The Good News Changes Us

So, again, if you have your Bibles, you can open them, first of all, to Galatians chapter 4.

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

As we conclude this little series in the book of Galatians, looking at some of its big themes, we're thinking about the reality that the good news of the gospel, it's a message that changes us.

Now, before we get to thinking about how the gospel changes us, just to think about the importance of finding love and acceptance.

So, this week, lots of our teens and kids in primary school have been applying for camp.

And for those of us who perhaps have been to camps, or you've watched people go away to camp, for many people it becomes a moment when perhaps being kind of isolated in a small church perhaps, they go to a camp and here's the moment where they find their people.

Do you know that moment that I'm talking about?

When a person perhaps feels kind of anxious, they kind of feel like they're all alone in the world, and nobody else really understands them or perhaps their faith.

And then all of a sudden you find some other people, and they think the same, and they accept you.

And now, your life is different.

Maybe I've seen that in the teenagers in your own life.

You can think about it.

There's a happiness, there's a confidence that comes from finding your crew, or when a guy or a girl finds the one.

The same thing happens.

Something changes, and everybody else can see it.

To find love and acceptance in this world is huge.

I was thinking about all those studies that tell us that, you know, kids from stable homes are much more likely to flourish,

and much more likely to be resilient, and so on and so forth.

And thinking about the fact, if that's true in our human experiences with another person,

how much more true is it when that comes to our God?

And this is where Paul kind of takes us in the book of Galatians,

that knowing the love and acceptance of God, that changes us profoundly.

And that's the good news that Paul closes his letter with.

And in a sense, it takes us to the question of what is the greatest privilege in the Christian life?

What is the greatest thing that God could give us?

Now, if you've been around for the last couple of weeks, we've been in the book of Galatians,

we might instinctively think, well, the answer must be justification.

And of course, that is a wonderful truth.

The forgiveness of sin, acceptance from God, that's massive, and it's fundamental.

But actually, that's just a gospel foundation that we must build on.

But it must be our foundation, because if we don't know what it is to be justified,

to be declared right with God, then we can never find true peace.

There'll always be a sense in which our hearts are restless and will wrestle with guilt.

And so justification is wonderful, but it's only the foundation.

To think about an analogy from house building, you know, you lay a good foundation,

a builder is never going to stop there.

Well, unless resources run out.

A homeowner is not going to celebrate the stage at which the foundation is laid.

Because obviously, there is much more to be built.

There is a home to live in.

That's the point where the champagne gets opened.

And as Paul takes us towards the end of his letter,

he wants to show us that there are still greater privileges.

There is still this gospel house that we need to live in,

where justification is just the foundation.

And he's going to take us especially to the wonderful truth that God adopts us into his family.

So we come to live in God's house as God's children,

as members together of God's family.

And that's the good news that changes us.

Because it changes our relationships in an essential way with God and with one another in the Christian church.

So let's think first of all about how the good news that we find in the gospel,

how does that change our relationship with God?

It's here in chapter 4, first 7 verses.

The story of God's redemption is the story of a spiritual adoption.

That God takes people who are strangers and enemies,

and he makes them not just friends, he makes us his family.

He changes lives for all eternity.

And Paul, in the course of just these few verses,

he takes the Galatians and he takes us on something of that journey.

So he takes them, first of all, to their past.

What was it like before Jesus came?

And look with me, chapter 4, first three verses,

he uses the imagery of being like a slave or being an underage child.

As long as an heir is underage, he's no different from a slave,

although he owns the whole estate.

So Paul is picturing a son in a wealthy Roman family.

Big house, lots of land, lots of property,

but as yet they're under 16.

So they're in minority.

So they've got the promise of a great inheritance,

there's great wealth to come, but not yet.

And so this child, though he is the heir,

he still has to live under a tutor and a guardian.

He is not yet ready to enjoy all the privileges that are coming,

the freedom that will be his one day.

And Paul says, well, that's really like life

under the law before Jesus came.

It was a time of waiting and longing for the Messiah

through whom all these promises would come

and the freedom of the gospel would come.

And in the context of the book of Galatians,

remember he's been saying to them,

why would you ever choose law-keeping

as a way to be right with God?

It's as if he's saying it'd be like going back

from being a son to being a slave.

So there's this period in the past of slavery,

but then in verse four, in God's story of adoption,

what happens?

The set time fully comes.

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.

What a wonderful phrase, at the set time.

At just the right time, God's timing is perfect.

And in God's perfect timing, he sent his son, Jesus,

so that you and I might become sons of God.

It's the right time in the sense,

when you look at what's happening in history

when Jesus arrives, it's a time of spiritual longing.

I think we see that whenever we read the gospels,

there's that great longing for the Messiah.

They're looking for anyone.

John the Baptist, are you the Messiah?

When excitement about Jesus builds,

they want to make him king by force.

It's a time of spiritual longing for the Jews,

but it's also a time of spiritual longing for the Romans.

The Romans were becoming increasingly uneasy

about their gods and immorality within their culture.

And a lot of people within Roman society

were beginning to look for a new form of truth.

We could also say it's the right time,

because we think about the time when Jesus came.

It was a moment where culture was being shared.

So, Greco-Roman culture was the thing.

And that was so helpful,

because then everybody had a shared language,

the Greek language,

so that when the good news of Jesus was announced,

that message could very quickly spread through the world.

A missionary wouldn't have to go to language school for years

to learn a new language to tell people about Jesus.

They could simply go and speak the Greek

that everybody else in the Roman world understood.

And this timing of God sending Jesus

at just the set time when he arrived,

it was a great political moment for a Messiah to come,

because while you had the wealth of Rome

and the power of Rome,

they also had that desire to maintain security and authority,

which meant that they were building lots of roads.

So, if there was trouble in a far corner of the empire,

they could quickly send an army to quell a rebellion.

But that meant that people could go from Jerusalem

and spread to the far corners

with this good news of the Lord Jesus.

And nothing happens by accident.

This is God's good timing.

And so, at the set time, Jesus comes.

So, the timing is perfect, but also,

Jesus is perfect.

His qualifications are perfect to be our Savior.

What does he say of Jesus?

He is the Son of God.

He is completely divine.

He is totally God.

But he's also born of a woman,

so he's totally man.

And this is what makes Jesus uniquely qualified

to be our perfect mediator.

The one who can represent God to man and man to God.

He is the one and the only one

who can stand in the place of unrighteous sinners like us.

Remember, we can't by ourselves be good enough for God.

But Jesus is perfectly righteous,

and he stands in our place.

And more than that,

he is the only one,

because he is fully God,

is able to absorb God's holy anger

and secure deliverance

and be vindicated at the end of the day.

And we see that at his resurrection.

He came born under the law,

and he would perfectly keep the law.

He would be totally righteous at every point in his life

so that he could redeem those who are under the law.

And here we see Jesus' total commitment

to God's plan of salvation.

Jesus knew all through his life

that he would redeem by his sacrificial death.

And so nothing is held back

in God's plan of salvation.

And that matters so much

when we think about what comes next

in this storyline of God's adoption story.

Look at verses five to seven.

Jesus came to redeem those under the law

that we might receive adoption to sonship.

So there's a movement from slavery to sonship.

Because you are his sons,

God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts,

the spirit who calls out, Abba, Father.

So you're no longer a slave, but God's child.

And since you are his child,

God has made you also an heir.

This is the great privilege of the gospel.

Adoption.

This is moving from the wonderful reality

of God the judge declaring of us in Christ Jesus,

you are not condemned.

That's wonderful.

This is God the Father now saying to us,

come home with me.

That's a greater privilege.

There is a new level of relationship

we are being invited into.

So J.I. Packer says,

adoption is the greatest privilege

the gospel offers,

even higher than justification.

Now just to pause for a moment,

perhaps we recognize in verse five

that Paul uses the language of sonship.

Now why does he deliberately choose sonship?

Why doesn't he call us sons and daughters there?

Why doesn't he talk about children there?

It's because this is a very particular,

specific legal idea.

Because only sons,

only males could inherit.

But what Paul is at pains to point out

is that any and all Christians

are given the right to inherit.

That whoever we are,

Jew, Greek, male, female, slave, or free,

all of us in Christ

have the right to be called children of God,

to be sons of God

in the sense of inheriting

all his wonderful promises.

The right to have God as our eternal father,

that belongs to all of us.

The prospect of an eternal home,

that belongs to any who have faith in Jesus.

The reality of belonging to an eternal family,

that's for all who are united to Christ Jesus by faith.

And this wonderful privilege of adoption,

notice in verse six,

brings with it the gift of the Spirit.

God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts.

We remember Jesus being baptized in the Spirit,

the Spirit-filled man,

that same Spirit that filled Jesus now fills us.

God comes to dwell in our hearts.

We have this unique privilege

since the coming of Jesus

and the sending of the Spirit

of God drawing near in a whole new way.

In the Old Testament,

Jewish worshipers,

Gentile worshipers,

had various levels of being removed from God.

If God dwelt in the Holy of Holies

and we're Gentiles,

well, we could get to the outer courts.

If you're a Jewish woman,

you could get a little bit further.

A Jewish man could get a little bit further.

The high priest,

well, they could enter into the holy place,

but nobody could enter the holy of holies

except the high priest

and only one time a year

and then a very real worry

that he might lose his life

by making some mistake

in the presence of the holy God.

But now in Christ Jesus,

we're brought right into the holy of holies.

Whenever we pray,

immediately we are in the presence

of our God and our Father.

We have wonderful privilege

because of our sonship

to pray our Father in heaven.

As I was reading this week,

I was reading an author

and a preacher

by the name of David Platt.

Some of you may be familiar with him.

He also started a movement

called the Radical Movement.

It's a really interesting website.

Encourages mission to the unreached.

There's lots of interesting videos

about, for example,

gospel work in Japan.

There's a whole series on that.

But David Platt was so helpful

to read because over the course of his life,

he and his wife have adopted two children,

one from China and one from Kazakhstan.

And he tells the story

of this little adopted boy

from Kazakhstan being in that stage

which all children go through

of asking multiple why questions.

So we remember those.

If we're parents,

we remember the why stage.

And so he tells this wonderful

little conversation.

So David Platt begins

talking to his little son.

Simply wanted to say to him,

I love you.

Why?

Because you're my son.

Why?

And he thought about that

for a few seconds.

And his answer was wonderful.

Because we wanted you.

And we came to get you.

And that's why you're my son.

And it's a wonderful message

because that comes from a pastor

who knows the gospel.

He knows the logic of the gospel,

that God loves us,

that God wanted us,

God in Christ came to get us,

to die for us and rise again,

to make us beloved children

adopted by our Father.

the greatest privilege

that we can have

in our lives.

And J.I. Packer,

in one of his books,

can't remember which book,

he said,

if you want to know

how well somebody

understands Christianity,

ask this question.

Ask yourself this question.

How much do you make

of being God's child?

How much do you make

of being God's child?

Paul tells us

that God has sent the Spirit

so that we can enjoy

the privilege of sonship.

God sent his Son

to make us sons of God.

The reality that we can worship

is only because God

has sent his Son

to make us his children.

Our free access

to a throne of grace.

the reality of God's

steadfast fatherly love.

The fact that we can confess

our sin to our Father

and know that he won't turn

his back on us

because he loves us in Christ.

The security that we have

of knowing a Father

who is steadfast

to his promises

and that work of salvation

that he begins in Jesus,

he will complete,

he will take us home

to be with himself.

The freedom that we have

because we're not slaves

to a taskmaster,

we're sons and daughters

of a Father

who loves us deeply.

When we understand

the privilege

of the knowing God as Father,

then we're beginning

to get to the heart

of Christianity.

Christianity.

And that's the good news

that Paul brings

to these Galatian Christians

who are beginning to think,

well, maybe I should

turn back to the law.

Maybe that's going to be

the better way

to be right with God.

And he says,

no, no, remember the gospel

in Christ Jesus

adopted to sonship.

So the good news

changes our relationship

with God,

but he doesn't finish

with that relationship.

Paul also wants

them and us

to know that the good news

changes our relationship

with each other.

And so we heard

from Galatians 5

and Galatians 6.

So perhaps we can turn

there together

as we think about

the fact that

the truths of the gospel,

the wonderful truths

that we've been thinking

about in the book

of Galatians,

they should change us.

Now that we know

that God is our Father,

now that we live

experiencing His love,

that should transform us,

that should show itself

in life in His family,

in the church.

So we heard Paul

talk about freedom

this morning.

In chapter 5

and verse 13,

he's still talking

about a particular

kind of freedom

the Christian enjoys.

You, my brothers and sisters,

were called to be free.

But we need to understand

what kind of freedom.

But do not use your freedom

to indulge the flesh.

So this Christian freedom

is not freedom

to live as I please.

And it's not freedom

to simply live for myself.

It's not, well,

now I've got Jesus,

now I've got a free pass,

so I can just do

whatever I want.

Rather,

our freedom

has a particular form.

Serve one another

humbly in love.

That's the freedom

we have as Christians,

the freedom to be humble.

The freedom to serve

from hearts

that have been transformed

by Jesus serving us.

The freedom to love

one another

because God

has freely loved us.

It's a similar point

that he makes

at the beginning

of chapter 5.

So we read this morning,

chapter 5, verse 1,

it is for freedom

that Christ has set us free.

The end of that

little section

is verse 6.

And look at how he ends

verse 6.

The only thing that counts

is faith

expressing itself

through love.

Our faith in Christ

should show itself

in lives of love

and service.

I love the story

of the Apostle John.

It's told

by some of his followers

when he was really old,

so in his 90s.

Too old really

to say much,

too old to travel

by his own strength.

The story is told

that he would be carried

on the Lord's Day

on a kind of,

I guess,

a stretcher

is probably the easiest way

for us to imagine it.

And he'd be taken

to a house church

and he'd be placed

in front of the congregation,

very little ability

to speak,

but he would say to them,

dear children,

love one another.

That's the one truth.

That Apostle

wanted the church,

those young churches,

to know

that as you've been

loved by God

in Jesus,

love one another.

And the great gospel

truths that we've been

thinking about,

being justified

by faith in Jesus,

being adopted

into God's family,

they're not just

for our heads,

not just doctrines

to admire,

rather they are

to reach our hearts

and change our lives

in a particular way

that it should lead us

into lives of love.

And so just to notice

a couple of different ways

that we see this.

First of all,

thinking about

how the Spirit

wants to work in us,

the character of Christ.

So look at chapter 5,

verse 22 and 23,

that sort of famous,

perhaps familiar section

for many of us,

the fruit of the Spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit

is love,

joy,

peace,

forbearance,

patience,

kindness,

goodness,

faithfulness,

gentleness,

and self-control.

So in this section,

verse 16,

Paul calls believers

to live by the Spirit.

Then in verse 18,

he calls us to be

led by the Spirit.

And when we're living

by the Spirit

and we're led by the Spirit,

that's going to produce

a certain kind of life.

Life is going to take on

a certain shape and form,

and that shape and form

is the fruit of the Spirit,

is more of the character

of the Lord Jesus.

He chooses this image

from the garden

to say that what the Spirit

wants to grow in us

is more and more likeness

to the Lord Jesus.

Because as we think

about these qualities,

as we think about Jesus

in the gospel,

we recognize that He

is the one

and the only one

who perfectly shows us

all of these character qualities.

He is the one

of perfect,

sacrificial love

towards others,

driven by compassion

and care

to heal the sick,

to raise the dead,

to restore

fallen disciples,

and ultimately

to die on the cross

for us.

He is the one

of perfect

kindness

and goodness,

never sending

anyone away,

welcoming the children,

those despised,

those rejected,

those full of shame

are welcomed,

they're honored,

they're shown kindness

and care.

Jesus is the one

who practices

perfect patience

when His disciples

fail to understand,

when they want

to exercise pride

and be full of themselves

rather than serving,

when they abandon Him

at the moment

of His trial,

and as He is arrested,

He patiently restores.

And so we see

these qualities

perfectly in Jesus,

but the Spirit

wants to grow them

in us.

And in a particular way

to transform

how we relate

to one another,

because this is

part of a contrast.

So in verse 19,

there is a description

of the acts

of the flesh.

And as you scan

that list,

you'll see that

those acts

are profoundly

selfish acts.

Sexual immorality,

impurity,

idolatry,

hatred,

discord,

jealousy,

fits of rage,

selfish ambition,

selfish acts.

That's what the flesh

produces.

That's what we

naturally would produce.

But when the Spirit

works in us,

the Spirit of Christ

works in us,

then He's producing

in us a character

that shows

and expresses

love

towards

others.

And it's important

to recognize

that all of these

qualities,

they need a someone

to show them to.

we can only grow

in patience

as we rub up

against other people.

And so this is a picture

of the kind of life

that Paul wants

to see

these Galatian Christians

have and share

together.

That God wants

these qualities

to grow in us

in the context

of our church

family life

together.

Now it's important

to recognize

that we are all

works in progress

that nobody can say

I've reached

perfection.

These processes

that the Spirit

begins in us,

they won't be complete

until we are

with the Lord Jesus

or the Lord Jesus

comes back

and then we are

completely free

from sin.

Then we will have

that perfect character.

But nevertheless

it is true

that when we are

walking with the Spirit

He will bring

change in us

and He'll give us

that desire

to want to change

and to become

more holy.

And so there is

something of the

character of Christ

that is being formed

in church members

that shapes

and changes

our relationship

with one another.

But the second way

in which our

relationship

with one another

changes

that we find

at the beginning

of chapter 6

in that we are

invited to carry

each other's

burdens.

Look at verse 2,

carry each other's

burdens and in this way

you will fulfill

the law of Christ.

This is one of those

New Testament

one another

sections,

you know,

forgive one another,

you know,

show hospitality

to one another.

There are a whole

raft of them

and again

in common

each of them

needs a church

fellowship

to practice

them in.

We cannot

carry each other's

burdens

if we are not

connected enough

to know what

burdens

somebody else.

And so even

as we're thinking

about carrying

each other's

burdens

it's a reminder

that we need

to love

the local church

and to love

our brothers

and sisters

within the church

so that we can

keep these

commands.

what do we

help carry?

Well perhaps

first of all

we can think

about carrying

that burden

of sin

and temptation

because that's

where he begins

in verse 1

brothers and

sisters

if someone

is caught

in a sin

you who live

by the spirit

should restore

that person

gently

but watch

yourselves

or you also

may be tempted.

That's one way

where we can

carry each other's

burdens

when we can

practice

gentle

restoration.

When a family

member falls

into temptation

Paul is saying

to the whole

church

we have a

duty of care

to one another.

That we are

all to function

like shepherds

who are attentive

to see

are there any

sheep wandering

who I know

whom God

would want me

to gently

restore.

That all

of us

in Christ

have a responsibility

to speak

the truth

in love.

This isn't

restricted to

a minister

or to a group

of elders

though we do

have a duty

of care

in that

absolutely.

This is

addressed to

brothers and

sisters within

the church

that part of

our everyday

pastoral care

for one another

is to help

each other

to fight

temptation

and to walk

in obedience.

And that

requires a

certain level

of commitment.

It requires

us to get

close enough

to know

one another

to know

what our

struggles

might be.

It commits

us to stand

together as

brothers in

arms in the

fight of

faith.

It requires

us to be

willing to

share honest

struggles

not with

everyone but

with at least

someone.

it involves

praying for

help for

someone because

we know them

and we know

that they are

struggling.

It involves

being accountable

to others

not isolating

ourselves and

not allowing

sin to isolate

us further.

Remember we

read about

Eve and

Adam what do

they do when

they fall into

sin they try

and hide

they feel a

sense of

shame.

whereas we're

invited rather

to confess

to bring

our sin

into the

light of

the gospel.

And so we

have a

responsibility

to help

to carry

that burden

of sin

and temptation

that we

all have

ongoing

in our

lives.

But secondly

we are to

help carry

the burden

of life's

challenges

together.

to be the

person who

says to

someone else

I will be

there for

you through

thick and

through

thin.

To fulfill

the law of

Christ is to

love one

another.

And to help

us to think

about what

that involves

again we can

go to no

better place

than to go

to the gospel

and to think

about what

did it look

like for

Jesus to

love others

to carry the

burdens of

others.

What do we

see in Jesus

that we can

learn from?

Well love shows

up and comes

near.

It's the

incarnation.

Love is

willing to

walk the road

of pain and

suffering with

and for

others.

love is the

whole pattern

of Jesus

life.

Love weeps

for grieving

friends.

Love restores

the friend

who fails.

Love brings

hope and

help.

Love sacrifices

for the sake

of others.

And we know

that because we

see Jesus

doing it.

And he is

our saviour

and he is our

great example.

So what does

God want for

us as a

church?

As we think

about how

Paul closes

off his

letter.

He wants us

to grow

nearer to

him as

father.

To appreciate

his fatherly

love and

care.

He wants us

to love one

another as

children of

God as part

of the family

of faith.

He wants

us to love

God by

loving

one another

and in

so doing

to show

that the

gospel is

real and

that the

gospel is

powerful.

God