← Back to sermon library

Galatians chapter 3, our focus 
tonight is actually chapter 4, verses 4 to 7. It's always unwise 
just to drop into a particular section of scripture without 
understanding the context, and essentially what Paul is doing 
here is contrasting, or not contrasting, but showing rather the relationship 
between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. I sort of mentioned 
some things about that this morning. That is precisely what's in view 
here in chapter 3 at the end all the way through chapter 4. 
And with a specific reference, the Judaizers who had plagued 
the churches of Christ had come and said that the people of God, 
it was good for them to have believed the gospel, but they 
also needed to be circumcised in order to be counted among 
the people of God. So Paul is highlighting the reality 
that the Old Covenant is now gone. It has become obsolete. The New Covenant is in place 
and so those ceremonies that were attached to the Old Covenant 
are no longer binding. Essentially that's what he does 
in this first section. I'll pick up reading in verse 
19 of chapter 3 where he deals with the purpose of the law. 
And in terms of Paul's use of law in this section. He's probably 
referring to the Mosaic Covenant, the Old Covenant, and specifically 
with reference to the ceremonies in that Mosaic Covenant. So beginning 
in verse 19, what purpose then does the law serve? It was added 
because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom 
the promise was made. And it was appointed through 
angels by the hand of a mediator. Now a mediator does not mediate 
for one only, but God is one. Is the law then against the promises 
of God? Certainly not. For if there had 
been a law which could have given life, truly righteousness would 
have been by the law. But the scripture has confined 
all under sin that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might 
be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were 
kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would 
afterward be revealed. Therefore, the law was our tutor 
to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 
But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. 
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, 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. If a son, then an heir of God 
through Christ. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, 
we thank you for the word of God and we pray now for the ministry 
of the Holy Spirit. As Paul said, to believers that 
when we believe, we know the presence of the spirit of adoption. 
We are able to call you Father. We have intimacy with our great 
God in heaven. We pray now, Father, that you 
would send the Spirit to guide us as we study scripture. May 
it encourage our hearts. May we appreciate afresh the 
doing and the dying and the rising again of our beloved Lord Jesus 
Christ. Do forgive us for all of our 
sins and unrighteousness. We thank you, God, that there 
is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared. Even now we 
pray that you would wash us and purify us in that precious blood 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's in his name that we 
pray. Amen. Well, as I said, our focus is 
on verses 4 to 7, but I do want to start in verse 1. Under first, 
an analogy airs according to the promise. We'll look at that 
briefly in verses 1 to 3. Secondly, we'll note the coming 
of Christ to inaugurate the new covenant. Thirdly, the person 
and work of the Redeemer described. So notice, in the first place, 
Paul gives an analogy essentially to summarize what he has said 
in the preceding verses. In verses 21 to 25, Paul is dealing 
with Jews with reference to the place of the law, specifically 
the Old Covenant. Is it contrary to the promises 
of God? No. The Old Covenant had a very 
specific reason. In fact, Pascal Denault points 
out three specific reasons concerning the Old Covenant. There are probably 
others, but in the first place, it preserved the Messianic line 
in the Covenant of Grace. I look at the Old Covenant as 
a way by which God hedged the people in and kept them and preserved 
them until the coming of the Lord Jesus. As well, it pointed 
typologically to Jesus Christ, and thirdly, it confined everything 
under sin so that the only means to obtain the promised inheritance 
was through faith in Christ. So in verses 21 to 25, Paul is 
showing the relationship between Israel of old and the law. The 
law was ultimately given in this context as a tutor to bring us 
to Christ. It hedged them in, it pointed 
typologically to the Lord Jesus, but it ushered redemptive history 
forward and kept the people of the covenant together until Jesus 
came. And then notice in verses 26-29, 
he deals specifically with Gentiles. And in the context, this has 
great polemic value. because the Gentiles are being 
told they must be circumcised in accordance with the ceremonial 
law that Paul has just said has ended in verses 21 to 25. After faith has come, we're no 
longer under a tutor. The idea here is that once Jesus 
Christ has come, inaugurated the new covenant, the old covenant 
is not in play anymore. It is not a part of our reality. 
So, as a result, there's no more ceremonial law attached to the 
Old Covenant. Furthermore, as Gentile believers, 
you are already Abraham's seed. You are heirs according to the 
promise. There's no need for you to identify with Old Covenant 
Israel by being circumcised in the flesh. Now, the circumcision 
he's dealing with is religious in nature. It's not just a cultural 
sign, but rather it has to do with religion and obtaining favor 
from God. So in the first place, he highlights 
the place of Israel under the Old Covenant that it was not 
contrary to the promise of God that would be revealed at the 
coming of Christ. In the second place, he speaks 
to the Gentiles concerning their already appointed status as heirs. And then in the third place, 
in chapter 4, verses 1 to 3, he sort of capsulizes or encapsulates 
this again with reference to this heir analogy. Notice in 
verse 1 of chapter 4, 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. The child in a king's house has 
certain prerogatives and privileges, but he's underage. He cannot 
exercise those things. at that particular time. So, 
verse 2, he's under guardians and stewards until the time appointed 
by the Father, just like Old Covenant Israel was. And then 
in verse 3, even so we, when we were children, were in bondage 
under the elements of the world. The bondage there doesn't mean 
in some wicked, terrible sense But again, the Old Covenant hedged 
them in. It kept them in. Paul's use with reference to 
the Mosaic Covenant. He highlights its role in guarding 
and in tutoring and in stewarding the people until the time appointed 
by the Father. And that brings us to verse 4, 
in the fullness of the time God sent forth his son to inaugurate 
the new covenant, to render obsolete the old covenant. That's not 
a bad thing. Obsolescence was built into the 
old covenant. It was never intended to go on 
forever. It was intended to be superseded 
by the new covenant. Old Covenant Revelation teaches 
that in Genesis 31, 31 to 34. Now, I said I wanted to help 
clarify everything for everybody so that we could go to verse 
4. I feel like I really didn't do that. But suffice it to say, 
Paul is dealing in covenantal categories showing the incompleteness 
or rather the obsolescence of the old covenant now that the 
Lord Jesus has come. The heirs have full privilege, 
full benefit, full liberty as a result of the coming of our 
Lord Jesus. So let's look at that. Notice 
in verse 4, 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." Now he speaks concerning the fullness of the time. The 
Old Testament prophesied and the Old Testament announced the 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Genesis chapter 3 was the first 
announcement of the seed of the woman that would crush the head 
of the serpent. In Genesis chapter 22, typologically, 
the Lord God indicates, through Abraham's almost sacrifice of 
Isaac, that he himself would provide a lamb. The Shiloh prophecy 
of Genesis 49.10 signified or said that there would be one 
who would come. to save his people from their 
sins. We see those promises anticipated 
in the Law of God. As well, we see those promises 
anticipated in the Psalter. Psalm 2, Messianic. Psalm 45, 
Psalm 72, Psalm 110. There are certainly other Messianic 
Psalms, but these are some of the big ones, Psalm 89 specifically, 
and then as well the prophets. They foretold the coming of these 
days when a champion from God would come, when the Messiah 
would come, when the son of David would arrive so that he could 
save his people from their sins. Second Samuel 7, the promise 
given to David that of his seed he would raise one up to sit 
upon David's throne and to reign forever and ever and ever. The 
prophet Isaiah, the Immanuel prophecies of Isaiah 7, Isaiah 
9, which Pastor Porter read at the outset of worship, Isaiah 
42, 53, the prophet Daniel, the prophet Micah, the prophet Zechariah, 
the prophets through and through announced the latter days or 
the last days when the Lord Christ would come to save his people 
from their sins. Paul describes that under this 
terminology. He says, when the fullness of 
the time had come. And Gil specifically refers to 
this. He says, the time agreed and 
fixed upon between God and his Son from all eternity in the 
council and covenant of peace. We also call that the covenant 
of redemption. It differs from the Covenant 
of Grace. The Covenant of Grace is that 
plan by God of which we are participants in all of the redemptive benefits 
accomplished by Jesus. But the Covenant of Redemption 
or this Covenant of Peace is transacted by the persons of 
the triune God. It is a pre-temporal arrangement. It is an intra-trinitarian arrangement. The Father predestines to save 
a great multitude. He gives them to the Son. The 
Son willingly undertakes on their behalf to be their surety, to 
be their mediator, and to accomplish those things that the Father 
has stipulated for their salvation. That's what Gil is referring 
to. The time agreed and fixed upon between God and His Son 
from all eternity in the Council and Covenant of Peace, when the 
Son of God should assume human nature, which time was diligently 
searched into by the prophets, was revealed unto them and predicted 
by them, as more generally that it should be before the civil 
government ceased from Judah. and before the destruction of 
the Second Temple, and more particularly by Daniel and his prophecy of 
the 70 weeks, towards and about the close of which there was 
a general expectation among the Jews of the Messiah's coming. And was the fullness of time 
here referred to? And what is sometimes called 
the dispensation of the fullness of time, the end of the mosaic 
dispensation in Jewish church state, the last days of that 
state, and the end of the Jewish world as to their ecclesiastical 
and civil polity. Again, that fits what Paul is 
doing in terms of the covenantal significance of the coming of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. The fullness of the time had 
come. Matthew chapter 1, Luke's gospel in the beginning, all 
throughout the New Testament, it teaches us concerning the 
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Something before we leave this 
particular verse or this section, notice the divine initiative 
involved. When the fullness of the time 
had come, God sent forth his Son. You see, brethren, total 
depravity and total inability is such that if there is any 
saving to be done, it is not going to be initiated by the 
creature. If there is ever entrance into heaven by a son of Adam, 
it is not going to be because of the son of Adam. God sent 
forth his son. Paul picks up a convention in 
this particular section that the Bible lays down everywhere. I already referred to Genesis 
3.15. God says, I will put enmity between 
you and the woman. Isaiah 9.6, unto us a son is 
born. given. John 3.16, God so loved 
the world that he gave his only begotten son. Romans chapter 
3, we need the wrath of God dealt with. We need the wrath of God 
spent elsewhere. And Paul tells us that God sent 
forth Christ as a propitiation through his blood. In Romans 
8.3, Paul says what the law could not do, God did by sending His 
Son in the likeness of flesh. You see, divine initiative, the 
divine will, the divine prerogative and the divine sovereignty is 
that to which we owe our salvation. It is not of us, it is not of 
man, it's not by the will of man, it's not through blood, 
but it's of God who gives redemptive benefit. Paul says it doesn't 
depend upon him who wills or upon him who runs, but upon God 
who shows mercy. And Paul is asserting that very 
thing here. God sent forth His Son. You know, 
we ought to pause and reflect upon that reality and how thankful 
we should be God dealt with our sin. We didn't deal with it. 
We never wanted to deal with it. We wanted to continue to 
traffic in it. We wanted to continue estranged 
from God Most High. Paul describes our state clearly 
in Romans chapter 3. There is none righteous, no not 
one. There is none who seeks after 
God. There is no fear of God before 
the eyes of men. If there is salvation to be had, 
it must be wrought by God. And certainly that is precisely 
what he does. He takes the initiative, he predestined, 
he elected, he foretold, or foreknew, he chose, all those things are 
highlighted throughout the scriptures to indicate where salvation is 
from. The prophet Jonah made this confession, 
salvation is of the Lord. It's not of us. Thankfully Jonah 
wasn't an Arminian. The angels in heaven aren't Arminians. When they stand before the throne 
of God, they say salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb who 
sits upon the throne. That ought to be the Church's 
confession today, and that ought to be the Church's encouragement 
today. That ought to be each and every 
one of our encouragement that there has been, in fact, a son 
given. A son given to us, to miserable, 
wretched, hell-deserving sinners that rightly stand under, or 
stand liable to the fury and wrath of Almighty God. So God 
sent forth His Son. And then Paul develops in detail 
the person and work of our Lord Jesus in verses 4b to 7. The person is described here 
in verse 4. Notice three things Paul says 
concerning the person of our Lord Jesus. In the first place, 
he refers to his pre-existence. His pre-existence. God sent forth 
His Son. If you've ever studied systematic 
theology or you've ever visited our confession study or you're 
familiar with the reformed confessions of faith, you'll know that there 
are three offices of Christ. He is prophet, priest, and king. 
You'll also know that there are three states of Christ. There 
is the state of the pre-incarnate state, before Jesus came into 
this world. There is the state of humiliation, 
how Jesus found himself in this world. And then the state of 
exaltation. After Christ finishes his work, 
he is then exalted by the Father to the right hand of God Most 
High. Those are the states of Christ. And Paul refers here 
to the pre-existent state. How do we know that? He says, 
God sent forth his Son. I believe Calvin was right. The 
son who was sent must have existed before he was sent. And this 
proves his eternal Godhead. This is obvious in John chapter 
1, to which you can turn. John chapter 1, referring to 
the pre-existent state of our Lord Jesus and its movement and 
its trajectory in time and history, when he comes. into this world. Notice in John 1.1, in the beginning 
was the Word, that's the Lord Christ, and the Word was with 
God. There is distinction between 
the person of the Father and the Son. But there is unity and 
identity in terms of their essential being as John says, and the Word 
was God. And then dropping down in verse 
14, notice, and the Word became flesh. The Word was God. That refers to past existence 
into eternity. It's tough to talk that way because 
it almost sounds like, you know, there's a place called eternity 
and there it is. But He was God. Notice He became 
man. Verse 14, And the Word became 
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory 
as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 
The Son is eternally generated by the Father. The Son is eternal, 
from everlasting to everlasting. Thou art God, Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit in His essential glory. But in time and in space, 
He comes and He takes her. He becomes flesh and He dwelt 
among us. And notice in John 1.18, no one 
has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is 
in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. So when Paul 
says, God sent forth His Son, Calvin is absolutely right. The 
Son who was sent must have existed before He was sent, and this 
proves His eternal Godhead. Our confession puts it this way, 
the Son of God, the second person in the Holy Trinity, being very 
and eternal God, the brightness of the Father's glory, of one 
substance and equal with Him, who made the world, who upholds 
and governs all things He has made, did, when the fullness 
of time was come, take upon Him man's nature, with all the essential 
properties and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin. So the pre-existent state indicates 
something of Christ's eternal Godhead. The reality is that 
God sent him forth to do this particular work. Notice, secondly, 
his incarnation. He is born of a woman. I mean, this is a truly amazing 
description, a truly amazing reality that the second person 
of the triune God would enter the womb of Mary. Back in Isaiah 
9, Specifically in verse 6, it says, For unto us a child is 
born, unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon 
his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, 
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. If you understand 
what I just tried to explain concerning the preexistent state 
of Christ, it indicates that he is God. It is his eternal 
Godhead that's in view in that reference. But notice, for unto 
us a child is born. I love what John Owen says, that 
the same person should be the mighty God, and a child born 
is neither conceivable or possible, nor can be true, but by the union 
of the divine and human natures in the same person. God sent 
forth his son, born of a woman, I mean, let that sink in. As 
I said, the Emmanuel prophecy in Isaiah 7 and verse 14, we 
see that fleshed out and applied in the life of Jesus. Go back 
for a moment to Matthew chapter 1, where this is reported to 
us concerning this one who has come from heaven. Matthew 1.18, 
now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. After his mother 
Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she 
was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph, her husband, 
being a just man and not wanting to make her a public example, 
was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these 
things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, 
saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you 
Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the 
Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, 
and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from 
their sins. So all this was done that it 
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the 
prophet, saying, Behold, the virgin shall be with child and 
bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated 
God with us. Wonder of wonders that the second 
person of the triune God would be born of a woman. And notice 
in the third place, not only the pre-existent state and then 
the incarnation, but Paul refers to his role as mediator. He's 
born under the law. Why is he born under the law? So that he can redeem those who 
were under the law. In other words, he was born under 
the law to fulfill that role of mediator. Again, our confession, 
this office of mediator, the Lord Jesus did most willingly 
undertake, which that he might discharge, he was made under 
the law and did perfectly fulfill it. You see, we need the forgiveness 
of sins, and Paul's going to deal with that in just a moment. 
But we also need a righteousness that avails with God. We need 
to be clothed in a righteousness that God approves of. And that's 
the beauty of the doing and the dying of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
It's not only His death that we need, it's His life. We need 
that act of obedience. We need the fact that He never 
disobeyed His parents. We need the fact that he never 
had a lustful thought. We need the fact that he never 
stole, that he never lied, that he never coveted, that he never 
broke the Sabbath, that he never had other gods before him, that 
he never made for himself idols, that he never took the name of 
the Lord God in vain. Through and through, our blessed 
Lord fulfilled the law of God. And he did that because he is 
the second person of the Trinity, because he is impeccable to be 
sure, but he does it for us. The theologians refer to this 
as the active obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we desperately 
need this. We absolutely, most positively, 
need to be clothed in a righteousness not our own. 2 Corinthians 5.21, 
God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. Why? That we 
might become the righteousness of God in him. Galatians 2.21, 
Paul says, I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness 
comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. What's Paul's implication? Righteousness comes through the 
gospel. Righteousness comes as a result 
of Christ's death. Righteousness is imputed to us 
and received by faith alone. And that's what is highlighted 
here under this blessed reality that Christ is our mediator. 
He was born of a woman. He is made under the law in order 
to redeem those who are under the law. Blessed be God most 
high that we have a mediator who fulfilled all of the law 
on our behalf. Now that doesn't mean once we're 
justified we go out and live like the devil. That is absolutely 
positively not what it means. It means that Christ The law 
points us to Christ for our justification. When we are justified freely 
by his grace, Christ sends us back to his law, gives us his 
spirit, and calls us to follow that law as a rule of life in 
our sanctification. But we are ultimately entering 
into heaven, not based on our sanctification, but based on 
the justifying grace of God Most High, poured out through our 
Lord Jesus. And that brings us to consider 
his work. That's typically the convention 
by which men treat the subject of Jesus Christ as person and 
as work. And there are several elements 
that we ought to consider here. Notice in the first place, the 
redemption of his people. You know, I was thinking about 
this and, you know, having been here for a long time and preaching 
a lot of Lord's Supper meetings, I know I've preached Galatians 
4 before and I know I've preached redemption before. I'm hoping 
that all of you could define what redemption is and all of 
the particulars involved, the presupposition, all those things. You know, you get in this mindset, 
well, I hope they don't get weary of hearing the same thing. I 
hope you never get weary of hearing of your redemption. I hope you 
never go, oh man, I've got to hear about how I was redeemed 
from my sin again. I hope that never enters into your hearts, 
but you continually stand amazed at the redemption wrought by 
our Lord Jesus Christ, born of a woman, born under the law, 
in order to redeem those who are under the law. The presupposition 
involved with redemption is bondage, slavery. That's what's involved 
here. Christ frees us from the bondage 
and the slavery of sin. And in redemption, it's not just 
power, it's not just deliverance, but it is the payment of a price 
in order to bring about the redemption that is enacted. And Christ does 
that, having fulfilled the law in His earthly life. Christ then 
goes to the cross. If we call the doing of Christ 
His active obedience, we call the dying of Christ His passive 
obedience. That doesn't mean that He wasn't 
involved. He most certainly was. But the 
active refers to Christ's life and what He accomplishes in terms 
of God's law. The passive is what Christ accomplishes 
on the cross probably related to the word passion, which has 
to do with suffering on behalf of his people. And it's through 
that suffering that the price is paid. It is through his blood 
that the payment is rendered, not to the devil. That was a 
heresy that came out in the early church, the ransom to Satan theory. The idea being is that Satan 
held in captive all of the sinful sons of Adam, so that when Christ 
pays this debt on the cross, he is paying the debt to the 
devil, and therein sinners are released. But that's not what 
the Bible reflects. It is the Father. It is God Most 
High. It is He who is angry with the 
wicked every day. It is God who will punish sinners 
in hell. It is God who is propitiated 
by the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross at Calvary. The 
ransom is paid to God the Father. It is paid by Christ the Son 
in order to save us from our sins. So it is the act of deliverance 
through the payment of a price, specifically blood. In Ephesians 
1-7, in him, we have redemption through what? Through his blood. 
The same thing is repeated in Colossians. We see that emphasis, 
as I've already referred to, in Romans chapter 3. God sent 
forth his son, or God set forth, rather, his son as a propitiation 
by his blood, specifically to take from us the wrath of God 
that we deserve as a result of our sin. He delivered us from 
the slave market of sin. Notice in the second place, with 
reference to the work of Jesus, the blessing of adoption. To 
redeem those who are under the law that we might receive the 
adoption as sons. Now, we certainly do not deserve 
a place at the Father's table. We are not feasting here tonight 
because we're good. We are not eating here tonight 
because we deserve it. We are not participating in this 
particular ordinance tonight because we had a good week. We 
are here because of the grace of God Most High. He chose us 
in Him before the foundation of the world. In love, He predestined 
us onto adoption as sons by Jesus Christ. It is because of grace 
that we participate in this ordinance tonight. It is because of grace 
that we are counted as members of the household of God. It is 
by grace that we have this privilege. And I wonder if we thought through 
this and understood the implications, if it might change the way we 
approach church attendance. This is the Father's house. This 
is where we get to come. This is our privilege and our 
grand delight. This is what God purposed from 
the foundation of the world. to do, to adopt us as sons and 
daughters, to call us together on nights like these to furnish 
a feast for us so that he can encourage our weary hearts, so 
that he can help us along our pilgrim way, so that he can show 
that fatherly love to his sons and daughters. We have the blessedness 
of adoption as sons and daughters of our Lord Jesus. This includes 
a filial relationship with God. You hear this at times, the universal 
fatherhood of God. No, he's not. I mean, there is 
a sense where God in creation is father over all because he 
created everything. When we talk about the fatherhood 
of God, we're talking about in a gracious sense. We're talking 
about the reality of Ephesians 1. He chose us. He predestined 
us unto adoption as sons. Adoption is a beautiful way to 
describe this. Adoption in the Roman world brought 
a man into a household and conferred upon him the same rights, the 
same privileges, the same entitlements of a natural-born son. In fact, 
if you look at Paul and you look at John, they both come at this 
whole idea not in a different way that it's wrong, but in certain 
facets. John speaks of God having begotten 
us. Paul speaks of us as having been 
adopted. And they're both right, they're 
both accurate, they're both true. Paul is highlighting the juridical 
or the judicial or the legal sense whereby we have been brought 
out of the slave market of sin. He's washed us, he's cleansed 
us, he's clothed us, and he has put us in his home. Think prodigal 
son. Remember when that young man 
throws himself on the mercy of his father, not for salvation. I think the prodigal, and the 
more I consider the prodigal, the more I think he was functioning 
as a mercenary, at least to some degree. When he's in the hog 
pen and he's eating that pig slop, he thinks to himself, I 
know what I'll do, I'll go back to my father's house, I'll tell 
him that I sinned, I'll cast myself on his mercy, and perhaps 
he'll take me on as one of the hired servants. It's a mercenary 
feel in that. Does he want to go back to the 
Father for real? Does he want to go back to the 
Father legitimately? No, it's more like he doesn't 
want to eat pig food, or rather he doesn't want to crave. what 
pigs are eating. He thinks it would be better 
to be a hired servant in his father's house. But lo and behold, 
what does the father do? The father runs out there, the 
father kisses him, the father puts a ring on his finger, the 
father puts a robe on his back, that's wherein the change has 
come. And then the son is brought back 
to full privilege and entitlement and blessing and all those good 
things. You see, that's what we have 
as adopted sons and daughters of the living God. We are included 
in the household of God, and one of the most blessed aspects 
that I think we oftentimes fail to appreciate is what Paul says 
in Romans 8, 17. He says that we are co-heirs, 
not with one another, and that in and of itself would be good, 
right? There's nobody extra special in the church. I've got more 
grace units than you, you miserable slob, and I'm going to be closer 
to my God when we get—that's not the way it works. We are 
co-heirs with Christ. Whatever is Christ's by his merit 
is ours by grace. We have the same entitlement, 
the same privilege, the same prerogative, not because of our 
doing, but because Christ has done it, and because of God's 
grace, which He lavishes upon us in and through His glorious 
Son. It truly is an amazing reality. We have a filial relationship. 
We are in the household of God Most High, and we are joint heirs 
with Jesus. Do you know that Hebrews 2 tells 
us that Christ is not ashamed to call us brethren? Sometimes 
we're ashamed to call each other brethren. Well, you know, that 
guy did such and such and I can't believe he did that. Jesus isn't 
ashamed to call us brethren. There is a real legitimate sense 
wherein we can refer to Christ as our elder brother. Our victor, 
our champion, our head, our Lord, our Savior, the one who is not 
ashamed to call us brethren. So that blessing of adoption 
and participating in the household of God. Notice thirdly, we are 
sealed by the Spirit. Verse 6, and because you are 
sons. It's almost like Paul is just 
saying, it just gets better and better and better and better. 
You see him tracing this all down. Here's the person of Jesus 
Christ. Consider his pre-existent state. 
Consider the fact that he was incarnate. Consider the fact 
that he is mediator. And now I want you to understand 
what he does specifically as mediator. He redeems us from 
the slave market of sin. He adopts us or brings us into 
that blessed adoption as sons of God. And then, that wasn't 
enough. He gives us the Spirit. Notice 
the three persons of the triune God in this passage. God, probably 
referring not to the essential God, or God in His essence, but 
specifically to the relative property, the Father. The Father 
sends the Son, and then in verse 6, and because you are sons by 
adoption, God the Father has sent forth the Spirit of His 
Son, the Lord Jesus, into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. The Spirit, according to Ephesians 
1, 13 and 14, is sent to seal believers and to guarantee our 
inheritance. Think about that for a moment, 
to guarantee our inheritance. You know, there's actually debate 
among some Christians as to whether or not we can lose our salvation. 
Well, you can rest assured that if you have believed the gospel 
by the grace of God, just look at Ephesians 1, verse 13, in 
him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the 
gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you 
were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee 
of our inheritance. You see, if you have believed 
the Gospel, you are not going to lose your salvation. Who does 
it reflect poorly on if a sinner for whom Jesus died loses their 
salvation? It reflects upon the Savior. 
If His task is to save His people from their sins, and His people 
end up not saved, then ultimately He is the one to blame. And I'm 
speaking, you know, crassly to illustrate the point. The reality 
is, by the grace of God, the saint of God perseveres unto 
the end, but he is preserved always by God's grace. The Holy 
Spirit is our seal. The Holy Spirit is our guarantee 
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession 
to the praise of his glory. One commentator said, the purpose 
of the son's mission was to give the rights of sonship. The purpose of the Spirit's mission 
is to give the power of using them. And I think that's what 
Paul alludes to here in verse 6. And because you are sons, 
God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, 
crying out, Abba, Father. Now you've probably heard it 
explained that Abba is like Daddy. No, it probably wasn't. But it's 
still a term of intimacy, a term of communion, a term of just 
blessed endearment. I mean, if your child came to 
you and called you daddy or father, there's no fundamental difference 
in that, is there? You're his father. There's no 
closer relationship that exists between a father and, of course, 
mother, and their children. And this is what Paul says, he 
sends the spirit of his son into you so that you can cry, Abba, 
Father. What a blessed reality this is 
for the people of God. This is why Jesus can teach us 
in Matthew 6, when you pray, you say, Our Father. You're not relative or you're 
not related to him as some machine, some sort of power out there. There is the closest intimacy 
when we go to the throne of grace. We as sons and daughters go to 
our Heavenly Father through the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ 
by the power of the Holy Spirit, wherein we cry, Abba, Father, 
and we let our petitions, our supplications, our prayers, our 
intercessions, our givings of thanks be made to Him. in the 
name of his most blessed son. It's as if Paul has moved from 
this covenantal category to bring us into that most close and blessed 
intimacy wherein we have with the Father. And then finally, 
he indicates spiritual liberty. Notice in verse seven, therefore, 
this is the implication, this is the conclusion. Therefore, 
you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, an heir 
of God, then an heir of God through Christ. You can see how this 
functions in the letter to the Galatians. Of course not. You 
don't need to be circumcised. That's certainly not going to 
commend you to God. God has done all this in terms 
of His grace, in terms of the New Covenant, in terms of adoption, 
in terms of the sealing of the Spirit, in terms of all of these 
blessings. Certainly you don't need to go 
out and get circumcised in order to commend yourself to God. It 
functions beautifully in this particular context to summarize 
and conclude at least this section with reference to Paul's polemic 
against the Judaizing heresy. But in terms of the general application, 
therefore you're no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then 
an heir of God through Christ. There's no more bondage. There's 
no more slave market. There is no more lack of liberty. But we have the liberty of the 
sons of God Most High secured for us by this mediator who was 
preexistent and who was incarnate for us men and for our salvation. Well, in conclusion, in terms 
of the covenantal categories, the Old Testament was designed 
to be obsolete, or there was a built-in obsolescence. It ought 
not to strike us as odd. It ought not to strike us as 
bad. That's the whole point of Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34. Behold, 
the days are coming when I will make a new covenant with them, 
not like the covenant which I made with their fathers, which they 
brought, But I will write the law in their hearts. I will give 
them the Holy Spirit. I will forgive them of their 
sins. All those things were announced. We ought not to be shocked when 
there is this transformation in terms of God's covenantal 
trajectory. In the second place, as I've 
mentioned, we need to appreciate the triune God in our salvation. God the Father sends forth the 
Son. The Son is born of a woman. He's 
born under the law with a specific purpose to redeem us who are 
under the law. We're redeemed, we're adopted as sons. Because 
you are sons, the Father has sent forth the Spirit of His 
Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. Isn't it a 
blessed thing to witness the Trinity in such a capacity? And some persons think that there's 
just these one or two verses that refer to the Trinity. You 
know, we've got Matthew 28, Go therefore and make disciples 
of all the nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And then we've got the benediction 
in 2 Corinthians 13. Those are Those are our two big 
Trinitarian passages. The New Testament is thoroughly 
Trinitarian. Paul can't write without being 
Trinitarian. Paul can't communicate the blessings 
of salvation without being Trinitarian. Ephesians 1, the Father chose 
us, the Son redeems us, the Spirit seals and guarantees us. Ephesians 
chapter 4, there's one Lord, one Spirit, one God and Father 
over all. 1 Corinthians, when he's talking 
about spiritual gifts, Father, Son, and Spirit. Father, Son, 
and Spirit is everything for the Apostle Paul, and there ought 
to be a robust Trinitarianism in the Church of Jesus Christ 
today. We ought to realize there is 
one God that exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, 
and the Holy Spirit. These three are one God, the 
same in substance, equal in power and glory, but there are personal 
and relative distinctions between the persons of the triune God. 
May I say, come to the Confession Study where we deal with such 
things. Read our Confession of Faith. Read Burkoff's Systematic 
Theology. Often times in the Church today, 
we kind of have this idea about the Trinity, but we really don't 
spend any time investigating or understanding it. Brethren, 
this is foundational to our salvation. This is foundational to our status 
before a holy God. We must know who He is. We must 
know how He functions. We must know Him in His persons, 
His Father, Son, and Spirit. We must understand the biblical 
data concerning God. It amazes me today how little 
attention the people of God give to what is called theology proper, 
the doctrine of God. You know, especially as Christians, 
as believers, as blood-bought children of God. I remember one 
of the things when my children were little, the incessant questions. Oh, didn't it just tire you out? Why this? Why that? You know, 
they're always asking you questions. I'm just kidding. It was great. 
You know how I got grandkids and they asked me that. But a 
lot of times those questions are about you, aren't they? What 
was it like when you were a kid? What was it like when you were 
a little guy? How was it when you went to school? What kind 
of student were you? All these questions about you. 
Why? Because your child wants to find out about you. Isn't 
that beautiful? Your child actually wants to 
know something about his parent. That's a good thing. So I was 
kidding. I liked the fact that once in 
a while you get a little irritated with the same question a million 
times. I told you that a million times. But the idea there is 
that the child wants to know his father, and yet we come into 
the church, and I can't be bothered with the doctrine of the Trinity. 
I can't be bothered with theology proper. I can't be bothered with 
the whole idea of impassibility or immutability or God is spirit 
or the doctrine of divine simplicity. I really just can't be bothered. 
Just tell me how to function tomorrow. I've got a word for 
you. You can't function tomorrow without 
a knowledge of who God is. If you don't understand theology 
proper, you need to start studying and reading and learning. If 
you want to know some books to purchase, you know, call me or 
email me or text me. There's all kinds of ways to 
get a hold of each other nowadays. I will tell you some good books 
that you should get. Not tell you like you have to 
read them, but if you're asking for suggestions, I'll be more 
than happy to suggest because it is that important. How does 
Jesus describe the essence of eternal life? And this is eternal 
life. That we know how to live on Monday? 
That we know how to have a better Tuesday? That I know how better 
to relate to my boss at work on Wednesday? No, this is eternal 
life. That they may know Thee, the 
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. This is 
eternal life. If we are bored at the idea or 
horrified at the idea of studying theology on this side of glory, 
we ought to check our hearts because guess what's going to 
happen on that side of glory? It's going to be being being 
blown away by who God is. That is going to occupy us for 
all eternity. Isn't that a blessed, blissful, 
glorious thought? What is your long-term goal? To stand in the presence of the 
triune God. That's my long-term goal. That 
beats any five-year plan, any ten-year plan, any retirement 
plan, or even any burial plan. If you are in Christ Jesus, the 
very essence of eternal life for you is to know God and Jesus 
Christ whom thou hast sent. Isn't that blessed and beautiful? 
If that is the case, we ought to be a people that mirror that 
or image that on this side of glory and be a people who study 
the scriptures to know who is this God, to understand. What he's about? To know something 
of his relative properties, father and son and spirit. To know something 
about how these things work according to the word of God. Brethren, 
this is the most worthy endeavor. The psalmist said, great are 
the works of the Lord. They are studied by all who delight 
in them. It's always amazed me that men 
will spend more time, or men, you know, committed to botany 
or zoology, or men committed to stamp collecting. If you are, 
good for you. But man, imagine looking at stamps 
for, you know, countless hours. You know, that just does not 
strike me as something fun, but if that's your cup of tea, you 
know, great. But people will spend a lot of hours and give 
a lot of time and give a lot of attention and a lot of energy 
and their own money and whatnot to pursue the knowledge of a 
particular created thing. And we have God. Great are the 
works of the Lord, they are studied by all who delight in them. So 
that validates the study of biology, or zoology, or stampology, or 
I know there's an actual name for that. God created all things 
and there's a sense where we can study those. But what more 
glorious than the work of redemption? What more glorious than what 
we've just traced or outlined here in Galatians 4, 4-7? What 
more glorious than to pour our pursuits into understanding this 
God, this Father, who sent this Son into this world? You know the statement, God so 
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son? You know 
what makes that amazing? It's that it's this world. It's 
not the fact that, you know, we always think of God so loved 
the world, and it's wrongly, wrongly, wrongly interpreted 
as to mean that Christ came to die for each and every sinner. 
That's not John's point in that particular verse. But the interesting thing is 
God so loved this world, this one. He sent his son into this 
world. Now, why is that amazing? Because 
it's wretched, because it's terrible, because it's filled with sinners, 
because it's filled with people that do wretched and monstrous 
and horrific things, God sent his son into What does that tell 
us about God? He really is loving in a way 
that we haven't even entertained. He really is gracious in a way 
that we probably really haven't entertained. He is merciful in 
a way that we probably really haven't entertained. We move 
from the world generically and then we look at our own hearts 
and our own souls and when we see what we were saved from, 
if that doesn't make us appreciate the reality of sovereign grace, 
I don't know what will. If God has saved you, you ought 
to appreciate and sing forever concerning God's glorious grace. Well, brethren, as we eat this 
bread and as we drink this cup, we do proclaim the Lord's death 
until he comes. And that death specifically outlined, 
or that death and life specifically outlined in this particular passage 
was to provide redemption, adoption, reception of the Spirit, and 
the blessing of spiritual liberty. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word and for this brief description concerning 
the person and the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you 
for so great a salvation. We pray tonight that you would 
just continue to encourage our hearts and strengthen us. We 
praise you that as the householder, you have provided this meal to 
us. to refresh us along the way. And may it have that desired 
effect upon our hearts tonight. And we pray through Christ Jesus, 
our Lord. Amen.