Galatians chapter 3 and verse 26 and uh I would suggest we're about at the halfway point now uh in this tremendous epistle whose Razorsharp Focus has thus far been Paul's very aggressive defense of the Gospel the gospel of grace that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone and Christ alone and not by works not that not not by anything that you and I can do and Galatians therefore should come as a tremendous Comfort I should think uh to those who have come out of these strict legalistic environments these very legalistic Church backgrounds where where you related to your creator based upon your religious performance the book of Galati should also be a tremendous Comfort to those of us who are insecure concerning our Salvation that that we're just not sure from week to week whether or not we are saved and of course that is eventually the same the very same problem that we are relating to our god uh based upon how well we how well we are performing spiritually rather than what he has done that's about what we do rather than what he has done now what Paul has done thus far is he has pushed back against this legalism with very legal terms himself Paul will use the term Justified speaking of our justification by faith alone Paul will use this word seven times in these six chapters here in Galatians the most recent of which we just saw last week therefore the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ so that we may be justified by faith now that word for Justified there of course we've seen it already it is a legal term that comes out of their court system Deo it is a favor legal verdict it is is the judge rendering uh the one to be judged innocent he's rendered just and what Paul has been arguing thus far is that look the cross has given you and I a legal standard before the king's bench in heaven the legal right to be identified as the child of the Living God as children of the Living God now when you and I tend to think of the law when when we think of all things legal as it were we tend to have a ra a rather negative perception uh of these things and the reason is we live in a very litigious Society I don't know if you knew this but we spend more on litigation annually than we do on new cars as a country that is the Sue happppy society that we are living in and it it has become so absurd that we have to have warning labels that would otherwise warrant no occasion for warning had a little fun with some of these this week thought I'd share a few of these with you these are real all right notice here as we head in Into Summer that one pool one public pool had this sign posted do not breathe under the water I think that's probably good advice right don't know where this pool is but 0 feet 0er Ines no diving that that's of course excellent counsel right there is it not morela dry cleaners had this warning on their hangers don't know if you can see that not not sure why we would need that one there just a couple of more we're we're all familiar with hot coffee are we not uh uh this was found as a warning on one of Granville coffee company's cups it says avoid pouring on crotch area uh probably a a good thing to avoid I should think slightly more daring is the line below it if you are paying attention now I can't pronounce French but right I mean I don't know what that's all about but hey and then just about every thermometer comes with this warning right here uh once used rect the thermometer should not be used orally and that is about the best counsil uh one could imagine there now you know that the reason why these labels exist is because some idiots spilled hot coffee on his crotch dove into a very shallow pool right tried to breathe underwater toweled off swallowed his dry cleaning got very sick and then lacked a bit of discernment taking his temperature but that's how these things happen we do stupid things and then we somehow need to assign blame to another and we use the legal system for help and often look up end up looking like bigger idiots in the process and that is something of what Paul is trying to help these young believers in galatia with right here these legalistic false teachers have come in here and they are trying evidently with some measure of success here to get these genuine believers who have already been saved by grace to try and now get some help from the legal system of Judaism and the legal system of men that they have already been delivered from and so they are doing stupid things here in galatia and the Apostle Paul has been using very legal terms and legal arguments he has gone to their judaic legal system to beat these judaizers at their very own game and really they should have known better than to try and take on the Apostle Paul right who was the crown champion of legalism before he came to Christ right Hebrew of Hebrews Pharisee of Pharisees right Philippians 3 and so Paul is taking this young galatian church and he is taking you and I he has thus far taken us through a very legal presentation of the law of God he's speaking of Covenant and contracts he's using the language of annulment and ratification and he has shown all of us now look look there are no ifs ANS or buts about the abrahamic Covenant all right no ifs ANS or buts concerning the abrahamic Covenant now plenty of ifs in the Mosaic Covenant right lots of ifs there if you do this if you do this if you do that then this or that will happen right but with the abrahamic Covenant you remember that came before the Mosaic Covenant it was predicated upon the I Wills of God right I will do this and I will do that and I will do the other 430 years before the law 14 years before circumcision 430 years before the law there you had god making promises to Abraham I will make you a great nation I will bless you I will bless those who bless you I will curse those who curse you right what did we say the last time we were together God said through Abraham I will God said through Moses Thou shalt and what the word of God was showing the people of God for the glory of God was that it was impossible for men to keep the perfect standard of the law so that the promise to Abraham was through your seed Jesus Christ I am going to make salvation available to all men who trust him by faith alone because you can't keep the law right and so Paul left us with a very legal understanding of justification by faith that you and I as we put our trust in the person and works of Christ we have a legal a legal standing in the courts of Heaven that we are now legally members in good standing positionally in the family of God family and that is where Paul is going to go next where we pick it up this morning we have a very blessed shift in Paul's presentation the Apostle now moves away from the legal position here and move squarely into the personal all right we're we're we're going to be moving from framework to family all right from religion to now relationship From Slavery to sunship the judaizers needed to to be put in their place legally to be sure but now the Apostle Paul has a far grander vision in mind for the Galatians and for you and I he seeks now to bring out something of the glory and dignity of being members of the household of God of the family of God with all the rights and stupendous privileges that sunship brings to you and I we're still going to learn all right 2 Corinthians 3:18 we're still going to grow by a degree or two here today but we are going to do so under the compelling context of being called Sons and Daughters of the living King this morning we have the grand doctrine of the sunship of the believer we are going to make the discovery that sunship is both rooted in the atonement and the result of the atonement let me say that again sunship is the root of the atonement and the result of the atonement the Son of God became a man that men might become sons of God and enjoy all of the Unspeakable privileges of belonging to the family of God this morning we are going to answer the question who's your daddy all right we get after it and go to work now here in a very blessed portion of scripture here in Galatians the sunship of the believer verse 26 in chapter 3 for you are all Sons notice where we're going here now for you are all sons of God through Works no through faith in Christ Jesus for all of you who were baptized into Christ have underlined this word word clothed very important clothed yourselves with Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek verse 28 there is neither slave nor free man there is neither male nor female watch this for you are all one in Christ Jesus verse 29 and if you belong to Christ if you belong to Christ then you are Abraham's descend end notice the familial terms descendant HS according to the promise now I am of the opinion that the last four verses in chapter 3 uh could very well have been the first four verses of chapter 4 because Paul is kind of making a a summary conclusion from chapter 3 that that serves as a kind of pivot passage into the sunship of the believer in chapter 4 now what did Paul just wrap up in a very lengthy theological passage last week but he said that again the law has become a tutor a school Master to lead us to Christ we had in chapter 3 this extraordinarily Rich theological trus there on how the believer is to harmonize the law of God with the grace of God and how the abrahamic and Mosaic Covenant covenants from which they are rooted converge and find their Harmony in the plan of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ PA Paul had said that the purpose of the law you remember this is all review the purpose of the law was to show us our sin and amplify that sin that so that we might become aware of and convicted by the depths of our depravity before for a holy God that would drive us to the wounded side of our savior go back and get that study if you missed it there is nothing hear me there is nothing more important for the believer to wrestle to the ground than the right relationship between the law of God and the grace of God okay every error that has been introduced into the church is the direct result of not understanding these covenants properly Grace came first Paul said but then 430 years later the law was added to show us number one what faith in God perfectly lived would look like and then number two that there is no way we could ever do that on our own we are going to need a savior to do it for us the law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith and not works not by anything we could do it is the Ephesians 2 gift of God now the ravishing result of being justified by faith is what we have the joy of unpacking this morning you guys worked hard with me last week well done this text right here is going to be our great reward literally and figuratively what Paul is going to end up saying this morning this is going to be the very last verse we're going to read this morning is you are no longer slaves but you are Sons here's that last verse in our study today therefore you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son then an heir through God you were slaves in captivity to sin but now you are sons in the family of God and where he's going to go with this is look you're a slave now you're in the sun why would you ever want to go back so what it is you've just been delivered from that makes no sense whatsoever and introducing them to the doctrine of sunship now is going to have the effect of exacerbating the nonsensicality of following these judaizers right back into the slavery of the law they were delivered from now the broad brush that Paul is painting here and these four verses is meant to funnel us now into the discussion of sunship in chapter 4 but we'll make a few brief observations here the result of being justified by faith now is that you are sons in the family of God you are Jew or Greek Jew or Gentile now you are Abraham's descendants you are hirs according to the promise what promise right we talked about this last week what what promise the abrahamic Covenant right the promise to be saved by faith through the seed Jesus Christ what what did we say last week if you are in Christ Jew or Gentile you have been coupled to the promise made to Abraham that we are made right with God by faith and not works before the law ever came into being all right you remember Paul Paul said in Romans 9 not all Israel is Israel right you are not Abraham's descendants by physical lineage no no judaizers right and this is a very important part of the discussion to Paul because the Jews were very proud that they were the physical descendants of the patriarch Abraham and so so Paul is making this point implicit once again here you are not a participant in the family of God by physical lineage but rather you are made participants in the family of God by spiritual lineage if you belong to Christ then you are Abraham's descendants more familial terms here heirs according to the promise and so Paul continues to run this discussion right into the realm of sunship that will help them from realizing the the the Ridiculousness of trying to go back to what they've been delivered from now I think it's super important to grab this here all right that he says notice now you are all sons of God all of you who were baptized into Christ mark it there all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ now this is a reference to the imputed righteousness of Christ listen put on every believer put on like clothes right every believer has wrapped around him or her Isaiah 61:10 the garments of Salvation the robe of righteousness again scores of Christians only understand half of their salvation right and sadly of course because scores of pastors are only preaching the half of salvation but you know better yes Christ has taken the hit for your sin but he is also what put on you his perfect righteousness this is the doctrine of double imputation okay the imputation of the believer sin to Christ yes that's the half we know but the imputation of his righteousness unto us that's what so many Miss remember Genesis 15:6 from the abrahamic Covenant Abraham believed God right Genesis 15:6 to the letter Abraham beli belied God and it was what imputed unto him reckoned unto him as righteousness again what a stunning thought that that should give all of you in Christ a serious case of the happies all right like if you are in Christ you are walking around with the perfect righteousness of Christ on you as if you would never sin that is the robe of righteousness of Isaiah 61 and now here again in Galatians 3 you are clothed with Christ but notice again here and uh hits just keep on coming notice again here you are all sons of God if you name the name of Christ you are all of you notice the emphasis on all all of you who are clothed in Christ I think that too is something we don't want to miss so let's have a little talk the Galatians were very young believers they may have been easy Pickin for these false teachers all right they may have been too quick to jump back into the law they may have been too quick to criticize Paul and they certainly lacked the depth and experience to sniff out these false teachers and their inverted claims however and it's important super important to be clear on this all right however they are still Christians okay Paul is calling them sons of God I find that to be a rather comforting thought don't you why listen because being a Christian does not mean we have all of the intellectual answers to the problems that come our way being a Christian doesn't mean that you can exposit the the the the uh Institutes of John Calvin okay being a Christian doesn't mean that you can have to understand everything that comes your way being a Christian means believing in the person and works of Jesus Christ he will give you provide for you out of his kindness teachers to build you up and mature you in the faith Ephesians 4 that you might grow in the gladheart Delight of his infinite Beauty and truth and excellence and worth in the universe all that will come in time you give yourself over to the study of the word of God he is going to get you there that's his promise 2 Corinthians 3:18 from one degree of Glory to another we're going to rip off a couple of degrees of Glory today all right doesn't make you any less of a son while you are growing on this journey doesn't make you any less of a citizen of the kingdom of God because notice finally here that the gospel is the great equalizer notice there is no ethnic Advantage you don't have to become Jews right judaizers there is no ethnic Advantage there is no social ual advantage and there is no gender Advantage he mentions three things here why three things because Jewish men and in particular no doubt these judaizers they would get up in the morning every day and thank God for three things they would pray thank you God that I am not a gentile thank you God that I am not a slave thank you God that I am not a woman and Paul is saying no no boys the gospel is the great equalizer there are no special classes the there there's no elitism of any kind no second blessings no super spiritual people absent from the gospel absent are the sharp lines and high walls and Ivory Towers that we like to erect the gospel strips us of and destroys all such proud thinking we are all one in Christ Jesus amen all right and again the very last thing that he says there we are all one in Christ Jesus we are all what heirs according to the promise no small point there at all and it is now that word air that Paul now uses to launch us into the doctrine of sunship we turn the page so to speak and head into chapter 4 now chapter 1 and verse one here we go verse one now I say as long as the heir is a child Mark that word child he does not differ at all from a slave now remember our broad context I'm zooming out here so you can grab this with us we are talking about moving from a slave to a son a slave of the world to a Son of God okay keep that in in the back of your head now I say verse four or verse one chapter 4 as as as the as long as the heir is a child isn't this interesting he does not differ at all from a slave although he is the owner of everything that is immense we'll get to that but he is under Guardians and managers notice again now we talked about this last week notice again until the date set by the father so also we while we were children were help in bondage under the elemental things of the world that's what a slave is you're a child spiritually are held in bondage under the elemental things of the world all right now what Paul is setting up here is how we go from being a slave to sin living in bondage to this Fallen Fallen transient temporary world to being a full-fledged adopted son of the Living God World Without End in the Eternal kingdom of God Amen again here's the spoiler we can see and learn so that we might see and learn from the argument along the way down in verse 7even again Paul is going to say therefore you are no longer a slave but a son this is where we're ending up here's where we're starting right verse one you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son then an heir through God so you are no longer a Slave slave when we end up here but a son but what does it say here in verse one as long as the heir is a child he does not differ at all from a slave although he is the owner of everything isn't that interesting at this point in Paul's metaphor the child is said to already own everything but because of his status as a child is treated no differently than a slave now this has fantastic implications but we've got to unpack it all I want you to understand this so let's grab the metaphor that he began last week once again now a Paul again and speaking to a predominantly predominantly Gentile churches there in galatia right he continues with this Roman metaphor that he established last week at the end of Galatians 3 picking up on the language of the pedagogo right the the tutor um where we left off remember Paul said the law functioned like a pedos a tutor that never left the side of that child right and I told you that the tutor stayed with that child until the father decided it was time right there in verse two is where we get that okay now same idea here but Paul builds up the the the metaphor that he pulled out of real Roman life so these Gentiles would understand so Paul adds now same idea Paul adds the second supervisor listen there was not just one not just a tutor there were two in the wealthy Roman family and the basic idea is this you got an eight-year-old kid right let's say dad's a billionaire he obviously one day is going to own all that the father has but right now well he's got a couple of tutors that are over him or a couple of managers a couple of people that are over him that word for Guardians there epit tropos all right this is another General word for pedagogo okay that same tutor it's a more general term for what we saw La last week Paul is describing the same hired slave there at P tropos that stayed with the kid from sunup to sun down took him back and forth to school made sure he did his homework drilled him on his flash cards right he also had full disciplinary control over the kid all right that was last week this is a more general term to describe that same guy now Paul tells us here about the second servant here the manager and this is oo oo Nomas compound Greek word oo meaning house oia house and nomos meaning law you remember anti nomos from last week this word means house overseer but the house here refers to an estate the ooos in in our vacular is the financial Steward for the estate you don't want to entrust a billion dollar estate to an eight-year-old kid right and so you had this guy here who would act very much like the executive of a trust would act over a minor today okay that is the Roman culture now in the Jewish Community the date was set right it was a hard date the Sabbath day following your 12th birthday you would have your bar mitzvah you know bar meaning son Mitzvah meaning the Commandments you you were now considered a son of The Commandments or a son of the law and your dad would go down to the local synagogue and pray all right God now he's your problem all right uh now in the Athenian culture the kids would have very long ha there at at 18 years of age you were considered a Cadet member member of One of 10 tribes okay and they would cut your hair off on your 18th birthday and Al burn it on an altar to a false god gee isn't that nice you had evidently a bunch of Athenian fabios running around there right and then at age 20 you were considered an adult point being in the Jewish and Greek cultures you had definite trigger points okay in terms of your being considered an adult but again not so in the Roman culture all right whom these Gentiles in galatia would be most familiar with it was the father alone who would determine the time when you were ready to move from child to mature son that Paul wants us to get this is made explicit uh by the choice of the word child and children and Son we've got child and children uh up here in verse three that word let's grab it here that word is napos all right and that would be a young child a very young child an infant or a toddler it would also be used of an adolescent it would become a word that would take on its own connotation in the early church the early church would use this word to describe an immature Christian all right now again we're talking about moving from slave to son this is napio adolescent immature Christian the word for son right you are therefore a son and if a son and Heir I gave you that verse we did the spoiler the word for son that's going to be used is not apios it's Whos and it is used of a mature man in fact in the scriptures every time we talk about Christ as the Son of God that word for son used of Christ is whoos right so there's a an assumed maturity there why am I unpacking all of this for you so that we can see this it's important what is going to bring us from a slave to a son from a child to a man is going to be and this is Paul's point the gospel and there is not there is not a definitive trigger for when this happens in the Christian life but rather it is up to the father isn't it you and I we have all come to the saving knowledge of Christ at different different times according to his perfect counsel and his perfect will I I am 58 years old I did not come to Christ until I was 33 prior to that time I was an immature idiot hold your tongue a strong argument could be made that not much has changed it's the slow work of Grace however I would not go back and change the Lord's plan for me I would not go back and change the fullness of time we'll see that phrase in a bit for me I would not change that that would be unbelief because the depths of depravity to which I sank has given me an immense appreciation appreciation of his grace for which he knew I would need to operate in this calling point is the fullness of time for us is different according to his perfect plan listen don't give up on that family member that's lost because you think they should be saved on your time okay what is the word of God telling us keep praying it's up to the father his arm is not too short to think that black sheep in your family is beyond Salvation let's call it what it is unbelief okay okay I think secondly man what an extraordinary example of reformed soteriology here this will take some thinking but it's beautiful notice that the child napos the immature child who has yet to come to a saving knowledge of Christ right in Paul's allegory but notice that although he's no different from a Slave right he's already the owner of everything wow now the child is still under the elemental things of the world right the kid is under tutors and Guardians and school Masters to lead him and guide him to a mature and saving knowledge of Christ he's not there yet but The Inheritance is already hid now no now there's a manager oo noos and a state manager watching over and protecting and keeping for him the inheritance he will one day walk into gee I wonder who that is there's an likeo noos there's an estate manager but again it's already his he is already the owner of everything friends this is this is Rich tremendous comfort and security that Paul is making here available to us right here in this text in the mind of God you were an heir before you knew you were an heir all right before the foundation of time before you were ever stitched together in mama's belly Psalm 139 God knew you from eternity p and set his saving love on you and this is why Paul can say in Romans chapter 8 whom he fornew he predestined whom he predestined he called whom he called he justified legally right whom he justified he glorified that's Romans 8:30 we've talked about this all rendered in the past tense meaning it's done in the mind of God Jesus said it is finished brothers and sisters pay attention to the language used in your Bible even though you were no different from a slave you were the owner of everything you you just didn't know it yet you just didn't know it some of you still don't that's security and that's what you ought to see here if you have eyes to see and this is why Paul can say to the Ephesians look man you are already seated in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus right Ephesians 2:6 do you do you wonder why the Bible talks like this because your Sovereign omnipotent God never fails not one of them will be snatched out of my hand no not one John 10 because you have been sealed by the Holy Spirit Ephesians 1 because your Redemption is being kept and prepared and preserved for you John 14 1 Peter 1 Jude 1 and brothers and sisters in the Ark in Christ there ain't nothing that is ever going to separate you from the indistinguishable love of God that's Romans 8:39 so I if you're insecure in your salvation man that's not on God that's on you he can't stop telling you in his word if you have ears to hear you you are literally already bound up in glory Rejoice lay off the decaf would you and so here we have this extraordinary picture of The Sinner who is no different than a slave but a son of the Living God who is destined to inherit the universe one day and until that day God has Guardians and stewards whose job it is to lead his elect to a saving knowledge of Christ and to keep and preserve The Inheritance that is waiting for them in glory did you know you your Divine estate all of you in Christ Your Divine estate is being watched over even today and I quote imperishable and undefiled and unfading listen to me being reserved in heaven for you 1 Peter 1 and verse4 now what gets us from slave to son again that's up to Daddy verse four but when the very important phrase here fullness of the time came most of your translations have the fullness of time they lack the article it's not signific ific but when the fullness of time came God sent forth his son oh what about the son okay born of a woman born under the law why verse five so that he might redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the there it is adoption as slaves no adoption as Sons all right this is unbelievably Rich let me just start with a simple outline for you I want to keep us tracking on the progression of thought here look at the screen with me here's a simple outline that we can hang our thoughts upon as Paul progresses through the doctrine of sunship in Christ we had the pivot passage there at the end of chapter 3 to conclude the theological trus and to stare the conversation into sunship and now here in chapter 4 we had in verses 1 to3 that we are moving from slave to son here in Verses 4 to 6 how we are moving from slave to Sun the gospel and then in verses 6 to7 what moving from the slave to Sun produces in the life and in the heart of the believer okay now here very uh theologically pregnant to verses here Paul gives us some flash theology that he expands upon considerably in Romans s but there is much to dine on here so we begin then with the father's appointed time that we just foreshadowed in verses 1 to three Paul uses a very unique phrase here okay this is only one of two places we find this phrase used in the Bible he says there God sent forth his son in the fullness of the time or in the fullness of time now the other place we find this we've got a similar phrase there in Ephesians 1 where Paul says this he made known to us this is Christ The Mystery of his will according to His Kind intention this makes me want to go launch you into a Bible study on Ephesians 1:9 oh it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance right 24 let's keep going according to the His Kind intention which he purposed in him here's what I want you to see with a view to an administ rtion suitable to the there it is again the fullness of the times or the fullness of times that is the summing up of all things in Christ things in the heavens and things on the earth now this is clearly a different dispensation right but here Paul takes us out to the end of the age but what I find fascinating here is that term for administration there in verse 10 would you love look at that this isonomia and this is essentially the very same word we just saw in verse two oikonomia here means the administrator of a household or estate and does this not give us insight into the sovereignty of God back there in Galatians 4 as well that that there is this Sovereign God who is acting as the manager right as the administrator over the household of God arranging an Oran orchestrating this beautiful poetic Divine Symphony of redemption according to the fullness of time ploma konos which is Paul's way of saying the perfect time the appointed time the right time right on time in our vacular right in fact isn't it interesting that Paul was born to his parents in Tarsus of Sicilia giving him rights full rights of a Roman citizen which wasn't cheap people paid for that right gave him full rights as a Roman citizen that enabled Paul to offer us this text here not just that but to have the training and wherewithal to be God's apost Apostle to the Gentiles throughout the Roman Empire what is that it's the Divine Administration over the household of God Be Be stunned by the sovereignty of God we we talk about this week in in week you can find it in your life you can find it in mine when it was the fullness of time for you to come to Christ that is when you came and now here we are talking about God's appointed time to send his son Whos not nepios to send his son into the world to deliver you out of the slave market of sin and into sunship now you think about this concerning the fullness of time here okay okay religiously politically culturally prophetically God's timing and sending Christ into the world was Sublime religiously there was great anticipation for the coming of the Messiah building in Israel right the Roman rule over Israel had fanned the flame of Israel's hunger for her Messiah please come culturally Alexander the Great had so thoroughly established Greek language and culture throughout the known world that the Greek language continued to be the dominant language in the world well after Rome had succeeded Greece right so much so that even the Old Testament Paul quoted from in all of his letters was quoted from the septu aent which was the Hebrew scriptures recast into the GRE Greek three centuries before Christ okay so so what does all of this mean okay that that Christians who propagated the gospel for the first several centuries of the church had a Common Language with those whom they witnessed to and worshiped with politically at the time of Christ's coming Rome had instituted the pox Romana or the Roman peace providing both economic and political stability as well as as well as the very first complex system of roads that would allow those propagating the gospel safe and efficient and free travel throughout the Empire and then of course prophetically we would need another Bible study to even begin to scratch the hundreds upon hundreds of prophecies that were specifically filled not only in the Messiah that came but when he came and where all right there are a lot of moving Parts going on here but what we can discern and and Marvel over in these tiny finite little human brains of ours is that religiously uh culturally politically and more important prophetically all of these tributaries all of them were flowing freely and perfectly into the Divine River of God's perfect timing for the coming and prop ation of the Gospel that Paul is presenting here and considering here as the very high point in the history of the universe but when the fullness of time came God sent forth his son to Paul that is the Apex of history in the universe we're going to learn a lot today now what about this sun okay what about the son and now we get into some flash theology here Each of which could constitute their own Bible study but let's see what we can do here he tells us two things concerning the son all right that he was born of a woman and born under the law both of which are incredibly rich and significant now when he says born of a woman he's not talking about the Virgin birth here though though that is a tremendous truth but rather Paul seeks to emphasize the Humanity of Christ here okay Humanity now sometimes you hear people say well you know fully God and fully man no no no we don't say fully God and fully man because the word fully implies by definition a lack of such on the other okay no no no we say verah homo veros truly God and truly man if we want to get the theology right right Now theologians call this the doctrine of the hypostatic Union but but all that really means is and this is the great part this is the great mystery Christ had to be born of a woman truly man in order to be a substitute for our sin because Christ cannot take the H for men's sin if he doesn't take upon himself the likeness of men right Philippians 2:7 and yet somehow he has to to be truly god listen and learn truly god listen infinite God for his sacrifice to have the infinite capacity and Worth to atone for all the sins of his elect throughout time throughout time you need to think about that you know sometimes people I I thought I used to think this sometimes people will think well well how could one person sacrifice H how could one person's sacrifice atone for all of the sins of men throughout history did you ever think about that like how could Jesus take all of my sin and all of your sin and literally the sense of every single human being that ever lived that he called to himself like how could he do that how do you absorb the infinitude of sin how does that work well well he would have to be infinite wouldn't he he would have to be ver adus truly God that's how he can absorb the infinitude of sins for all of the men he called to himself throughout time because he himself is infinite are you following this man what an extraordinary wonder wonder of Wonders Lead Me To Worship right listen he had to be God to have the power of a savior but he had to be man to occupy the position of a substitute that's important let me say that again he had to be God truly God to have the power the infinite power of Savior but he had to be finite man to occupy the position of a substitute all right so you have infinite being enjoined to finite the son of God became a finite man so that finite men could become infinite sons of God Sons right Sons daughters family heirs pay attention to the language in your Bible and then secondly he says there gosh this is So Glorious secondly he says they're born under the law this is great and it goes down a little easier now like every other man Jesus was born under the law like every other Jew he was under the obligation now listen to obey and be judged by Conformity to God's written law in the Old Testament however and this is how we go go from slave to son however unlike any other Jew he satisfied the requirements of the law by living in perfect obedience to it so that he lived in perfect obedience to it we're going to move slow because I don't want you to miss this he lived in perfect obedience to it so that he would redeem other men under the law but not obedient to it how did he do that well again he was truly man because he was truly man he could be judged as a man and being judged as a man he fulfilled the law perfectly hey I can't take your place on the cross you can't take my place on the you can't trade imperfect for imperfect right but because he was born of a woman and born under the law because he alone was perfect he was the only one that could step up and offer himself as the perfect substitute for our sin and he did and so here is Jesus gosh this is so beautiful get your mind around this Wonder here is Jesus truly god co-eternal with the father and the spirit plugged into the Triune godhead and truly man born of a woman and born under the law that it might be plugged into you and me plugged up here plugged down here Jesus is quite literally and figuratively the bridge through which men may travel to God you could say it this way God and man have become United in Christ the God man he is the bridge Rejoice he he is the way he is the truth he is the life and no man may come to the father but through him now what does that mean for us I'm so glad you asked the best for last now finally now verse six because you are Sons God has sent forth the spirit of his son that's not some fancy New Age spirit of the sun we're talking about the holy spirit all right this is nothing super mystical because you are Sons God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts crying ABA father Daddy and because he sent forth that Spirit to allow you to cry such intimate warm familiar familial oh relational terms verse 7 therefore in the Greek this is my conclusion you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son all of this is whoos then an air through God I do not believe we have even the fuzziest conception of what it means that we are an heir in the family of God I believe we have an Earthly conception of sunship but no category at all for the Heavenly conception of Airship but let's start here in verse six God has sent forth the spirit of his son the Holy Spirit there into our hearts not that we would be speaking softly but rather that we would be crying out it's not ABA father no crying a Aba father now we're not speaking so this isn't something we have little regard for that this word by the way czo we've seen this word a number of times in Matthew this means to shriek like to scream out deep emotional expression to shout aloud to cry Paul is saying this is something that we are very excited and very animated about we are bringing the crzo here right like what are we so excited about that we might cry out ABA father now what did he just say let's put this all together what did he just say at the end of verse five there he redeemed us so that we might receive what the adoption as sons and therefore because we are Sons we Al no longer infants here we are the adopted sons of God now I want you to think about the doctrine of adoption here it is profound let us reason together under understanding Isaiah 1118 right let's reason together I want you to understand these things not so you could crawl up in your Ivory Tower but so that you would Delight in the infite inite worth of your God okay so let's consider this doctrine of adoption for a minute because men are not naturally the children of God all right because of our fallen nature our sinful tilt our sinful condition because we are not naturally the children of God we can become his children only by Divine adoption now let's do what Jesus did let's take a page out of his book Let's argue from the Lesser to the greater so that you can see this stay with me we're almost done in human adoption which is wonderful by the way which is a shadow of divine adoption but in human adoption think with me in human adoption a human father cannot give his own nature to an adopted child right let me say that again in human adoption a human father cannot give his own nature to the adopted child but God can and does by sending his holy spirit to dwell within hearts of the believer man cannot impart his nature but God can and does by putting his spirit in US penetrating isn't it literally and figuratively right let's read verse six again now with that understanding okay you have received the adoption as Sons verse five verse 6 because you are Sons adopted Sons God has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts human adoption cannot pass its nature on God can and does by sending the spirit of his son in a boy that is something is it not yes and now what is produced in Us by this pay attention to the language in your Bible intimacy family sunship warmth familiarity gladheart affection there is a crying out of a very rich and robust expression of belonging and family and intimacy ABA father you are my daddy my papa this is not some aloof disinterested supervisory School Master deity that you are bringing begrudging submission to no no Abba was the Aramaic word for father it was a term of endearment that the young children used of their fathers it was a very tender term listen to me hard it was a term of learned intimacy by experience ganoso right it was a term of learned intimacy Jesus used this word to address his father in The Garden of Gethsemane Mark 14 and Paul is saying this is why he says Spirit of his son right Paul is saying the same Holy Spirit is in us right notice notice he has sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts what is he saying as Jesus cried out to the father with intimacy and famili familiarity so now can we because he is better and he sent into his children his nature something a human being could never do he is so glorious his word so stunning so beautiful so Superior so better go read Hebrews the whole theme of that book is better we should do that again now that is Christlike intimacy right there isn't it literally so that we come full circle now you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son than an air and that is the word I want to land on this glorious stupendous reality that we have no category for just what in the world does it mean that that that we are an ER of God for all time what does that mean let's land the plane first of all I think we start with our human understanding that we are an heir speaks to what an inheritance right that we are an heir speaks to inheritance your father dies his property and and possessions and privileges are now yours but he has to die for you to come into those things right the trigger is your father's death but you see the great thing about your heavenly inheritance is that you don't lose your heavenly father daddy's not going anywhere and yet all that he has is going to be shared with you World Without End Amen the trigger to your heavenly inheritance well it's not your father's death it's yours maybe you think I'm speaking of physical death I'm not I'm speaking about spiritual death the kind of death to this world that Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 15 when he said I Die daily why am I telling you this because your heavenly inheritance it's already yours some of you just don't know it yet how do you find it you die to yourself you die to the things of this world this is something of what Jesus meant when he said he who loves his life must what lose it you allow him to be your lord in a ition to being your savior and the great thing is when you do that when you trust the Creator with the things that he has designed you to flourish with and under you'll discover Father Knows Best right daddy knows best you'll discover that the way he would have you to order your life is far better than the way you have ordered it in short you will really live okay you will go from being a slave of this world to being a son of the Living God you will go from slavery to sunship you will have lost the world but gained the universe and so much more than you could possibly imagine what do you mean this oh now you're Heavenly your heavenly inheritance in a physical sense it is compellingly beyond human comprehension right undefiled unfading imperishable it is being prepared and kept for you in heaven again even this very moment first Peter 1:4 the vitality and the value and the beauty and benevolence and pentry and poetry of life in glory and all of the stupendous unspeakable privilege and riches that will be yours we don't have a category for that oh my star somebody said to me last week that's about the force of it but what you're going to discover in the fullness of the time is there is a transformation that is taking place in your heart an inversion of sorts of your affections while you're here in this there is an inversion of sorts in your affections where it's no longer the things that are given to you that are Supreme and your affections and oh won't it be cool that I could walk through walls and all of this this kind of stuff but but it's no longer the things that are given to you that are Supreme in your affections but the giver of those things because all they do is are pointing to something excellent in him everything that you smile about is designed to point you to the heart of the one who made you to smile those who are truly rich in the Lord are those to whom he is your portion and he is your exceedingly great reward he is your source and he is your savior and he is so much more than my tiny pusillanimous little brain could possibly articulate and now it is he whose vitality and value and beauty and benevolence and pageantry and poetry have captured your heart who's your daddy he is your creator and counselor and composer he is your protector and provider and preparer he is your guardian and your guarantor and your glory he is your Delight and destination your tutor and trustee he is the Lord and lover of your soul he is your ABA he is your father he is your daddy now when this is true of your heart when this is true of your heart you will have moved from napias to who else from Christian adolescence to now maturity in the family of God and there's no value judgment to adolescence none at all we're all on a journey in time but when that's true of your heart that's when you have moved from adolescence to spiritual maturity and therefore you are no longer a slave but a son and if a son then an heir through god let's pray oh Heavenly Father Lord thank you for your word time and time again we are transported to something grander vist so panoramic and so beautiful and so expansive than the boxy little categorizations of what is good in this earth that is not you are better than all these things Lord You're just better than all these things and I just pray God that we would trust you the author and finisher of our faith the architect that Stitch us together in our mother's wombs I pray that we would trust you the designer with what it is that's going to cause us to flourish and be satisfied and and just experience glad hearted unmovable unshakable Delight in you no matter what life throws at us so that by our love they will know that we are your disciples by our love for one another by our satisfaction in you that that a lost and cold and dark world would say hey what do you got will you tell me about it you bet I will but first that work must take place in our hearts God and I just I thank you for these men and women they could be going to other churches but they're here because they they have a hunger and a thirst for righteousness they are hungry and thirsty for you and I'm asking you to make good on your promise that your word would not return void this week in their hearts that you would continue to draw them closer to you God that you would continue to just reveal more and more of your glory to them you said faith is a gift give all of these men and women and children more of that gift I ask these things in Jesus name and the people of God said amen let's worship