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Good evening, everyone. You can 
turn in your Bibles with me to the book of Galatians. Galatians 
3. We're going to look at Galatians 4, 
verses 4 and 5 this evening, but we're going to start reading 
in Galatians at chapter 3, verse 26. Galatians 3, beginning at 
verse 26, this is the word of God. For you are all sons of 
God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized 
into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, 
there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, 
for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, 
then you are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. 
Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ 
at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under 
guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the Father. 
Even so, we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements 
of the world. But when the fullness of the 
time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born 
under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that 
we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are 
sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, 
crying out, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer 
a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 
Amen. Well, let's pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for this Lord's Day evening worship. We thank 
you that we can gather in this place for the worship of our 
great God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Do bless us now as we 
engage in the act of preaching. We pray that we would do this 
in accordance with your will, your good pleasure, and that 
you might receive all honor Praise in this act of worship. We pray 
that your spirit would be in our midst lifting up our minds 
Unto a high illumination and the things of your truth that 
we might know your blessed truth And that we would leave this 
place singing the praises of your most glorious name and the 
grace that you pour out upon your people we do pray that this 
would would all obtain in reflections upon the Lord Jesus Christ, reflections 
upon His person and work that He came into this world, sinners, 
to save. And we pray in His name. Amen. 
Well, we're gonna look at verses four and five, another verse 
in the Holy Scriptures that captures the point of creation and the 
point of providence. Why is it that God created the 
world? Why is it that he upholds all 
things by the word of his power in his providential wisdom and 
glory? It is for the setting forth of, 
the sending forth of the Son of God to redeem guilty sinners 
from their sins. And the whole point of divine 
revelation is truly captured in Galatians 4. verses 4 and 
5. And so we're going to look at 
those particular words. I just want to reword them and 
then we'll have a look at four things in the course of the sermon. 
Notice verses 4 and 5 of Galatians 4. But when the fullness of the 
time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born 
under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that 
we might receive the adoption as sons. Once again, a capturing 
of the very point of creation and providence and the very purpose 
of divine revelation in the holy scriptures So we're gonna we're 
gonna look at this passage under four simple heads this evening 
the moment the mission the mystery and the meaning a very helpful 
alliteration of four M's for our purpose this evening and 
I believe they do fit I didn't have to sit for hours looking 
in a thesaurus for words that start with M. It's very fitting. 
So first off, the moment. We have something with regards 
to the moment of a moment in redemptive history, a time. And 
the moment is seen in the language beginning in verse four, but 
when the fullness of the time had come. What is this language 
and what does it mean? Christ himself uses this language, 
and Paul uses it on more than one occasion. Back up with me 
to the Gospel of Mark, because the language that Christ uses 
here in Mark chapter 1, is the same language, something with 
respect to the fullness of the time coming, the end of an anticipated 
era, or something, there was an era of anticipation that now 
comes to a terminus, to a finality, and to the expected moment. Notice 
in Mark 1 at verse 14. Now after John was put in prison, 
Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of 
God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at 
hand. repent, and believe in the gospel. Elsewhere, the Apostle Paul uses 
the language in Ephesians 1, for example, of, in the dispensation 
of the fullness of the times, God had perfected his intended 
and planned redemption. You can also turn with me to 
see this to the book of Hebrews. This language of timing is I 
don't want to say replete, but it is everywhere in the Holy 
Scriptures with respect to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Notice in Hebrews 9, And at verse 26, Hebrews 9, 26, 
he then would have had to suffer, this is speaking with respect 
to Christ, often since the foundation of the world. But now once at 
the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice 
of himself. So the language of the fullness 
of the times is here. captured by the same apostle 
that wrote to the Galatians in the language of at the end of 
the ages. This morning we sang two hymns 
that captured the very language of Galatians 4. In fact, the 
verse or the stanza in Hark the Herald Angels Sing is taking 
the language directly out of Galatians 4 when it says, late 
in time, behold him come, offspring of the virgin's womb. That is, 
when the fullness of the times had come, God sent forth his 
son, born of a woman. So the language that the hymn 
writer uses is late in time, behold him come, as well in Come 
all ye faithful word of the Father late in flesh appearing or in 
some versions now in flesh Appearing and we also sing that the hymn 
come thou long-expected Jesus when when the hymn writers are 
saying late in flesh The the Lord appearing or late in time 
behold him come they're not supposing that God somehow scheduled an 
event but then it happened later because God somehow procrastinated 
or or something weird like that. We're not supposed to think in 
that way. The Lord our God is infinite, eternal, and unchangeable 
in all of his glorious perfections. It simply has to do with the 
fullness of time. There was this long-expected 
anticipation of the Son of God to come into the world, sinners 
to save. So just finding our way back 
to the book of Galatians, When the fullness of the time had 
come, this, I think, captures a number of things. One of them 
is immediately in the context, but when we consider the fullness 
of the times, that language, when the fullness of the times 
had come, I think we're supposed to think, or we should think, 
or we have good reason to think of five things. And the first 
thing is the time determined in the eternal decree. in the 
covenant of redemption. The language of our confession 
is this, it pleased God in His eternal purpose to choose and 
ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, according to the 
covenant made between them both, to be the mediator between God 
and man. And so, when the fullness of 
the times had come captures that, it captures that time determined 
in the eternal decree when the only begotten Son of God would 
come into the world, sinners to save. It also, secondly, captures 
the time announced and anticipated by the prophets. Daniel, for 
example, 70 works are determined for your temple and the holy 
city. The prophets speak with regards 
to a time coming when there will be redemption brought to Israel. And so the fullness of the times, 
when the fullness of the times had come, it captures that very 
thing. The time announced by the prophets, 
the time anticipated by the prophets of the Old Testament. Thirdly, 
it captures the time of the, and bear with me with the language 
for a moment, but it captures the time of the convergence and 
terminus of all types. Pastor Butler preached this morning 
and he referenced types. things, places, events, persons, 
the temple, the tabernacle, David, Abraham, Moses, Samson, all of 
these events, all of these places, all of these things, all of these 
sacrifices, all of these washings, all of these ceremonies were 
all types that now converge at the fullness of the times in 
the Lord Jesus Christ. So the fullness of the times, 
when the fullness of the times had come, captures the convergence 
and the terminus, the ending point, the wrapping up of all 
types. That's what we see in the Lord 
Jesus Christ. We have all of these blessed 
streams of old covenant revelation, Old Covenant types that that 
come that there's a there's a confluence of these streams all of these 
these revelatory and typological streams come to a blessed confluence 
a one water path at the time of of the incarnation of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. It also captures, fourthly, the 
time of the perfection of all providences. God, in his providence, 
was putting many pieces, many providential pieces into place, 
such that when Christ comes upon the scenes, the world is ready 
for the advent of Christ. to come, to live, to die, to 
rise again, to send his apostles out into the world to preach 
the gospel of the living Christ. In the context, though, there 
is a direct, not though, again, the fullness of the times includes 
all of these things, but fifthly, the time of the completion of 
Old Covenant tutelage. That's what's directly in view. 
Notice at verse two. Well, just backing up to verse 
1 of Galatians 4, under this point regarding the fullness 
of the times, the time of the completion of Old Covenant tutelage, 
notice verse 1, Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a 
child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master 
of all, but is under guardians and stewards until, now notice, 
the time. appointed by the Father. So what's 
directly in view is that with the coming of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, the Lord Jesus puts an end to the era of Mosaic tutelage, 
or Old Covenant tutelage. That is, they were under this 
covenant, which again was not a, if you're with us in the baptism 
services, the Old Covenant is not an administration of the 
covenant of grace, but it is a physical, temporary, and typical 
covenant that points forward to and and keeps the people of 
Israel under this tutelage, under this guardianship, by those sacrifices, 
by those washings, by those ceremonies, by all of those types, until 
the time that the one who fulfills all those things comes. So the 
nation of Israel, they were under guardians and they were under 
stewards until the time appointed by the Father. And what the Apostle 
Paul is getting at here in the context of the book of Galatians 
is he's essentially saying, why would you go back to the mosaical 
institutions when the one to whom all those things pointed 
has come and has perfected salvation? It's largely the point in the 
book of Hebrews. The same argument is made here. 
Why would you go back to the beggarly elements of the mosaical 
institutions when the very one to whom all those pointed, the 
Lord Jesus Christ, has come to perfect redemption and bring 
many sons to glory? Notice secondly then the mission. 
The mission. When the fullness of the times 
had come, God sent forth his son. This is the mission of the Son 
of God. Pastor Butler has... brought 
this up on a number of occasions when preaching through the Gospel 
of John. The mission of the Son of God. We have that ad-intra 
reality of the Son of God in the triune God, that He is eternally 
begotten of the Father. And then with regards to those 
things ad-extra, or outside of God, we see the mission of the 
Son of God. God sent forth His Son. And as 
we'll see in a number of minutes, born under a woman, Born under 
the law, but with regards to this clause God sent forth his 
son what does it mean because you know when we We're so used 
to obviously because we're humans and we're we're in space and 
we occupy space and we don't occupy other spaces where our 
minds are naturally captured by people or things or whatever 
moving from one place and going to another God is very gracious 
to us when he uses language like this in the Bible of sending 
forth the Son, or when Christ himself says, I came down from 
heaven, I am the bread of life that came down from heaven, or 
I came down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will 
of him who sent me. What does it mean for one who 
is omnipresent, who is everywhere, to come down from a place or 
to be sent from a place to another place. God is very gracious to 
us in speaking in a manner that we can understand because our 
minds cannot comprehend the infinite. This sending, to speak negatively 
or with regards to what it is not, is that this sending is 
not a locomotive sending. That is that the Son of God is 
sent from a place to come to a place that he was not before. 
So he's in a place, and he's not in this place. Then he comes 
to this place, and he's no longer now in that place. That's not 
what it is, because God is immense. He is infinite, eternal, and 
unchangeable in his glorious immensity. John Calvin said something 
excellent with regards to this. He said, this is something marvelous. that the Son of God came down 
from heaven in such a way that, without leaving heaven, he willed 
to be born of a virgin, to go about the earth doing good, to 
die upon the cross, and yet he always and ever will fill the 
heavens and the earth as he had from the beginning. So it's not 
a locomotive sending. Christ isn't confined to a place 
and then sent down to another place. And I want us to enter 
into this particular world and language for a moment because 
it helped me. You know, there are a number 
of errors out there with regards to the Lord Jesus Christ, and 
what it means for Him to have come into the world. Did He cast 
off His divinity? Did He actually come from a place, 
go to a place, where He was not before, having left the place 
that He was previously? And all this language, and I 
think it's helpful for us to understand what it means for 
Christ to come into the world, and for Him to be sent. This is Turretin, and hopefully 
you can enter into the reality of this language, because like 
I said, it really helped me with regards to, okay, when Christ 
is sent, what does that mean? Does he actually come down from 
heaven as God? If we're to picture him as a 
Greco-Roman deity who's, you know, up at the top of Mount 
Olympus, He's not at the bottom of Mount Olympus. He's there. 
He comes down to the bottom of Mount Olympus, and he's no longer 
at the top. There are, Turton says, three 
modes of being in a place that are commonly held. So, to be 
in a place. For anyone or anything to be 
in a place, what does that mean? There are three things, and the 
first is circumscriptively. That means attributed to bodies, 
like us, because they're in a place and space, so as to be commensurate 
with parts of space. So we're here. You're there. You guys are there. You guys 
are over there. I'm here. The clock is there. 
Steve Lawson is back sitting on the bench. We're in space. We're in places circumscriptively. Those who have bodies are so. Secondly, definitively, applicable 
to created spirits and incorporeal substances. So angels. can be 
definitively in a place and not in another place, but with respect 
to God, repletively, which is ascribed to God because His immense 
essence is present with all and, as it were, completely fills 
all places. Therefore, God is so said to 
be repletively everywhere on account of the immensity of his 
essence, that this should be understood in a most different 
manner from the mode of being in place of bodies. For wherever 
he is, he is holy, that is, w-h-o-l-l-y, holy in all things, yet holy 
beyond all. included in no place and excluded 
from none, and not so much in a place, because finite cannot 
comprehend infinite, as in himself. So to get to the point, God is 
everywhere. He is omnipresent. He is not 
captured in a space. He is glorious, immense, eternal, 
a most pure spirit, without body, parts, and passions, immense, 
eternal, immutable. So what does it mean then to 
be sent into the world for one who is everywhere who is already 
in the world? we'll get there in a moment, 
but I want us to see the scriptures as they capture this truth of 
the immensity of the being of God and so therefore the immensity 
of the Son of God you can turn with me to the book of Job first 
Job chapter 11 and Job 11. Job is a minefield, not 
like explosive mines, but a mine for mining precious gems. Job 
is a minefield for the perfections and the attributes of God. If 
we read Job, not only Job himself, but also some of his friends, 
and one particular friend who provides good advice, we have 
wonderful things with regards to the perfections of God, who 
He is. Notice at Job 11 and verse 6. that he would show you the secrets 
of his wisdom, for they would double your prudence. Know, therefore, 
that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves. 
Can you search out the deep things of God? Can you find out the 
limits of the Almighty? These are the sorts of verses 
that should capture our Christian hearts and cause us to worship 
God. that language. Can you search 
out the deep things of God? In other words, you can't. The 
answer is Beforehand known and to be understood upon the question 
being asked. Can you find out the limits of 
the Almighty? No, you can't because he is limitless. He is boundless. There is no 
metric or measurement by which our glorious triune God can be 
measured or metered. So what does this sending mean? 
You can turn to Jeremiah for a moment. Jeremiah 23. Speaking with respect to the 
immensity of God notice at Jeremiah 23 at verse 23 Am I a God near 
at hand says the Lord and not a God afar off Can anyone hide 
himself in secret places? So I shall not see him says the 
Lord do I not fill heaven and earth says the Lord the Solomon 
in the dedication of the temple captures this very language prior 
to Jeremiah, of course, but in the dedication of the temple, 
Solomon is recognizing and proclaiming the glory of God in his immensity 
when he says that God cannot be contained in those things 
created by human hands. Shall God dwell on the earth? 
And he says something like even the heavens and the heavens of 
heavens cannot contain him. So then what is this sending? 
Well, the coming into the world of the Son of God, as we find 
our way back to Galatians 4, the coming into the world of 
the Son of God, the sending of the Son of God, is simply the 
immense, divine, and eternal Word assuming to Himself man's 
nature. That's how God the Son can be 
sent. That's how the Son of God can 
come down from heaven, not by leaving a place to a place that 
he wasn't before and departing the place that he was previously 
at, but by the assumption of our humanity for the salvation 
of sinners. So the mission is the coming 
into the world of the Son of God through the assumption of 
our humanity, the taking upon himself of our humanity. Notice 
again the language of 4.4, but when the fullness of the time 
had come, God sent forth his Son. What a blessed reality that 
God sent forth his Son. In this case, the reference to 
God, or God is in reference to the Father. In fact, if we observe 
this passage, it's a blessed passage, it's a blessed triune 
passage. It sets forth the doctrine of 
the Trinity. You know, when the Apostles are 
writing their letters, when the Apostle Paul here is writing 
this letter, he assumes the doctrine of the Trinity and simply writes 
in accordance with the blessedness and the glory of that doctrine. 
God, the Father, sends forth the Son, and then the Son sends 
the Spirit into your hearts, crying out, Abba Father. Father, 
Son, and Holy Spirit are all captured within these blessed 
three verses, verses four, five, and six. But back to this, the 
mission of the sent son is what we'll see in a number of minutes. 
It is the coming into the world, the assumption of our humanity 
that he might bring many sons to glory, that he might bring 
sinners to their heavenly glory, that he might save a multitude 
from every tribe and tongue, and people and nation. That brings 
us then to thirdly, the mystery. The mystery, what is the mystery? Well, it's the next clause. But 
when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his 
son, and here's the mystery, born of a woman, born under the 
law. Now, why do we say that is a 
mystery? Well, because firstly, we're 
to see in this language a glorious humiliation and condescension 
of the Son of God. That the Son of God, that the 
creator of all things, that the upholder of all things, that 
the one who is immense, eternal, boundless, and limitless, would 
be born of a woman and born under the law. What a mystery. Alexander of Alexandria, one 
of the heroes of Nicaea, he said, behold this new and ineffable 
mystery. This new and ineffable, it's 
incomprehensible. We cannot comprehend it fully, 
but it's a glorious truth. Behold this new and ineffable 
mystery, and then he goes on to articulate the blessed condescension 
of the Son of God to come into this world, sinners to save. 
So it's a mystery, and it's first seen in the humility in Christ's 
assumption of our humanity. born of a woman and born under 
the law, we see the humility of his condescension to assume 
our humanity. And this is Leo Maximus articulating 
why we are to see such a Such a condescension and such a humility 
in the Son of God coming into our lower world. Leo Maximus 
wrote, being invisible in his own nature, the Son of God, he 
became visible in ours. And he who nothing could contain 
was content to be contained. Abiding before all time, he began 
to be in time. He obscured his immeasurable 
majesty and took on him the form of a servant. Being God that 
cannot suffer, he did not disdain to be man that can. And immortal 
as he is, to subject himself to the laws of death, the Lord 
assumed his mother's nature without her faultiness. For he who is 
true God is also true man. And in this union there is no 
lie, since the humility of manhood and the loftiness of the Godhead 
both meet here. What a glorious mystery, what 
a glorious condescension, what a glorious humility taken on 
by the Son of God who is born of a woman and born under the 
law. And not only does this clause 
capture the humility that's seen in his assumption, but it also 
secondly captures the fulfillment of divine promise. This language 
of born of a woman, born under the law, brings into view the 
fulfillment of divine promise first born of a woman. Immediately 
when we read that language and immediately when the Galatians 
read that language when the letter was either read or when they 
heard it read or when they read it themselves, they hopefully 
would have drawn a line directly back to Genesis 3.15. God sent 
forth his son born of a woman. The promised hero born of woman 
that would crush the serpent with his head had come in the 
fullness of the times. He was born of a woman, and so 
it reaches back to Genesis 3, this language, and pulls to the 
fore that blessed divine promise given in a curse upon the serpent. It also captures Isaiah 7, and 
you can turn there with me for a moment. Isaiah chapter 7. So it reaches back to Genesis 
in that proto-gospel in the garden, and it also reaches back to prophetic 
promisings. You can turn to Isaiah 7, and 
notice what we have in the language here, beginning at verse 13. 
Then he said, Here now, O house of David, is it a small thing 
for you to weary men? But will you weary my God also? 
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the 
virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name 
Emmanuel. If we just take the language 
of born of a woman, we ask the question, why is that even emphasized? Because that's just how humanity 
and birthing works. That's how people come into the 
world. We're born of a woman. Why even include that clause? 
Well, hopefully you can see why. First, to emphasize his humility, 
that the son of God, the creator of the woman, would be born of 
the woman. but also to highlight the fulfillment 
of divine promise. And we see here this promise 
of a sign that the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, 
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his 
name Emmanuel. With respect to born under the 
law, We could go to a place like 1st Corinthians 15 45 and see 
what this means in the first place It is Christ as the second 
or last Adam who comes born under the law to as we'll see redeem 
those who were under it and We're all under, we were all under, 
and mankind at some point, not at some point, always is, unless 
they're redeemed by Christ, under the curse of the law. They're 
in union with their federal and covenant head, Adam. He fell, 
and all his posterity fell in him. And from that foundational 
launching pad of original sin does flow all subsequent transgressions. And so we all deserve wrath and 
justice and judgment, not only in this life, but also in that 
which is to come. And so Christ is born under the 
law as the second Adam. The first Adam thrust all into 
sin. The last Adam brings a multitude 
to glory. saving them from their sins. 
Secondly, with regards to born under the law, we could see him 
as the obedient son. He's born under the law in fulfillment 
of the divine promise that there would be a servant who comes 
forth to bring righteousness to humanity. You can turn with 
me to the book of Isaiah. Pastor Butler this morning talked 
about Isaiah 42 being one of the four servant songs, and we 
have at Isaiah 41, or excuse me, 42 at verse 1, the language 
with respect to born under the law. Notice 42.1 in Isaiah. Behold, my servant whom I uphold, 
my elect one in whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit 
upon him. He will bring forth justice to 
the Gentiles. He will not cry out nor raise 
his voice, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. He brings forth justice to the 
Gentiles. He is this elect one who brings 
forth truth and justice. And notice in verse four, he 
will not fail nor be discouraged till he has established justice 
in the earth and the coastlands shall wait for his law. He is 
born under the law in that he is the promised servant of God 
who would come to perfect obedience substitutionarily for his people. You can also turn to the book 
of John. We see here John in many places, well Christ, John 
recounting Christ himself speaking with regards to his divine mission. and speaks with respect to him 
being born under the law. Notice at John 6 verse 38. And here's that language again 
of coming down from heaven. For I have come down from heaven, 
not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. So he's 
born under the law to do the will of the one who sent him. 
And really Galatians 4 and 5 is an explication of Christ's words 
here in John 6 verse 38. And so he is the second or last 
Adam who comes to bring to glory those who are fallen in Adam. 
He is the obedient son, the servant of Yahweh, as born under the 
law. And thirdly, he is the satisfier 
of the law's penal demands. He's born under the law as the 
one who satisfies divine justice, specifically the penal demands 
of God. Go back to the book of Galatians, 
and notice in the chapter prior, we have this very thing. Beginning 
at verse 10 of Galatians 3, For as many as are of the works of 
the law are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is 
everyone who does not continue in all things which are written 
in the book of the law to do them. But that no one is justified 
by the law in the sight of God is evident, for the just shall 
live by faith. Yet the law is not of faith, 
but the man who does them shall live by them. Christ has redeemed 
us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. 
For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. So Christ is the last Adam, he's 
the obedient son, and he's the satisfier of the law's penal 
demands. That's what it means in large 
part to be born under the law. Now there's a direct application 
too with respect to the old covenant tutelage that we talked about 
earlier. Christ comes to fulfill the law's demands and therefore 
they are not to go back to or be under some sort of scheme 
where they think God requires them to engage in obedience to 
the law in order to be justified before God. Christ came into 
the world, and it's only through Him that we have a righteousness 
that avails with God. We cannot satisfy the law's demands, 
only the Son of God can. And if we think about just the 
humility and the mystery of this, like we talked about earlier. 
Think about this, with sort of that Leo Maximus comparison of 
the Son of God according to his deity, and the Son of God as 
Son of Man according to his humanity. With regards to the obedience 
of the law, the very giver of the law condescends to take upon 
himself the form of lawbreakers, so that as the lawkeeper, he 
would bring many lawbreakers to glory. It's a wonderful thing. The very giver of the law condescends 
to be born under the law in order that he might redeem lawbreakers. 
And that brings us fourthly and finally, as we look to close 
here in a few minutes, That brings us to the meaning. We go back 
to Galatians 4.4, notice the language as it continues. So 
that's the meaning. The Bible's answer to the question, 
why did the Son of God come into the world? The Bible's answer 
to the question, why did Jesus come down from heaven, is this, 
to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive 
the adoption as sons. Simply, the Son of God came into 
the world, sinners to save. What a glorious truth. What a 
wonderful thing. The meaning of the Incarnation, 
the purpose of the Incarnation, the very reason of the Incarnation 
of the Son of God, is that He might bring a multitude of sinners 
to glory. That should cause our Christian 
hearts to warm and to sing, reflecting upon the fact that we were once 
under the curse, we were once in Adam, And now though we are 
by grace no longer under a curse, but in Christ by virtue of the 
perfection of his work, being born of a woman and born under 
the law. The reason for the mission and 
the mystery was to save his people from their sins. First, to free 
from bondage those who were all their lifetime subject to it. 
It's the language of the book of Hebrews in Hebrews 2, with 
regards to the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, remember 
that language of bondage in our immediate context. Now I say 
that an heir, the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ 
at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under 
guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. 
In fact, turn to Hebrews quickly here for a moment, Hebrews 2, 
just to see the connection that Paul is drawing because the context 
is very similar. Why would you go back to the 
Mosaic institutions? Why would you go back to the 
time of tutelage and guardianship and stewardship when the promised 
one has come who has perfected righteousness? Notice in Hebrews 
chapter 2, And we'll pick up reading there at verse 14. Inasmuch 
then, as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself, 
that is Christ, likewise shared in the same, that through death 
he might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the 
devil, and release those who through fear of death were all 
their lifetime subject to bondage. He came into the world to redeem 
those who were under the law. He's born under the law to redeem 
those who were under the law, who were all their lifetime subject 
to bondage. He comes to make many sons and 
daughters of God. That last portion of the language 
here that we read, to redeem those who were under the law 
that we might receive the adoption as sons. Isn't that language 
wonderful? That we can call ourselves the 
sons and daughters of God. I hope you see the glory in that, 
because beforehand we were not the sons and daughters of God. 
Before grace came, we were not children of God, but we were 
children of Adam. We were children of the devil 
himself, Christ. brings that language upon the 
unbelieving Jews in his context. You're of your father, the devil. 
You're not the sons and daughters of Abraham. The sons and daughters 
of Abraham are those who have the faith of Abraham, not the 
physical descendants, but those who have the faith of Abraham, 
who believe in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and who before 
the coming of Christ, anticipatorily, if that's a word, looked forward 
to the blessed Redeemer coming, and those on this side of the 
coming reflect with great joy back upon the fact that He was 
born of a woman and born under the law to make us the sons and 
daughters of God. What a blessed thing that we 
have in this passage, the fullness of the times, the sending forth 
of the Son, the born of a woman and born under the law, and the 
blessed meaning, the blessed purpose to come into this world, 
sinners to save. It's one of those things where 
I think we, as Christians, just have to daily, on Sundays in 
a special way, but just daily, whether it's when we wake or 
when we fall asleep or throughout the day, is reflect with joy 
upon such a glorious salvation. Our minds can wander after so 
many things. So many things can distract us. 
The allures of the world can bring our gaze to land upon so 
many other things other than the Son of God who took upon 
himself flesh to redeem his people from their sins. And upon the 
mystery, or with regards to the mystery of Christ and his condescension, 
Nathan and Carla will know the poem that I'm about to read because 
Jim Renahan read it down at the Southern California Reformed 
Baptist Pastors Conference, and we'll close with this, but reflecting 
for a moment on—and this is maybe contrary language—the height 
of condescension, the glory of the condescension, the weight 
and the and the depth and the glory of the humility of the 
Son of God in coming down into our lower world, sinners to save. The old boys would say that the 
very one who set the galaxies in their orbits takes upon himself 
the flesh of his own creation. The one who fixed the stars in 
place is fixed in place upon a tree. The one who set the galaxies 
in place hangs upon his mother's breast the glory of the fact 
and the mystery of the fact that the Son of God assumed humanity 
for our Salvation listen to this this poem and I could send it 
to you afterwards if you like, but Jim Renahan read it recently 
and it just it resonates with this particular topic. Speaking 
of Christ, the poet writes, the maker of the universe as man 
for man was made a curse. The claims of law which he had 
made unto the uttermost he paid. His holy fingers made the bow 
which grew the thorns that crowned his brow. The nails that pierced 
his hand were mined in secret places he designed. He made the 
forest from whence there sprung the tree on which his body hung. 
He died upon a cross of wood, yet made the hill on which it 
stood. The sky that darkened o'er his 
head by him above the earth was spread. The sun that hid from 
him its face by his decree was poised in space. The spear which 
spilled his precious blood was tempered in the fires of God. 
The grave in which his form was laid was hewn in rocks his hands 
had made. The throne on which he now appears 
was his from everlasting years. But a new glory crowns his brow, 
and every knee to him shall bow. Amen. What a glorious salvation 
that we have in Christ. What a glorious redemption. What 
a glorious Savior that we as Christians are in union with. 
He is our brother, the scriptures say. We are His brethren, and 
He's not ashamed to call us brothers. As we reflect upon Christ, as 
we reflect upon our Savior, to reflect upon a one who is immense, 
eternal, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, and all of his 
glorious perfections, who took upon himself our lower shame, 
our humanity, in order to redeem us. What a glorious savior. Christians 
rejoice in him, and unbelievers here tonight believe on him. 
This poem ends with, every knee to him shall bow. That knee bows 
either in a believing bowing, that knee bends in a believing 
bending, glorying in the son of God who took upon himself 
humanity and is now exalted as the glorious rewarded mediator. 
The Christian knee bends joyfully, but if you're an unbeliever here 
this evening, if you're not, if you don't confess Christ, 
know that you will one day bend a knee, but it will be a forced 
bending before the majestic one of heaven and earth casts you 
into the lake of fire reserved for the devil and his angels. 
repent and believe in this glorious Christ who came down from heaven, 
sinners to save, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem 
guilty sinners. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, 
we thank you for your word. We rejoice in your truth to us. We pray that you would help us 
to reflect with great glory upon Jesus Christ, our precious Savior, 
We know that blessed truth, that the Son of God came into this 
world, assumed our humanity, took upon Himself our humanity, 
that He might live and die and rise again to bring many sons 
and daughters of God to glory. Help us to reflect with great 
joy upon this. Go with us into the remainder 
of this day and into this forthcoming week, and cause us to reflect 
with joy upon You, our God, upon our Christ, and upon amazing 
grace, and that we might conduct ourselves in a manner worthy 
of the gospel of that grace. Do go with us, and might you 
receive all glory in the midst of this gathered assembly, and 
we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Well, we'll have a brief 
time of prayer. It's the piano finished, or when 
the piano finishes, you're dismissed.