Are You An Heir Or A Slave? (Galatians 4:1-11)
GIST: The perfect One at the perfect time came with a passionate purpose, but so often we pass on the whole point.
Last week we took a one Sunday pause to look at 1 Thessolonians 5 and our need to face even years like 2020 with joy, prayerfulness, and thanksgiving. Today, we’re coming back to our study in the book on Galatians and picking up with chapter 4. Paul is continuing his arguments for why we can trust that justification by faith is true. The last argument he presented was what I called his argument from position, as he pointed to how our transformation from captivity to transformation and acceptance demonstrated Jesus’ amazing grace. Chapter 4 functions as a set of illustrations further emphasizing the beauty and significance of this reality.
To walk through this first section, I want to just give you our highly alliterated gist statement. Then, we’ll break down the passage. Here’s that gist: The perfect One at the perfect time came with a passionate purpose, but so often we pass on the whole point. (Yes, my English Teacheriness took over a bit… you’re welcome ☺️.)
I. Perfect One At The Perfect Time (4)
I actually want to start by looking at verse 4 here. Even though this occurs in the middle of the passage we’re looking at, it definitely holds everything together here. On top of that, this is a classic “Christmas passage”, so it might make you think I came to this on the first Sunday of December on purpose. It happened on purpose, but it wasn’t my planning that made that happen ☺️. Look at this awesome verse→ “4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law…”.
I want to draw your attention to two major points here. First, Jesus coming into the world happened at exactly the→
Right Time. I’ve heard countless sermons about how the existence of the Roman empire and their network of roads combined with political tensions and a number of other factors led to the world being primed for the gospel being spread. Of course, others will argue that our modern age with mass media and nearly unlimited forms of communication would have served His purposes even more. The fact of the matter is that God had a perfect plan, and it worked. The gospel has been spread throughout the world, and Jesus has continued to rescue sinners for thousands of years. He came exactly when He planned to and exactly how He planned to. This was a→
Deliberate Action. He didn’t just show up. God sent His Son. This was done by design. He came born of a virgin— which apart from God was an impossible birth— to fulfill prophecy and so that from the beginning His deity would be known. He also came into a Jewish family. He was born under the law. Remember, the law was functioning as a guardian pointing us to our need for salvation, our need for a Savior to rescue us. He was born into the context where this law was being taught, but through the incarnation, He was also fully God and fully man. So He subjected Himself to the expectations of the law— which had also been pointing all along to Him coming! He did this so He could bear what we could never carry. None of this was arbitrary or happenstance. He was the perfect savior at the perfect time, and guys→
He Is Still The Perfect & Purposeful Savior. In your life right now, you can trust that He is moving like this. It’s who He is. You can trust Him. He is still the one who saves with His→
II. Passionate Purpose (1-3, 5-7)
Let’s go back now to the context of this wonderful truth. Paul is using an illustration to explain how grace changed our standing before God. Building on what he said about the law being a guardian until Jesus came, he says→ “1 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 3 In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.” Let’s make two observations here. First→
Infants Are Slaves. ☺️ I know that sounds terrible, but we have to understand the culture a little bit to really get what he’s expressing here. The word translated child here typically refers to a young child. I’ve even seen it translated as baby or infant. That’s important because in most Jewish and Gentile cultures of this time, there was a point in the life of a male child when he would transition from being considered a child to being recognized as a man, and as such a full heir and representative of his father. Until that point, even though he technically would one day be in charge of his father’s estate...etc., he had no more authority than a slave. In the same way, by nature until something happens to change our standing→
We Were Slaves To A Broken World. There are apparently a few ways the term “elementary principles” can be translated. However, as best I can tell, the thought being expressed here is that we were enslaved to sin and held captive by the natural results of living in this tainted world, this broken life. We couldn’t experience freedom. We weren’t truly living. Our lives were at the mercy of our corrupted natures, and we were running the same rat race as everyone else. Only, there wasn’t cheese at the end of that maze.
It’s in that context that Paul says Jesus chose to come as the perfect savior at the perfect time→ “... 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba! Father!" 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” That’s His beautiful purpose. He came so we could be→
Redeemed & Adopted. Though there was nothing inherently redeemable about us, He came and took on Hell in our place, so we could be set free from bondage. If we come to Him and accept His gift of grace, we will be rescued. However, we weren’t just rescued and left alone. It’s so much more than that. If we believe in Jesus and surrender control of our lives to Him, He takes us in as children. I know I’ve talked about this pretty often, and I’m not trying to be redundant here and pull on your heart strings for emotional effect. I just want us to try and wrap our minds around the significance and blessedness of this transformation. We were stuck and heading to Hell. Period. Jesus came and took that on Himself. THEN, He called us to come to Him as children. Guys, you might really be hurting right now. Your life might be kicking your tail, but you have a Heavenly Father who loves you and made a way for you. He did all the work. He did all the rescuing. And He has never stopped loving. And we’re not just children without position. We’re not like the babies mentioned above. We’re full→
Heirs. Which sounds awesome! …. But what does that mean? I actually asked myself that question one day after school as I was sitting in the parking lot waiting for Melissa to swing by with the kiddos, and these were the thoughts that hit me, so I wrote this down→
As Your heir, I can enter into Your presence. A few weeks ago, I gave the illustration of the President’s child having the right to enter his room in the middle of the night for a glass of water. We have this kind of access and intimacy with our Heavenly Father.
As Your heir, I carry Your name to the world. In the ancient world, when a father passed away, his heir basically became him. He took on his title, lived in his home, and managed his estates. Knowing this, the heir was the representative of his father while he was still living, as well. We carry the name of Jesus to this world. We have the awesome privilege and terrifying responsibility of being His hands and feet right here, right now.
As Your heir, I will inherit Your prosperity. By nature, we were captives, remember? We had nothing. Our inheritance was Hell. But now, everything has changed. What Jesus has to offer is what we look forward to. And guys, I’m not preaching some weird prosperity message here. This doesn’t mean you’ll have wealth and good hair for the rest of your life here on earth. What I’m saying is we will inherit the blessings of Jesus because we’ve been adopted as His children. Today, that gives me strength to face this world with the right perspective. In the hereafter… well, I can’t even fully wrap my mind around how beautiful my perspective will then become!
Tied to that, I had this final thought→
As Your heir, my future is secure...but it’s because of who You are not what I earned. Nobility and the “upper crust” has long been the subject of distaste because often they don’t have to work for what they get. Their wealth and prosperity comes because of their family name. As part of blue collar America, we can definitely sympathize with the animosity people feel toward that kind of privilege. Of course, if you got a call that some mysterious uncle passed away who you’d never met and left you a million dollars, I doubt we’d hear much complaining! In the same way, being an heir means my future is set...and it has everything to do with who my Father is!
Honestly, this is incredible. Paul lays that out and then says, “You’ve been taught about the perfect saviors passionate purpose, are you now→
III. Passing On The Whole Point? (8-11)
I’ll be briefer here. Look at where he goes next: “8 Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years! 11 I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.” Oh that line, you have been known by God! He came in the perfect time with the passionate purpose and knows you. He sees everything you try so hard to keep hidden, and He loves you anyway. Moreover, He’s called you to redemption and adoption. You can be an heir through His grace! Why Would You Want To Return To Slavery? You’re turning to a law that could never save you and turning from the Savior who can. Have you missed the whole point?
Let’s end with a few→
TAKEAWAYS
He is still the perfect & purposeful savior.
Because of His love, you can be His heir.
You can enter into His presence.
You carry His name to the world.
You will inherit His prosperity.
Your future is secure...because of who He is!
He knows you and loves you. Why would you want to return to captivity?
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