Galatians Week 8 • Galatians 3:26-4:7

Hi, and welcome to the Willow Ridge Church weekly podcast.

This is where you can find audio for our current and past sermons.

We hope that you enjoy this week's installment, and be sure to check back next week to hear

the latest message.

Thanks for listening.

If you've got your Bibles with you today, go ahead and open up to Galatians chapter 3.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

As you turn there, what we're going to talk about today is family.

We're talking about family dynamics and family characteristics.

I don't think any of us can deny that the family that we come from, our biological family that

we come from, sets within us certain characteristics and certain traits that from time to time tend

to come out in us.

And so when we are surrounded by our family, largely that's when those characteristics

come out.

Let me give you an example.

So this weekend, we had a wedding that we attended, a wedding that I officiated, and it was for

my cousin's daughter.

And so we travel back into Augusta, and we're there at the wedding.

And our family, which is an extremely large family, and as I look around, I begin to notice

all of the family characteristics that come out in our family.

My family, we're loud, right?

There's a lot of us, and we're loud.

My family doesn't do a very good job of establishing boundaries of what is or isn't appropriate to

talk about, right?

It's kind of a null holds barred, all secrets are out there.

This is how we talk and interact with each other.

My family is also known for a characteristic of big hair, right?

And I'm not just talking about the ladies in my family either, right?

Like, this is who we are.

And when we gather around each other, even if we haven't seen each other in a while, those

characteristics tend to come out of us as we come back together, even if it's been a long

time since we've been around each other.

We're a lot of us.

We're loud.

We have big personalities.

And when you're new coming into that dynamic, sometimes it can feel a little bit uncomfortable.

It can feel a little bit awkward.

Let me ask a question to everyone in the room.

How many of you felt like you married in to a big, loud family, and it took some adjustments?

It's meant for you, right?

This is great.

Leave your hands up.

I want to look around and see.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That is great.

That is wonderful.

Someone who married into a big, loud family was my wife, right?

She doesn't come from that.

That's not her family dynamic.

And the first time she met my family, she understood that this was different.

I'll never forget, Aaron and I had been out on a couple of dates.

I think you had been introduced to my parents, but never really in that interaction.

And so we were going to have her over to dinner at my parents' house.

And so being the guest, she got to go fix her plate first.

And in my mom's kitchen, I believe at that time was a rectangle or it was an oval table.

And my mom looked at her and she said, please fix your plate first and sit anywhere that you like.

So my wife went and she fixed her plate and she went and sat down and waited patiently as we all made our way to the table.

My dad, who was the second one to fix his plate, comes walking up to my wife and says, move, you're in my seat.

Now she stared at him, thinking, obviously this man's joking.

Obviously, this is the first time that I've met him.

He wouldn't say that to me.

And my dad just stood there and held his plate until she got up because she was in her seat.

And in spite of all of that, she stuck.

There was so much that she saw in me.

She said, that's worth it, right?

That's worth it.

But here's the remarkable thing that I've began to notice out of my wife.

For the first several family gatherings, as we would all get together, roughly, and I'm talking about immediate family,

like first cousins and aunts and uncles, as about 80 of us will gather together for holidays and for birthdays and events.

What I began to notice that would come out of my wife was a little bit of the family characteristics that we had, that her family doesn't have.

But she had to understand, no, no, no, when my dad says that, you have to tell him where he can go, right?

Like you've got to fight back with it, that the personality begins to come out and the characteristics that are there.

And it was like, but what in the world are you talking about with this?

As my family has individual characteristics of what we're known for, and as people who are around us, when you see us and you talk to us and you come to our family gatherings,

what you will see and what you will experience.

And even if you are around long enough and you continue to come back, and maybe even if you are brought into or you come into the family,

what you will notice that will happen is that some of those very same characteristics will come out in you.

What we're going to read in Galatians chapter 3 are these family dynamics and family characteristics that the body of Christ should be known for.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

Not just our church, not just the church at Galatia, but the body of Christ as a whole, regardless of culture, regardless of context, regardless of setting,

that these should be the characteristics that spring forth from them, that cross denominational lines, that cross ethnic lines,

that when churches are centered in and rooted in and based off the belief of the biblical Jesus Christ,

that this is what should come forth in our lives.

And so you and I have the opportunity to look at these and honestly assess ourselves as individuals.

To assess ourselves as an individual body of Christ.

And to assess the whole, the whole body and say,

is this what is seen?

Are these the characteristics that we portray?

Is this what is naturally coming from us if we are a part of the family?

So let's start reading in Galatians 3, starting in verse 26.

Paul writes, he says,

For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith.

For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek.

There is neither slave nor free.

There is no male and female.

For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if you are in Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

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.

But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father.

In the same way also, when we were children, we're enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

But when the fullness of time had come,

God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law,

to redeem those who were under the law,

so that we might receive adoption as sons.

And because you are sons,

God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying,

Abba, Father.

So you are no longer a slave, but a son.

And if a son, then an heir through God.

So Paul begins in the very first verse by establishing that this applies to believers.

He says, since we are now in Christ,

the embodiment of the church,

the basis of our faith,

that now since we are in Christ,

we have gained a spirit of obedience, right?

It's what we've been building up to,

that we are not saved by the law,

that we don't put our faith in the law,

that the law doesn't produce what we,

the Christ-like characteristics,

but we put our faith in Christ.

And through his spirit working in our lives,

what comes from us is this spirit of obedience

that we no longer have to,

but we desire to be obedient to what God's called us to

because of who he is and what he's done in us.

And so our obedience to Jesus is the overflow of the spirit of God inside of us

so that when I find myself in moments of obedience,

when I find myself desiring the love of the Lord,

that what that is coming from me is fruit,

and what comes from me is the spirit of God,

and I can celebrate the miracle that's happening as dead bones become alive.

And it's what we begin to see happening in our lives.

And so Paul begins to talk through these characteristics of who we are

now that we are in Christ.

And the first thing that he says is that he gives us a command

that we need to put on Christ.

And the imagery of what he is communicating to us

is that we are now clothed in Christ.

We are now, as in Christ, we are clothed in Christ.

Now, clothing is used a lot in the Bible.

And it's used a lot specifically to communicate something.

We first see clothing enter in in the early parts of Genesis

in the garden after sin entered the world,

and God gave it to Adam and Eve in the garden to cover their shame.

We see it on the teaching of the prodigal, right,

in the parable that Jesus taught,

that as the prodigal came back to the father,

what the father did was the first thing is he gives him the proper clothing

to establish his standing in the family.

While it isn't necessary clothing,

we see where Paul talks about putting on the armor of God, right,

the covering that will protect the believers every day.

And in Revelation 19, in the return of Christ,

the imagery is painted of him as he returns.

And of all of the things that could be described,

what we see is the robe that Christ is wearing,

the white robe that has been dipped in blood.

And clothing is an important part of what is going on in the Bible.

And every time that the clothing is described,

every time that it is given in these examples,

what we see what is being communicated

is the identity of the person who is wearing the clothes.

Clothing is always connected to the identity.

With Adam and Eve, the clothing is used because they've sinned.

With the prodigal, the clothing is used because he's returned.

With the armor of God is because in our limitations,

it's what we need for a spiritual survival on a day-to-day basis.

And in Revelation 19, it's Christ who fought the battle

and he won the victory.

It's Christ in his purity,

but dipped in blood through the struggle and what he's gained.

So what does it mean for you and I to be clothed in Christ?

What is the imagery that is being pressed forward?

Well, the first thing that we can understand to be clothed in Christ,

it means that our identity has changed.

Think of the clothing of Christ of being like a uniform.

That when people see you in the uniform,

they now know who you are

and they now know what you do

because your identity is in that.

Paul here connects it to them with baptism.

Just as you've been baptized in Christ,

now put on Christ.

Be clothed in him.

You know, for many of the people that Paul wrote to,

for many people even still all over the world,

baptism in itself can be a death sentence

because it's not just simply about an act of obedience

that's done into a church,

but it's an act of breaking away from what you were before

so now you're identified in this now.

And so Paul says,

just as you were baptized,

just as you were brought out

and you are now identified as new,

so too put on Christ

so that he is your uniform,

so that he is your identity,

so that when people see you,

this is what they see.

But also that when we put on Christ,

the imagery that we begin to understand

is that we experience closeness.

I want to be honest with you.

Nothing right now is closer to me

than the clothes that I'm wearing.

Just as the shirt,

nothing is between this sleeve and my skin.

It rests on it.

There's the form fit that is there

that it rests on me.

And so too is the imagery

that just as our clothing is the closest to us,

now that we've put on Christ,

now that we are in him,

there's a closeness that rests on us in Christ.

There's the intimacy that this gives us,

that there is nothing,

nothing that can come in between us and him

as this rests on me.

So too is he.

And so we take that

and begin to think through that in our lives.

The power and the importance

of the closeness of Christ,

that nothing comes between,

nothing can be closer than.

Why?

Because it's who we are.

And then lastly,

as we understand the clothing,

what it means to be clothed in Christ,

and you celebrate this,

we're fully covered.

We're fully covered.

That when you see me,

what you see are my clothes.

You don't see what's underneath.

You don't see who I am.

Instead, you see the clothes that I've put on.

So that when we are clothed in Christ,

what is seen in us by God is fully Christ.

And what is seen in us by man

is the portrait of Christ

that we are painting with our lives.

The testimony of our actions of who we are.

So Paul says,

every single day,

if we're going to be a part of the family,

if this is who we are,

if this should come out from us,

then in every single aspect,

we put on Christ.

Our identity,

our closeness,

fully covered by him.

But he continues on.

Look back at verse 28.

He says,

there is neither Jew nor Greek.

There is neither slave nor free.

There is no male and female.

For you all,

for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

What Paul moves to here

in a church that is fighting against division

is he communicates them

that a family characteristic is unity.

And that what happens is you and I,

that we are unified in Christ.

Now Paul attacks some issues in the culture then,

which I would argue are issues in our culture

and in our churches today.

The first thing he says

is there's neither Jew nor Greek.

He attacks the race and the culture barrier.

He comes back and says,

there is neither slave nor free.

He attacks the socioeconomic barrier.

And he says there is no male or female.

And he attacks the gender barrier that is there.

Now this has to be something

that within ourselves begins to rest.

That within ourselves,

we truly begin to evaluate

where we are as individuals

as we comprise the body of believers

within the church.

Because where we are in these categories

is the reflective of the body

of all of us together.

Friday I got a call from a pastor.

And we talked about some things

that were going on in his church.

And he said,

Bo, he said,

I wish that God would call me to leave,

but he won't.

Your church is dwindling and declining.

They're not a church in our area.

They're down to about 25 people.

And he said,

I've hit the point

where I don't know what to do

because the people want to know

what we can do to grow.

But when God brings us growth,

when he brings us life,

they run against it.

I said,

well, explain to me what's going on.

He said,

last year we started an Awana program

to reach our community around us.

He said,

and God blessed it.

He said,

Bo, we're a church of 25 people.

And we had 100 kids on average

coming to Awanas.

And I sat down at the end of the first year

and I was so excited about where we could go

and so excited about how we could move forward.

And he said,

we had 10 workers

who were there every single week for Awanas.

And I looked at them and I said,

all right,

it's been a great year.

Here's what God's done.

Who's coming back with me?

He said,

one person stood and raised their hand

and he said,

I'm not coming back.

And he said,

I'm sorry,

but why?

And before he could tell the reason why,

seven others raised their hand

and said,

we're not coming back either.

The pastor said,

I don't understand.

Could you explain to me

why you were deciding

to no longer be a part of something

that God is obviously blessing?

And he said,

well,

I began to weep when they told me.

He said,

the answer to the reason

why they weren't coming back

is they said to me,

there's too many black kids here.

And he said,

I just wish God would remove me,

but he won't,

but he won't,

but he won't.

There's no unity in Christ.

There's neither Jew nor Greek,

slave nor free,

male nor female.

When God establishes Christ,

what he's establishing within us

is a new humanity.

A new humanity.

Verse 28 literally means

that you are all one person in Christ.

There is now no longer any difference,

but we are one in him.

And what begins,

what resonates within us,

what we have to come to

is we must acknowledge

that our relationship to one another,

my relationship to you,

your relationship to me,

and your relationships amongst each other

are no longer based in anything else,

but are solely based in

our relationship with Christ.

So that when it comes to salvation,

that there is no difference among us.

But the Bible teaches,

whether you are black,

whether you are white,

whether you are wealthy,

whether you are poor,

whether you are male,

or whether you are female,

is that we all under the law

are equal and we're guilty.

And that we all under Christ

are equal and we've been set free.

This is why Paul was so adamant in Galatians.

Because what he's fighting against,

what he's pushing toward,

is the Judaizers there saying,

no, no, no, no, no.

There is Christ,

but there's still Jew

and there's still Greek.

There's still the difference.

And the gospel doesn't ring true

in that situation.

And this has been working

in my heart this week.

That when I look out

and I see,

if I take myself

and I compare to a minority

in the church,

while our skin,

our culture,

our past experiences,

and oftentimes our opportunities

may be different,

our desperate need for Jesus

and our salvation in Him

is the same.

Me compared to someone

in a lower tax bracket

or someone in a higher tax bracket

means that our finances,

the homes we live in,

the schools we send our kids to,

the clothes we wear

may all be different,

but our desperate need for Jesus

and our salvation in Him

is the same.

When I look at someone

of the opposite sex,

while in our world

oftentimes our opportunities

are different,

our perspectives

are different,

our understanding

and our roles

may be different,

our desperate need

for Jesus

and our salvation

in Him

is the same.

So that when it comes

to the need

of the gospel,

when it comes

to the freedom

that we've experienced

through the gospel,

that there is no race,

there is no social status,

there is no gender

because we have been made

one in Christ.

And if the church

doesn't reflect that,

nothing will.

I read an author

and he said this,

the kind of equality

Paul has in mind

is not the kind

that obliterates

every racial,

social,

or sexual distinction.

when it comes

to Christ,

we do not cease

to be white

or black bosses

or employees

or men

and women.

But with regard

to our physical

and social identity,

we continue

to be

what we have

always been

only now

we are what

we are in Christ.

I recognize

there's a difference

between my wife

and I.

I understand

that there's

a difference

with many of you

who are out here

who are minorities

and myself.

I understand

that there are

differences

in the battles

and in the work life

and in all

of the different things

that establish

our socioeconomic world

between the different

people in here.

but that in Christ,

in Christ,

we are one.

And this is what

comes to this importance

of where Paul

began in this

and where he will

conclude

is because in him

we are all heirs

in Christ.

Chapter 3,

verse 26.

I want to draw

a distinction

of a word

that he uses.

He says,

we are all

sons of God.

Jump down

to chapter 4,

verse 6.

Because you are

sons.

Verse 7.

So you are

no longer

a slave

but a son.

And if a son,

then an heir

through God.

So what in the world

is happening here?

Is Paul only

speaking to men?

Has he forgotten

about the women?

And that's not

the case at all.

What Paul is doing

is he's speaking

to something

that culturally

they would understand.

And it's the

concept

of sonship.

It's the concept

of sonship.

In the Bible,

let's establish

some things.

All people

are made

in the image

of God.

In Acts chapter 17,

Acts 17 · chapter mention

Paul establishes

that all

of mankind,

every man,

every woman,

and every child

is considered

a child of God.

But in Scripture,

only the saved

are his sons

are his sons

because only

sons gain

inheritance.

You see,

Paul isn't trying

to correct

a social norm

or aspect

that's there.

But what Paul

is doing

is he's speaking

to something

that would have

been understood

by every man,

woman,

and child

who would read

this as he

pens this letter.

that in the

ancient

Middle East

culture

dictated

that only

sons

gain

inheritance.

And so what

Paul is doing

here,

he's saying

there's a wonderful

beauty of a

transformation

of what takes

place when

someone is

in Christ,

that being

in him

a full

transformation

happens.

Jews and

Greeks,

slave and

free,

men and

women,

that in

only the

power of

Christ,

of what

Christ can

do,

that those

who are

in him

drop all

of that

and become

sons,

everyone

equal to

gain the

inheritance

of what

is possible

to them

through

God.

It's the

transformation

of what

happens.

And so I

look at my

daughter and

I can tell

her through

the power

of Christ

that you

ingain

a sonship,

you ingain

an inheritance

in him.

That I

can look at

someone of

a different

race and

say the

transformation

of what

happens is

you become

a son of

Christ.

In him

you become,

you gain

the inheritance.

You gain

these.

We are

adopted

into the

family.

And so

Paul goes

on to

explain the

dynamic of

what this

looks like.

And he

says in

chapter 4

that there's

a time in

a child's

life before

he'll gain

an inheritance

where he's

actually in

the same

standing as

the slave.

And as

long as

the child

is the

minor,

he's

treated the

same way.

But there

comes a

point in

time which

is designated

by the

father that

he experiences

the benefits

of inheritance

even before

the inheritance

is his.

That there's

a point

before it's

fully handed

over that

we begin to

experience this.

And he says

that it happens.

It happens

through the

power of

what God's

doing.

That first

that God

sent the

son to

make the

way for

it to

be possible.

Painting

all the

way back

to what

Paul's

continually

reminding

on of

the gospel

that what

is needed

to be

saved.

That it

is through

Jesus

and through

Christ

alone that

salvation

happens.

But then

he says

that something

remarkable

happens is

that not

only made

possible

through the

relationship

with the

son but

that he

sends the

spirit to

indwell in

the lives

of the

believers.

And what

the spirit

is doing

is he's

speaking into

the heart

of the

individual

two special

words.

Abba

father.

Abba

father.

And that

as the

spirit does

that we

you and

I get to

experience

here is

the beautiful

picture of

living in

the inheritance

that God

has given

us.

So what

in the

world does

that mean?

What does

it mean that

the spirit

is living

in us

crying out

Abba

father?

Well the

word Abba

describes the

relationship

that a

child has

with his

or her

father.

It

describes a

closeness

of what's

there.

It

describes

an intimacy

that can

only be

experienced

and that

is the

inheritance

that we

have now.

My

daughter has

always been

scared of

storms.

Always.

She still

is a little

scared of

storms but

what really

gets her

she tries

to act

tough and

she's always

tried to

act tough

is the

thunder.

And so I'll

kind of miss

these days a

little bit

but when

she was

real

little

laying in

bed

South

Carolina

early

springtime

you hear

the rain

start to

come and

then you

start to

see the

pops of

lightning

and then

the lightning

gets closer

and closer

and closer

and the

house that

we lived

in before

the house

we live

in now

we had

really old

windows

and when

the lightning

would get

really close

and the

thunder

would get

really

strong

eventually

you would

hear

and the

whole house

would shake

but especially

the windows

would rattle

and I never

forget you

could always

time it

the closer

and the

closer it

got

finally

there'd be

the big

one

and it

didn't

matter

if it

was nine

o'clock

at night

or three

o'clock

in the

morning

when the

big one

hit

you'd

hear

and then

she'd

jump

in the

bed

with me

and she'd

grab my

arm

and she'd

wrap it

around her

why

why

because in

her moment

of struggle

in her

moment

of pain

in her

moment

of fear

what she

needed

from her

daddy

was affection

the closeness

of my touch

and the

trust

that everything

would be

okay

you know

this

I can't

stop the

lightning

I can't

make it

go away

I can't

quiet it

down

but there

was enough

of a

relationship

with her

father

that when

that situation

happened

I'm what

she wanted

and you

could even

argue

that I'm

what she

needed

when the

spirit cries

out

Abba

father

in the

original

language

there's

two

words

that

that

communicates

an

affection

and a

trust

so that

the spirit

residing

in us

cries out

God

I love

you

and I

desperately

desperately

need

you

and here's

what's

remarkable

he is

the one

that

quiets

the storm

he is

the one

that controls

the wind

and the rain

he is

the one

whose

affection

is perfect

and he

is

the one

whose

trust

he will

never

break

time

and time

again

and we

experience

that

because we've

been adopted

because we

are heirs

because we

are brought

into the

family

would you

pray with

me

God we

come to

you this

morning

God

seeing

the

characteristics

understanding

what the

family

looks like

Lord I

pray for

us

as a

body

of

believers

that in

every single

moment

that in

every single

day

that in

every single

aspect

of our

life

that we

would put

on

Christ

that when

people

see us

that that's

what they

would see

that we

would experience

a closeness

that we

can't obtain

on our

own

but is

found in

putting

you

on

that nothing

would be

closer

no person

would be

closer

no circumstance

would be

closer

but that

Lord

that we

would be

clothed

in you

Lord I

pray for

a unity

in Christ

that we

recognize

that the

beauty of

the local

body

is that

there is

diversity

Lord may

we never

all be

the same

may we

never fight

for everyone

to have the

same background

or everyone

to have the

same skin

color

or Lord

everyone

to speak

the same

language

but Lord

may we

always

strive

for

diversity

because

diversity

in the

local

body

is the

reflection

of the

diversity

Lord

in your

church

as a

whole

but could

we

acknowledge

Lord

could we

work

toward

could we

understand

that in

Christ

in

Christ

there is

the same

standing

regardless

of our

race

regardless

of our

culture

regardless

of our

bank

account

regardless

of our

job

or our

education

or that

we

could

see

that

in

Christ

there is

unity

amongst

the

genders

Lord

that

my

wife

should

be

treated

by

me

as the

person

who

she

is

in

you

Lord

where we

have a

tendency

where we

have a

bent of

our heart

that is

sinful

to long

to make

things want

to look

like us

Lord

could you

break us

from that

Lord

set us

free

from that

Lord

for the

friend of

mine

at the

church

that he's

at

Lord

I thank

you

for the

strength

of his

call

Lord

I pray

for his

church

Lord

I pray

that the

people

who think

what they

think

Lord

I pray

that right

now

what would

happen

is not

a change

in a

mindset

but a

change

in their

heart

Lord

that they

would be

saved

first and

foremost

Lord

and from

that you

would renew

the evil

pit of

racism

that indwells

in them

Lord

that comes

straight

from hell

that divides

that defeats

and that

slanders

the name

of Christ

set them

free

Lord I pray

that this

morning

that we

would live

like heirs

we would

cry out

what the

spirit

claims in

our heart

Abba

Father

our

affection

is found

in you

that our

trust

is found

in you

and that

no matter

what life

brings at

us

no matter

what

circumstances

come

that as a

little girl

runs to her

earthly father

so too

can we

as the

children of

God

run to

him

and Lord

you wrap

your arms

around us

Lord

you calm

the storm

Lord

sometimes

you let

the storm

keep going

but your

arms are

right there

with us

and we're

not strong

because of

who we

are

Lord

we're

strong

because

the

Abba

Father

is there

with us

Lord

we can

live in

boldness

for that

Jesus

we thank

you

we love

you

we praise

you

it's in your name

we pray

amen

thanks again

for listening

to the

Willow Ridge

Church

weekly podcast

we hope

that you

enjoyed

listening

to this

week's

message

if you'd

like to

learn more

about who

we are

or explore

additional

resources

visit us

online

at www.willowridgechurch.com

or by searching

for Willow Ridge

Church on

Facebook and

Instagram