas indeed!

NEXT SUNDAY IN ROMANS 15:1-13 WE SEEK THE ANSWER TO “WHY DOES CHRISTMAS GIVE ME HOPE? A.V. DAUGHERTY 12-02-01

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