Jesus Saves: Galatians 4.4-5 (ESV)

 

                                        Hand of God - Save Me by Younsung Kim

This is a rescue story, Jesus coming to us, the story of the prophets.  This is what they were waiting for:  Jesus to come to the rescue.  I have this old brown replica of a church building.  The steps and steeple are broken off.  It’s banged up and in bad shape.  Why would I keep something like that?  I’ll tell you why a little bit later.  We are kind of like this damaged building.  Jesus came for each of us, even in our broken state.

In Galatians 4 Paul is writing to the church at Galatia who is under attack.  They’re being told they’re not real believers.  People are saying things like, “God didn’t really come for you.”  Paul writes them this letter to tell them yes, Jesus came for them.  Jesus came for them at just the right time.

At the right time

God knows how to rescue us and He knows just the right time to do it.

                        ^“4But when the fullness of time had come,”

The word 'fullness' is familiar to us.  When you fill up a container we know we have to be careful before it gets to the top.  My water pitcher takes a while to fill up.  I have a short attention span so I start filling it up and then I walk off to do something else.  When I return it’s overflowing.  When it’s full it’s reached it’s capacity.  When it was full, Jesus came.  It was the right time for Jesus to come.  We understand some say it was the right time culturally and politically as the Romans had built these grand highways and a common language was shared.  There was a common currency and it was easier for the Gospel to spread.  The right time is more than just about the circumstances of the time; this was God’s timing.  God knows how to intervene in our lives at just the right time. 

I’m not a coffee drinker but coffee drinkers are particular about the temperature of their coffee.  They like the temperature to be just right.  I drink hot chocolate but I cannot drink it very hot.  The concept here is that it wasn’t just close enough to the time, but the fullness of time was just right.  Everything was as it should have been for Jesus to come.

Why do things happen the way they do?  God is strategic!  God knows the right time to intervene in our lives.  God is outside of time and knows how to step into time at just the right time to intervene in a person’s life.  Is God speaking to your heart?  Can you tell God is doing something?  That’s the kind of feeling people had when Jesus entered the world. There was a heightened sense that God was about to do something.

God sent His Son

God gave Himself on purpose. Jesus coming into the world was God’s plan from the beginning, from way back in Genesis. 

            “God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,”

Jesus entered the world.  God came down as a man.  We have this reminder that the eternal God entered into our world intentionally.  In Mark 12 Jesus is talking to a group of people and some religious leaders are there.  Jesus tells a parable about a man who owned a vineyard.  He built walls around it and provided all that was needed for it to be successful.  God has put everything we need in the world for us.  The landowner rents out the vineyard.  When we rent something we owe the owner.  This is the world.  We are here for a short amount of time.  We have a responsibility.  It’s harvest time and the owner expects his payment.  There was a bountiful harvest so the owner sends a servant to collect and the tenants do not pay him.  He sends another and the same thing happens over and over.  They get rid of the servant.  The owner sends his son and they kill him.  God sent prophet after prophet into the world but people didn’t listen.  The prophet Isaiah and Jeremiah, to name a few.  Jeremiah was buried in a pit.  In Mark 12 the landowner says surely they will listen to my son!  The image here is of God sending Jesus, His son into the world and the world rejects Jesus.  When Jesus came into the world, He became one of us.  He was fully man and fully God.  He connected with us in all ways.  He was born of a woman.  It was a normal birth in humble circumstances.  What’s the significance?  Jesus became one of us.  Jesus knows what common life is like.  Jesus had common life experiences and emotions.  Jesus became one of us.  Jesus knows what we are going through.  It’s hard for us to understand that God became a man like us.  Why?

To redeem us

“5to redeem those who were under the law,”

Yes, Jesus can be described as a friend but Jesus came to be our Savior.  The reason He came was to redeem us.  In Rome, people were bought and sold as slaves.  People would even sell themselves sometimes to get rid of a debt they owed.  You might be a slave for like 5 years.  Someone could pay off your debt for you and then you’d be their slave.  The idea here is that Jesus buys us back.  We have chosen to live apart from God so we are a slave to sin.  Jesus came to die for us, to purchase us.  When we are redeemed we’re not just set free but we are slave to the redeemer.  There’s a transfer of ownership.  We are set free from sin and we now belong to Jesus.  God purchases us.  Why would anyone purchase us?  Die for us?  We’re a messed up people.

This old church replica I have is damaged because a 5 year old played with it.  That 5 year old was me.  Why would God care for us?  God sent His son knowing fully who we are and how we will reject Him.  God’s ultimate plan is that we have a relationship with Him. 

 So that we could be His forever.

The Romans had a system of adoption.  Julius Cesar adopted his nephew Octavius for example.  Octavius had full rights and privileges as his child.  He could even take Cesar’s place and become a leader like his father.

            “so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

We are adopted as sons and daughters of God.  We sometimes describe ourselves as a servant of God.  We are indebted to Him.  Here’s the beauty of what Jesus did.  God can claim us as His slaves but our Master has moved us from slaves to adopted sons and daughters.  The Christians in Galatia were told they weren’t real believers.  Paul tells them they are full sons and daughters of God.  You are a son and a daughter of God.  It is more than we deserve. 

The story of Christmas is that Jesus came to restore us.  This little broken church I have is special to me.  My maternal grandfather died when I was a child.  He died young.  He was an alcoholic who slowly lost everything.  He lost his health and his family.  When he had just about nothing left his girlfriend kicked him out and a mission church took him in.  He had nothing to give.  This church took care of him and told him about Jesus.  My grandfather gave his life to Jesus Christ and gave this little church to a kid who had no idea what it meant.  My grandfather died as a son, an adopted son of the King of Kings.  Regardless of our past Jesus came for us.  Jesus raises us to sons and daughters at just the right time.  Have you given your life to Him?  This is why Jesus came. 

Sermon by Dr. Scotty Carpenter.  Sermon Notes are taken, transcribed and posted by Jeni Martin.

Today’s Children’s Sermon by Janet Smith:

I wonder if any of you have taken a walk or a ride to look at Christmas lights?  When I was growing up Christmas was simple.  One tradition we had in our family was on Christmas Eve we all piled in the big white Oldsmobile with no seat belts and rode through town together to see the Christmas lights.  When we returned home mom served us punch and chex mix.  This year there’s been extra Christmas light looking in our family.  Lots of work goes into hanging up lights for Christmas. 

In John 8:12 Jesus said about himself, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follow me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

In the same way a light helps us walk through a dark place Jesus is a light that shows us how to walk in an everyday place.  Jesus is telling us He has come to show who God is, how to love God and how to follow God.  He is our Light.  We need to look to Jesus, to know God and to follow Him.  This year let the Christmas lights remind you of this.