Galatians 4: 1-20: Living as a Child of God: Slavery or Sonship?

 

The grassy square in the middle of Slubice, a Polish town on the German border, is known locally as "the Bermuda Triangle." Most mornings, but particularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays when traffic across the frontier is heavy and the guards are busy, crowds of hopeful immigrants from Eastern Europe creep out of the woods and doorways where they have spent the night. Men, women and children straggle into the square to rendezvous with their "tour guides," the smugglers who will help them disappear into the West--for fees ranging from $50 to $200. In another village 20 miles away, Polish entrepreneurs are carrying on a lively trade in rubber dinghies that will ferry migrants across the Oder River to Germany. Farther south, the activities of similar "travel agencies" directed or supervised by criminal gangs crowd the towns along the Czech-German border.  Pilsen is so jammed with migrants from Bosnia and Croatia that its native Czech residents call it "Yugoslav City" although that is a misnomer because there are also thousands of  Bulgarians, Romanians, Turks, Russians and Kurds. All of them, though, have something in common: they are desperate to get into Germany and to the other prosperous European Community countries which they see as the promised land. 

If they are lucky and make it, what awaits them?  Illegal immigrants are caught in a no-mans land, invisible to the State, caught in a form of slavery, exploited by unscrupulous employers to accept minimal wages with no rights or legal protection. Last year 700,000 applied to West European countries for asylum--438,000 in Germany alone. "I risked my life to get here," says Anton Lupu, a 33-year-old Romanian painter who made it across the border from Poland and has applied for asylum in Germany.  He said, "The difference between Germany and Romania is the difference between heaven and earth."


Only when you've seen Europe from the other side can you begin to comprehend what it must feel like to live as a modern day slave.  Longing to find freedom.  Paul uses a similar analogy in Galatians 4 to illustrate the difference between the genuine and counterfeit versions of Christianity on offer. Paul reminds them of three things.


1.  What they were : Slaves in Bondage              4:1-3

2.  What God did:    He Redeemed us                  4:4-5

3.  What we are :    Adopted Children of God      4:6-7

 

1.  What They Were : Slaves in Bondage   4:1-3

“What I am saying is that as long as heirs are underage they are no different from slaves, although they own the whole estate. They are subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by their fathers. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world.” (Galatians 4:1-3)

 

Have you ever longed to be a child again?  To be free from work, mortgage payments, bills and taxes? Remember the carefree days, when from morning till night your life was all play? The Galatians did.  They longed to return to the spiritual childhood of ‘do’s’ and ‘don’ts’. If you find that attractive also, maybe you too have forgotten something. Just think of all the things we couldn't do as children. In Roman society, no matter how wealthy a father might be, his infant son could not enjoy that wealth. Children of wealthy families were cared for by slaves. No matter who the father was, the child was still under the supervision of a servant. In fact the child had about as much status as the slave who cared for him.

 

The master commanded the slave and the slave commanded the child. This was the spiritual condition of the Jews under the law. As we saw last week, the law was like a guardian that disciplined the nation and prepared them for the coming of Christ. 

“So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.  Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” (Galatians 3:23-25)

 

So when these legalistic Christians wanted to lead the Galatians back into keeping the law, they were actually leading them not only into spiritual bondage, but also into moral and spiritual infancy, into childish immaturity. When our children were much younger we delighted when they began to recognise the letters of the alphabet, when they could nearly count to ten. When little words made up of magnetic letters appeared on the fridge door - like “the dinner is in the dog” or “its your turn to change the nappy”  It is exciting to see a child’s knowledge increasing. It would be sad, however, if they never went beyond the basics of A...B...C... But it would be tragic if having completed a university degree they came home and spent every waking hour with their X Box or Play Station games, or Ladybird books and Duplo bricks.

That's what Paul says “We were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world" he literally means the A - B - C’s. The elementary stages of religious practice, whether in the Jewish or pagan religion. Paul uses the illustration of slavery to show that before Christ came and died for sins, people were in bondage to the law.  Thinking they could be saved by keeping rules and regulations, they became enslaved to trying--and failing--to keep it.  For 1500 years Israel had been in kindergarten, it had been their schooling to prepare them to receive Jesus Christ. I don't know about you but some days I couldn't wait to leave school - especially when the lesson was languages. It was like a bondage, especially having to wear a uniform. I wanted to be free! School is important, we must learn the basics of life there, but who wants to spend their lives as a school pupil? There's more to life than being at school. Training has a purpose, to enable us to be free. To be able to make responsible intelligent decisions. These legalists wanted to keep the Galatians in school all the time. What they were : Slaves in Bondage   4:1-3.

 

2.  What God did : He Redeemed us from Slavery  4:4-5  

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

 

"When the set time had fully come," God sent Jesus to earth to die for our sins. The phrase describes the precise timing of the birth of Jesus.  It was no accident, it was an appointment. Paul tells us who came, how he came, and why he came, all in one sentence. The word "redeem" = means to “buy back” or to set free by paying the price. Specifically, Jesus redeemed us so that we could become God's children. The True Son of God died in our place so we could become God's adopted children. For centuries the Jews had been wondering when their Messiah would come--but God's timing was perfect.  We too may sometimes wonder if God will ever respond to our prayers. But we must never doubt him or give up hope. Having redeemed us at the right time he will respond. 

Are you waiting for God's timing? Trust his judgement. Trust that he has your best interests in mind. What they were 4:1-3;  What God did 4:4-5, and thirdly,

 

3.  What we now are: Adopted Children of God   4:6-7
“Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”  So you are no longer a slave, but God’s children; and since you are his children, he has made you also heirs. Formerly you did not know God… but now you know God - or rather are known by God.” (Galatians 4:6-8)

Madonna has been in the headlines this week having adopted a Malawian boy, with the approval of his widowed father. Torn with giving up his son, he said yesterday, He said he had initially thought Madonna would just "educate and take care" of him. "I was never told that adoption means that David will no longer be my son - if I was told this, I would not have allowed the adoption."  However, he also told Time magazine he did not want to challenge the adoption:  "I don't want my child, who is already gone, to come back. I will be killing his future."  He understood adoption was a one way process and did it for the sake of his son.

There was once a family who had three children of their own.They decided to adopt another child Sophie. The children grew up together quite well.  But being children, occasionally they argued.  One day they were picking on Sophie, and joked about her adoption.  "Our mummy and daddy are not your real Mummy and daddy..."  Sophie began to cry, and then remembered something her adopted parents had told her.  "Its true she said, but your parents didn't choose you, they had no choice, but they chose to have me, they picked me..."  That ended the argument.

What is a Christian?  The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one for whom God has become their Father. This cannot be said of everyone.  The idea that all people are children of God is not found in the Bible anywhere.   God is revealed as the father of those who put their trust in Jesus Christ.  The gift of adoption becomes ours not through being born but through being born again.  Adoption into the family of God is a gift, a gift of grace. It is not a natural but a supernatural work of God. In Roman law, it was a recognised practice for an adult who wanted an heir, for someone to carry on their family name, to adopt a male as his son-usually at age, rather than in infancy as is more common today. Furthermore, an adopted son was guaranteed all legal rights to his father's property, even if he was formerly a slave. He was not a second-class son. He was equal to all other sons, biological or adopted, in his father's family.  Adoption, by its very nature, is an act of free kindness to the person adopted.  If you become a father by adopting a child you do so because you choose to, not because you are bound to.

Similarly, God adopts because he chooses to. He had no duty to do so. He need not have done anything about our sins save punish us as we deserved.  But He loved us; so He redeemed us, forgave us, took us as His sons, and gave Himself to us as our Father.

So from the very beginning our new position is of an adopted child, with all the legal rights and privileges of an adult.  We do not have to wait till some time in the future to enjoy its benefits. 

Adoption is the highest privilege the Bible offers, for in Jesus Christ and because of Jesus Christ, God takes us into His family, and establishes us as His children and heirs.

Closeness, affection and generosity are at the heart of this relationship.  To be right with God as our judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God as our father is a greater. 


The very concept of adoption is itself a proof and guarantee of our eternal security. But it is much more personal than simply an economic arrangement. When I speak with Jews and Muslims who share the same belief in the one true God of Abraham, when I have the opportunity I delight in explaining that Almighty God, the King of the Universe wants us to become his adopted children. Indeed that, as Paul says here, “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba’, Father.” (Galatians 4:7)

Abba is an intimate Aramaic word for father. 


As adopted children of God, we share with Jesus all rights to God's resources.  The reason for adopting, in the first century world, was specifically to have an heir to whom one could bequeath one's goods.  Amazingly, our adoption makes us heirs of God. 

What an incredible future lies before us.  

"I see myself now at the end of my journey, my toilsome days are ended," said Bunyan's Mr Stand-fast, as he stood half way into the Jordan's water, "the thoughts of what I am going to, and of the conduct that waits for me on the other side, doth lie as a glowing coal at my heart...I have formerly lived by hearsay, and faith, but now I go where I shall live by sight, and shall be with Him, in whose company I delight myself." 

What will make heaven to be heaven is the presence of Jesus, and of the reconciled divine Father who loves us for Jesus sake no less than He loves Jesus Himself.  To see, and know, and love, and be loved by, the Father and the Son, in company with the rest of God's vast family, is the whole essence of the Christian hope. 


If you believe in Jesus Christ - if you have received him as your Lord and Saviour, then you are his child. This is the Christian life. The contrast between law and grace could not be starker than here in the distinction between a slave and an adopted child.


A child has a father, whereas a slave has a master.

A child shares the same nature as its father.

A child will call its father "daddy" a slave will call its master “sir”.

A child obeys out of love, the slave obeys out of fear. 

A child is the heir, a slave has no inheritance.


You can tell the difference very simply.  How do you feel at the idea of Jesus returning?  A child is afraid when their father leaves. A slave is afraid when his master returns. When you think of God is there a joy or is there a dread in your heart? The Galatians had lost the joy of their salvation because of legalism. Legalism can take away joy because,


It makes people feel guilty rather than loved;

It produces self-hatred rather than humility;

It stresses performance over relationship;

It points out how far we fall short rather than how far we've come.

If you feel guilty and inadequate this morning, check your status.  Are you living by faith in Christ or by trying to live up to the demands and expectations of others?  You cannot be a slave and a child of God at the same time. How would those closest to you describe your Christianity? Do they think you live so that God will accept you or do they know that you live because God has already accepted you in Christ?  There's a world of difference.  Choose which one you want to be today.  To help you decide, let me close with some more questions from Jim Packer:


Do I as a Christian understand myself? Do I know my own real identity? My own real destiny?  I am a child of God, God is my Father; heaven is my home; every day is one day nearer. 

My Saviour is my brother; every Christian is my brother too. 

Say it over and over again to yourself first thing in the morning, last thing at night, as you wait for the bus, any time when your mind is free, and ask God that you may be enabled to live as one who knows it is all utterly and completely true.  For this is the Christians secret of the Christian life, of a God-honouring life.


To help us realise more adequately who and what, as children of God, we are, and are called to be, here again are some questions by which we would do well to examine ourselves again and again.


Do I understand my adoption?  Do I value it? 

Do I daily remind myself of my privilege as a child of God? 

Have I sought full assurance of my adoption? 

Do I dwell on the love of God for me?

Do I treat God as my Father in heaven, loving, honouring and obeying Him, seeking and welcoming His fellowship, and trying in everything to please Him?

Do I think of Jesus Christ, my Saviour and my Lord, as my brother too, bearing to me not only a divine authority but also a divine-human sympathy? 

Do I think daily how close He is to me, how completely He understands me, and how much, as my kinsman redeemer, He cares for me?  Have I learnt to hate the things that displease my Father?  Am I sensitive to the evil things to which He is sensitive? 

Do I make a point of avoiding them, lest I grieve Him?

Do I look forward daily to that great family occasion when the children of God will finally gather in heaven before the throne of God, their Father, and of the Lamb their brother and their Lord? Have I felt the thrill of this hope?

Do I love my Christian brothers & sisters with whom I live day by day, in a way that I shall not be ashamed of when in heaven I think back over it?  Am I proud of my Father, and of His family, to which by His grace I belong?  Does the family likeness appear in me?


Lets pray.   Dear Lord God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thank you for adopting me into your family. Humble me, instruct me, make me to realize with ever increasing gratitude, day by day what it means to be your own true child.  In Jesus name, Amen.

 

 

I am particularly grateful to James Packer, for his book, Knowing God, which has been so influential in my own spiritual formation, as well as inspirational in preparing this sermon.