Slaves or Sons

Bible Reading — Galatians 4:1–11, 21–31

Today's reading is taken from Galatians chapter four, verses 1 to 11, and then, 21 to 31. What I'm saying is that as long as an heir is underaged, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The air is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. So also when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons. God sent the Spirit of His son unto our hearts, the spirit who calls out ABBA, father! So you are no longer a slave but God's child. And since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. But now that you know God, or rather unknown by God, how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

Verse 21 to 31. Tell me you who want to be under the law. Are you not aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born according to the flesh, but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a divine promise. These things are being taken figuratively. The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves. This is Hagar. Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother, for it is written. Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child, shout for joy and cry aloud. You were never in labor, because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband. Now, you brothers and sisters like Isaac, a children of promise. At that time, the son born according to the flesh, persecuted. The son born by the power of the spirit. It is the same now. But what the scriptures say. Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman son. Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. This is the word of the Lord.

Introduction

Well, good morning everyone. Such a great privilege to share the Word of God together today, and I hope that you found so far this book of Galatians, both encouraging and challenging as well.
Today we are looking at chapter four. Wonderful illustrations that we read just read in our reading today.

So I wonder if you've ever heard the story of two Hungarian brothers, Zsolt and Géza. So two homeless brothers living just outside Budapest and living in poverty and, in a cave. So as a homeless people, what they do to survive was, scavenging and selling scrap on the street.

But they had a grandmother lived in Germany, whom they never knew or never met. So after the grandmother passed away, the lawyers who were handling her estate discovered, the existence of these two brothers. in 2009, the lawyers, contacted them and gave them the good news.

And the news was this. They inherited almost 6.6 million USD in that time, and they never had to live as they used to in a cave. Such a great story.

Now imagine if these two brothers would, respond to the lawyers like this. Oh, thank you for your call. But now we're not really interested in. So we move. We would rather to move back to our cave and live as homeless. Surprising, right?

It's like a prisoner who has been set free. walking out of this, prison. But after some weeks of freedom, he begins to miss the prison life. The prison meal, the prison fellowship.

And then he walks back to the prison gate and asked to be locked back again. Well, even thinking about it is is painful, is painful and sad.

Well, that is what exactly Paul feels here. The deep sadness for Galatians because they're doing somehow same spiritually is writing with this pain to Colossians. what happened?

It was they had begun. Well, in the gospel they received the gospel, but now they were being tempted to go back, to place themselves under the law, to return to a form of slavery.

Abraham, Moses, and Jesus

in the previous chapter, we see that Paul showed the relation between three important and great figures of biblical history Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. So he explains how God gave Abraham a promise to bless all the nations.

And then he gave Moses a law. And how the promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, who was born under the law, to redeem those under the law. And not just redeeming, but giving the honor of sonship, a new family and relationship.

And that where he gives two illustration here, one from everyday life, a child who is under guardians until maturity, and the other one from Israel's own story, the story of Hagar and Sarah.

So verses one, two, two says, what I am saying is that as long as as air is on the edge, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. The air is subject to guardians and trustees onto the time set by his father in the Graeco-Roman world in that day, and as estate was promised but not yet enjoyed.

As a child, you remain on the guardians or trustees, or sometimes until you get to 25. Without any freedom to use all those states or and no different from from a slave or a servant in that state, only when the child gets of age, he or she could fully receive the privilege and promise of inheritance.

So he says invest three. So also when we were underage, we were in a slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. Some translations say something else. I say elementary principle of the world, some other says elemental spirit. And this can be understood in two different ways.

So the first, the first would be it could mean that the basics, the ABCs of, God's training, the Old Testament law, which was given to given to Moses to give to his people and for good and for good purposes. But it was incomplete. And what happened is Christ bring God's people into maturity.

So the second, it may mean spiritual powers, the spiritual spirit that tied to elements or heavenly bodies. And I'm back in that time. Often these things worship in festivals. And Paul says in verse eight, we were enslaved to those who by nature are not gods. And he's pointing to demonic powers.

So in the same way, we as we we were children. We were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. And so what is his saying? Trying to say, trying to say to us is to remind us of what we were like before Christ. When we were children, in a sense, when we were still in a slave.

So his saying to Galatians, If you are Jewish, the law of Moses makes you slave like a guardian. Because what the Guardian does is pointing out your faults and your mistakes, and you're restricted in your freedom.

You do not get to experience all the promises of God just yet until the coming of Christ. That's for the Jewish person. And if you are not Jewish, it's the same for the Gentiles as well.

You see the elemental spiritual forces of this world, which work the same way you are enslaved by the manmade religion. And this caused people to think that I can work my way up to God.

Before Christ, Israel and all humanity was under the bondage of sin. Law. Or spiritual powers. And in verse 4 to 7 says, but when that set time had fully come, God sent his son.

The point is that you are in a slave, whether you were a Jew or Gentile, until you believe in Christ. And that's when you come of age. That's when you're rescued from slavery and walked in. Walk into maturity.

So man's bondage under the law continued for almost 1300 years, which is a long period of time of minority. But at last the fullness of time arrived. You remember Jesus words in Mark chapter one, where he started his ministry. He says, the time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news.

The day, the day set by the father when the children should attain their majority. Be free from the Guardians and inherit the promise. So those of us who have children and mean not yet a couple of weeks, but they know that what this looks like. Children often ask their parents, hey, mom, can I do this? Can I have that? Can I eat this? Can I do that?

And well, the answer is usually honey. Not yet. You should wait. You have to wait until you grow up. God's people waited through a long season of being under the law. Like children, under strict rules.

But when the time came. When Christ brought true freedom. It's surprising because somewhere is still trying to get back to their old ways.

God Sent His Son — Redemption and Adoption

When this fullness of time had come, God did two things. So sometimes when we share the gospel with others, with our friends, with our neighbors, we talk about the goodness of God and the love that he pours out to people. We say that God loves you so much, he gave His Son to rescue you from your sin, to forgive your sin and condemn it. And that is absolutely true.

This is what God did. But this is just one side of the story. If we stop there, we miss something very important. Very important. God sent his son. Fully divine and fully human. Born of a woman. Born under the law.

Why did he do that? Look at verse five. To redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption to sonship. He redeemed us. He forgave our sin. Through Jesus Christ. And he didn't stop there.

He adopted us. He adopted as his children. So he redeemed us. And God says to us, you are mine. I am your father. The first song that was saying, I'm your good father. There is no greater privilege in all creation. That then the privilege of sonship. To be children of God.

J.R. Parker says, I call this a sonship. The climax of the gospel, the climax of the ultimate point of the gospel is the sonship. I love what John Stott says. He says the concept of adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers.

To be right with God. The judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater and new relationship, a new family, not only freedom, but real family. God sent his Son to make us sons. The climax of creation.

You cannot get any higher rank in all creation than being a Son of God. Well, for those of us who might ask today that why, son? Why? Paul says adoption as sons. What about daughters? well, in in the ancient world, it was only the firstborn son. Who received the full inheritance.

Not some. Number two. Not some. Not some. Number three or 5 or 500. Son number one. The firstborn. Not the daughters. Not any one else. Just number one. Son number one, the firstborn.

And this is the beauty of the gospel in Christ. God adopts both sons and daughters and gives them the same status as the firstborn son. Not son number 2 or 5, but the firstborn son.

Look at verse 6 to 7, and he continues, and because you are son, God has sent the Spirit of his son into our hearts, who calls out, ABBA, father. So you are no longer a slave but God's child, and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

God is your father. You can call him ABBA. ABBA is an Aramaic word for saying something. Sounds like daddy in English that much close. So calling your father father is something, but calling him dad daddy is something else. In Farsi we say baba. which is different from Peda.

So this is this is what we achieve through Jesus Christ. God gives you this privilege to call him ABBA, dad. God is not everyone's father. This is important to know. He is everyone's lord. He's everyone's king because he created all the creation. But he's not everyone's father.

This is reserved for just those who enters his family as sons and daughters, by his redemptive and adoptive work, through his beloved son, Jesus Christ. You can call him dad, but how do you know that? How do you know that you are his son? How do you know that you can call God ABBA?

Well, Paul gives us this answer. The answer is the spirit. The Spirit of God. You become the dwelling place of God and His presence. And this spirit assures of us of our sonship. The spirit enables us to cry out, ABBA! The Spirit of God does that.

John Star says, this is the spirit work of giving believers deep assurance. This is the work of God. We are not left guessing about our status, but the spirit testifies with our spirit that we are children of God. Just like his flesh, born number one and co-heir with Jesus Christ.

God chooses to love us as much as he loves his own true son. What a great privilege. What else can be compared to this in this world? What else?

Do Not Turn Back

And now in verse 8 to 10, we see the contrast of what once we were with what we have become. And Paul asked a rhetorical question. Colossians. If you were a slave and now you were a son, if you did not know God, but have no have now come to know him, and to be known by him.

How can you turn back again to the old slavery? How? How can you allow yourself to be in a slave by the very element of spirit of this world? You observe days and months and seasons and festivals.

In other words, he's saying that your religion has degenerated into an external formalism. It is no longer the joy and living fellowship of children with their father. It has turned into a joyless cycle of duties and demands.

And he fears at the end of this part that all the time and trouble he has spent over them has been wasted. Instead of growing in the liberty with which Christ had set them free, they have slipped back into the old bound age.

Now we understand the language that he uses in chapter three. He called them O foolish Galatians. How foolish is that to get back to your old ways. It's like them saying, God, you have made me your son. But thank you. I would rather to go and live in a cave as a homeless.

You know, in this life. In this life, it's too easy to get back to our own old ways. Sometimes I remember when I signed up at the gym. this happened a couple of times, but, I'm talking about the longest period. I was going regularly and making progress until something happened.

So, we had some visitors who stayed with us for, for a week, and we need to provide some attention. Especially as Persian. You. The guests are most welcome. and my routine was interrupted by this week. And then instead of when they left, instead of getting back to my routine as a gym goer, I slipped into my old pattern and stopped going to the gym.

so I'm taking, as Rachel mentioned, I'm taking the leave of for parental leave for seven weeks. I'm not I'm not sure which way I'm going back when I come back to work, but I hope that is going to be, the same way that I'm doing at the moment. But but there are there are moments in our lives that we love to we tend to get back to the old ways.

And this is very true about our Christian life as well, sometimes turning back to our old ways. And Paul here is using this thing to remind and warn Galatians and us today to not go back. Because if you do, then you would be abounding your abandoning your heavenly family.

Hagar and Sarah — Three Stages

Now, in the second part of the reading, we see another illustration used by Paul here as an allegory of the story of Abraham, Hagar and Sarah, and is addressing those here who wants to live under the law. Many today still do. They may not be Jews, but people who think religion is about rules or having a relationship with God is about. that how often we go to church or, how well we use, the words in our prayers.

People who think religious could set them free. Either Christian or non-Christian. But let's look at three stages that he introduced here. by using this illustration, this stage one is a historical one.

• Stage one (Historical): So verses 2223 if you're following on your Bible. Abraham had two sons. Ishmael, born of Hagar the slave, was born according to the flesh, and Isaac, born of Sarah. The free woman came through promise. Ishmael was natural. Isaac was supernatural. Ishmael was born into slavery. Isaac into freedom. Already we see a picture. The humanity by nature is enslaved. But God's promise bring freedom.

• Stage two (Allegorical): And the second stage is, is the allegorical stage that he uses in his language. The comparison of the status of Sarah and Hagar, so that these two models represent two covenants, one from Mount Sinai and the earthly Jerusalem. And Sarah represents the Jerusalem above the heavenly Jerusalem. Hagar, stands for the slave who are enslaved by the law, and Sarah, who are the heirs of God. And Paul is warning them, say, be be aware of those false teachers. That is, keep commanding you to get back to your old ways, to get back to, do the law to be righteous in front of God because we've already been righteous through Jesus Christ. Be careful because you will be an Ishmael, not an Isaac, a slave, not an heir.

• Stage three (Personal): And finally, in stage three, we see that Paul is using this in a personal way, talking to each individuals in Galatians church and to us today. If you belong to Christ, we are children of promise like Isaac, not slaves like Ishmael. Our identity is not built on the formality or the heritage or the ceremonies, but on God's grace. In Christ we are free.

Three Encouragements

What we can learn from this world. This is this. We could talk a lot about these two illustrations that Paul uses here, but let me encourage us with three things. Three simple things.

• First: So the first one, if if I am, I am child of God. I belong to God and I belong to Christ, and I belong to each other. And if I belong to these things, then I love to serve those to whom I belong. I love to serve God. I love to serve others. This kind of service is not obligation, compulsory obligation on us or task duty, but it's a kind of service with freedom and with desire. Our salvation rests upon the finished work of Christ and His sin bearing, curse bearing death. He embraces us. He he invites us into this new family.

• Second: Secondly, if I am child of God, I have nothing to fear. If God is my is truly, my father is truly my ABBA. What do I have to fear? There are lots of things in our lives that, That makes us fearful, makes us scared. But nothing in all creation can call God Father. But we can. We can. When I cry out, ABBA, I'm not talking to a distant father, or a busy God, or the one who doesn't care about me. I'm talking to the one who loves me and cares for me. There is nothing to fear because of God, my father, beside me. I can face sickness. I can face loss in our lives. I can face disappointment and loneliness. I have nothing to fear.

• Third: And lastly, if I am child of God, I have nothing to lose. If God is my father. Then I already have everything. Well, the masterpiece of Disney. My favorite movie. thousand times. I've watched it as an adult and as, as a teenager. But, one of the most beautiful moments in that movie is this scene. This is my favorite part. This is my favorite part. When Simba's father takes Simba's on, on a rock to show him the the glory of the kingdom and what belongs to them. And this is what? Mufasa. Right? Mufasa was Simba's father. Mufasa says to Simba, everything the light touches is our kingdom. Everything the light touches is our kingdom. Everything the Lord touches. We are God's heirs. We fight for lots of things in our life to achieve, to not lose. But we are God's heirs. Promise the whole entire inheritance of the kingdom that things in this world can not compare to the righteousness that we have in Christ.

If I live like I'm missing out, then I've forgotten who I am. In Christ, the universe is already mine. That means I can live generously, having sacrifices in my life. having freedom in my life. Because I have nothing to lose. I have nothing to lose. In Christ, I have everything to gain.

My story does not end here. Death itself is not the end of the story, but the doorway to glory. When I will run into the arms of my ABBA. The best is still to come. And the future as bright as God's promise.

This is the beauty of the gospel because the gospel offers us not chain, but freedom. Not fear, but adoption, not slavery, but sonship and friends. If we are children of God, then we are God's heirs and co-heirs with Christ and everything. Everything on this world and beyond in the universe that the light touches is ours. Amen.