Heirs, Redeemed by the Son - Galatians 4:1-7

The year was 1988, and a man in Portugal decided to do something unusual, something really odd, something that might surprise you.

He was a wealthy businessman, and he had no next of kin, no one to hand down or hand his inheritance to.

All his life savings, all his possessions, all his investments, all the wealth that he had accrued and gained over his lifetime.

So naturally, he went to the phone book for guidance.

I say that sarcastically, because this man named Luis Carlos de Noranja Cabral de Camara selected 70 random strangers in the year 1988.

70 random strangers in a phone book to receive an equal share of his inheritance.

This is a true story.

This actually happened.

13 years later, he died.

And because he he uh made this decision in front of a registry office, there were witnesses, people were signed and they agreed.

Like, yes, we're gonna agree to execute this plan that you've made to these 70 random strangers.

When he died, some of these people were like, they thought it was a prank.

They thought they were getting trolled, they thought it was a scam naturally.

They're like, who?

I don't know this guy.

Who are you talking about?

I get part of his inheritance.

What do you mean?

I don't even know this guy.

I don't I don't have any relation to him whatsoever.

Uh Luis died of natural causes, and and he distributed his wealth evenly.

And the breakdown was about 20,$25,000 per person.

There was one vehicle that I'm not sure what the 70 people did with.

He had a 12-room large home that that was in his will as well.

And many thought this was odd and bizarre, but this is actually what happened.

This is real life.

And one day, as children of your parents, there's gonna be there's gonna be an inheritance of some kind that the Lord willing you will receive when they are no longer here.

They whatever possessions they had, whatever wealth they had have amassed, it will one day, it will one day be no longer theirs because they are no longer alive here on this earth.

And in a similar way, for us, as we look at our text today in Galatians chapter 4, those who are under the law who are Christ's are waiting for a specific moment in the time that Jesus would come to the earth.

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

Born of a virgin, living a normal Jewish life in a normal Jewish home, eating normal Jewish food, participating in normal Jewish practices and traditions, obeying the Jewish laws, though he didn't have any sin or guilt or burnt offerings made on his behalf because he was flawless.

Members of his family would go and participate in these feasts and festivals.

Jesus lived under the law as a Jew, but was not enslaved by it, for he fulfilled it.

He was perfect.

He did not sin once.

He perfectly fulfilled the law and did not sin one time.

Not one failure, not one misstep, not one unintentional sin whatsoever.

Jesus is able to forgive and redeem because he completely fulfilled the law.

And he purchases those slaves who are under the law, many of them unknowingly.

Who is this?

Jesus, before they respond to the gospel, he purchased the right for their inheritance through his life, through his blood.

The ransom price was paid through his blood.

The spotless lamb.

This is Jesus.

And Paul wants us to see this evening that we're not merely free from slavery.

If you put your faith and hope in Christ for life beyond the grave, for life here and now, you have been adopted into God's family and you are heirs.

And there is a rich inheritance for God's family, for those who are his children, those who are his sons.

And when Paul says sons, he says he's meaning that in the way of children, both male and female, both sons and daughters.

If you are redeemed by his blood, you are an heir, and there is an inheritance waiting for you.

Not only are we free from slavery, but we have life in his name.

Children of God through the one perfect and holy Son of God.

God's family.

Did you notice there's zero, zero natural members in God's family, zero natural children?

As we think of like natural sons, like your mom and dad became pregnant, and you came to be as God knit you together in your mother's wombs.

Every son and daughter in God's kingdom, every single one of them are adopted through faith.

Your status is, if you have faith in Christ, an adopted son of the king.

And that's that's an introduction for us as we look to our text today in Galatians chapter 4.

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

So please turn with me there.

And the overall question and theme that I'd like to press today is self-assessment.

Consider what it is that you may inherit here on this earth as your family would leave things to you after they are gone.

Are you an heir spiritually of God?

Is that you?

Can you say, I am identifying as a spiritual heir, an offspring of Abraham?

Is that me?

What is my inheritance?

If I were to uh check my my spiritual account, what is my inheritance?

What am I going to receive?

That's that's the call for us today.

Think about that.

Let's look to our text in Galatians chapter 4.

Galatians 4 · chapter mention

And Paul says this.

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, we also were we were children.

We were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world, but when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of 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 we have to look back in a certain way to chapter three.

This this section of scripture is taking a look at what Paul has already said and kind of shifting and looking at it from a different angle.

He's sliding to the left, sliding to the right to look at what it means for us to have faith and what that what that means for us in our identity.

In our chapter that we just concluded in three, we were looking at this distinction where Paul is saying that there's no longer Jew, there's no longer Greek, there's no longer slave, nor free, nor male, nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

You are all equal heirs through faith if you believe.

And if he says, if you are Christ's in the last verse of chapter three, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise.

When God makes a promise, he fulfills it.

He doesn't back out, he doesn't say, No, but actually, or can we modify that?

Can we can we annul that?

No, he doesn't, he cannot do that.

When he makes a promise, he will fulfill it.

So if you are Christ's, you are Abraham's offspring, and you are an heir according to the promise.

There's something coming your way.

There's life everlasting, both here and now and forevermore.

So this text begins here in verse one tonight.

He's speaking that an heir, he's making the comparison between the maturity of a believer and the timing in regards to history when being under the law before Christ has come.

He's saying here that the heir, the person who is an offspring of Abraham through faith, that heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave.

Before the maturity has come to where they have placed their faith in Christ, before Christ has come, the object and person of whom their trust and hope lies in.

Before this time, there's there's no difference.

No difference between a child and a slave.

Though, he says, he is the owner of everything.

So he's a child, he's not mature yet.

This time has not come for him to have this maturity in God, maturity in Christ when he has come.

He is an owner of everything.

God in his in his sovereignty has selected those who are in his family.

And there is a time of waiting before faith can be put in Christ.

There is faith in God as seen in Abraham.

So there's this there's this time of waiting.

There's a time of being under the law, being stewarded, being looked over.

We'll see that in verse 2.

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

Now, in different cultures, we see different moments or celebrations where we see a coming of age.

In the Jewish tradition, when a young boy becomes 13, he has a bar mitzvah, and that's his step into manhood.

He has certain privileges and things that he can do where he's able to pray in services, and he's he's he's looked upon as a man fully matured at the age of 13.

Now, in American culture, we might look at like a sweet 16 where all of a sudden this magical age determines now you are a mature person.

Now you have become a woman.

Now you are maturing.

And in the eyes of the family, in the eyes of society, you are now you are now no longer a child.

In certain South American cultures, we call this, we call this a kincenera.

Kinsenera, where this observation is happening where you are no longer a child, you are maturing, and now you are on your way becoming more and more womanly, more and more like an adult.

This timeline is in a similar way addressed here.

While you were under the law before Christ came, this this child, this heir, is under the guardians, under the managers, until that date set by his father.

Those are the rules and regulations of the law of Moses, the first five books of uh of the Torah, the five books of the Torah.

So then we have to see this time period like we looked at last week, this time where the law is our guardian, the law is our our teacher, the law is looking over us and holding us in a certain position before we can have faith in Christ and before justification comes.

And it's a it's a predetermined date, a fixed moment in time that Christ was to come.

Before Christ came, we were under guardians and managers.

In verse 3, we go on.

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

Now, every every culture, every civilization has a certain religion that is man-focused, man-based, where you are working towards something, trying to please uh a God or a deity in your own power, in your own strength, within your own will.

This is this is a a man-focused, man-centric thing.

And we're it's it enslaves because as we've been looking over the past few weeks, man's ability to accomplish what is expected to achieve righteousness, we can't do it.

We fail, we fall short, we disrespect our siblings, we lie to our parents, we hold things back that we should tell the truth, and we don't tell the whole truth.

We say things in our hearts and in our minds that aren't respectful to our parents.

We sin in ways that aren't always external, but they're internal.

We cannot fully obey God with a pure heart, with a heart that pleases him.

In in a certain way, in different cultures, the striving to accomplish what is required to please God, men just fall short left and right.

Mankind cannot do even what they say is right in their own eyes to accomplish what would please their God.

So my question for you tonight is where do you stand?

Where do you stand in uh in relation to this law?

Where do you stand in relation to the commandments of Moses, the the book of the law?

How do you stand?

Positionally, where are you located?

Are you enslaved under the law?

Are you managed by the law?

Have you identified Christ as your only hope, your only solution for your sin problem?

That's the question that I have for you tonight.

So let's write this, let's write this down for point number one for one.

In a different way.

You can ask yourself this.

Ask yourself, am I an heir?

Am I an heir?

Not E-R-R-O-R.

You might be in heir, but are you an heir?

H-E-I-R.

You have no control.

Are you an heir?

I'm working on that, brother Bear.

Are you an heir?

Ask yourself, A S K, yourself, M, A M I and Air.

H-E-I-R.

Are you an heir?

Number one.

I'm spelling it out.

I'm spell I'm spelling it out for you guys.

Are you an heir?

My laptop says I'm on air, but point number one.

That's point number two.

Oh, I didn't adjust it.

What's happening?

Are you an heir?

Ask yourself that.

Who am I?

Who do I belong to?

Who's my family?

What's gonna happen?

What's gonna happen to me after my life here on earth is over?

Where does my soul go?

Am I an heir?

What is my inheritance?

Ask yourself these things.

Am I an heir?

Are you an heir of God?

Are you a son?

The time that God chose for his son to condescend and it's just a mystery.

We don't understand why God chose the exact year, month, day that he did.

It's a mystery.

But we do know that when God says through the words of Paul, the fullness of time had come, when God knew the exact time, when it was the right time, the perfect time for the Son to be sent, the Son came to earth to be born as a baby, to be born in a manger, born of a virgin.

God sent forth his son in verse 4, born of a woman, born under the law.

He's a human being, just like you and me.

Fully God and fully man.

It's just a mystery.

How like if that doesn't make you scratch your head, how can God be fully man and fully God and in Jesus the Son, the eternal Son of God?

That should make us scratch our heads.

How could that be?

He is born into a Jewish family, born under the law, meaning because he was a Jew, he was subject to all the laws and regulations that Jewish people lived under.

The Mosaic Law.

And why?

For what purpose?

Verse 5.

To redeem those who were under the law.

To redeem those.

He came to redeem.

Many of you probably had some kind of redemption code.

You might have seen this like on the back of a gift card, like scratch this, enter your, enter this code in, you and you can access the funds online.

When I was younger, when you would bring a ticket, they would give you a ticket to go to a store and you could redeem a certain prize.

They would clip things out, and it might be a coupon or it might be some kind of discount that you would present in order to gain some kind of benefit.

The benefit of the Son coming, the benefit of the Lord Jesus Christ becoming a human being born under the law, born of a woman.

The purpose is to redeem those who are under the law, to redeem with his blood, to purchase with his blood.

The ransom price was his life, his death.

The blood shed for you and me was the purchase price.

To redeem those who were under the law, those who could not fulfill the law, those who failed, those who could not uphold, those who required animal sacrifices over and over and over again.

The blood that was shed ongoing would come to an end.

No more blood would need to be shed after Jesus bled and died on the cross.

That was the final sacrifice, the perfect sacrifice to accomplish redemption, to accomplish salvation for those who would believe, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

That's what Paul's message is to the churches in Galatia.

Christ came to redeem those who are under the law.

This law that can't save you, this law that is a curse to you who are who are under it, you're gonna have a far greater and perfect option.

Put your faith not in the law, put your faith in the one who fully accomplished and fulfilled the law.

That is Paul's charge.

We can have adoption as sons in verse 5, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

This is the purpose of Christ's coming at the exact moment he did, when the fullness of time had come.

And and we're not looking at this expression, the fullness of time.

Jesus isn't waiting on some like hypothetical like timer on the microwave.

Um, he's not he's not waiting for the alarm clock to go off.

Like he's not waiting on someone.

When the father determined it was time to go, he condescended.

Jesus came to earth as a baby during that time, the perfect time, when the fullness of time had come.

God sent forth his son.

He sent forth his son.

Let's write this down for point number two.

Prize the gift of adoption through the sun.

Are you trying to do it?

There you go, you got it.

Prize the gift of adoption through the sun.

If you have faith in Christ, you receive something.

You receive someone.

He redeems and he secures and he seals.

He contains his children and they cannot be lost.

And the seal is the Spirit.

The seal is the promised helper that he said he would come and indwell in the hearts of believers.

This is God's promise.

And he goes on in verse 6.

And because you are sons, he's talking to believers, a mixture of believers, both Gentile and Jew alike.

There's a mixture here.

Not just those of Abraham, not just Jews and the family and the lineage of the fathers of the faith.

This is a mixture, a blend of believers, both Jew and Gentile alike, that are looking to Christ as their only hope for salvation.

Because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba Father.

I was talking to one of our leaders before we got started this evening, and I was just reflecting with him and just cherishing the tender moments of the times when our children are small enough to like need help to crawl up into our laps, or maybe they can do it and they struggle.

It's such a sweet thing to see when a child that loves you and you love them, they they just want to be with you.

But nonetheless, when this little guy or this little girl is looking at you with eyes wide open and just smiling and just so happy to be with you, and they run to you and they slam into your legs and they wrap their arms around you and they reach their arms up because they want you to pick them up.

What a sweet, sweet time that is.

What a sweet, what a sweet illustration of our faith and walk and our relationship with the Father in verse 6.

He said, Because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, Abba Father.

The Spirit cries out, the Spirit confirms and affirms our relationship, our status before God.

We also cry out to God, our Father.

We once we realize through faith that our spiritual status as a spiritual son of God, we look to our Maker, our Creator, our Savior, and just are so thankful.

We're so happy to be in relationship with the Father.

We're so happy to have such a great lover of our souls.

It's amazing.

At God's predetermined time in human history, Jesus was sent.

Oh man.

And we can look to Ephesians chapter one and just see the great worth and value of the Father, as Paul writes to the Ephesians.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ, because we have him, we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.

This is Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be a holy and blameless before him.

He decided that for us.

In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ.

Without Jesus Christ, without his sacrifice, there's no adoption.

Without Jesus Christ, there's no love poured out for the sinner.

There's no compassion poured out practically for us to respond.

Jesus Christ accomplished that for us because he is perfect.

We're not, we can take part and receive his righteousness.

We have such a great gift.

In him we have redemption as sons.

It goes on, verse 7 of chapter 1.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of his grace.

It's only because God loved us through his grace that we can have access to the throne as sons, adopted.

He lavished upon us his love and grace in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will.

He accomplished that for us.

He made us known the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ.

This is the plan of Christ to redeem, to adopt, to be reconciled through the Son with sinners.

This is God's plan for redemption.

His plan was not do the right thing at home, tell the truth every single time, go to church every single Sunday, never miss.

And when we go to celebrate Christmas, never miss a Christmas service.

And when Easter Sunday comes around, make sure you're wearing your best things and make sure to wash them.

It's not a compilation of our works stacked up that add up to our worthiness to be to be welcomed into the family of God as sons.

No, it's it's only the status that we have because of what Christ has done, because of who he is, because of his perfection.

That's the only reason.

God has sent the Spirit, and when the Spirit is in the believer, that's the confirmation of our identity, confirmation of the work that has taken place, the new heart that we have.

Without a new heart, without the spirit in us, we have no reason to cry out to God.

No reason to say, You are my God, you're my Father, I love you.

There's no way that we could do that, for we were enemies.

We were enemies of God.

But the Spirit does the work to transform our hearts, to see the worth of the Savior, to see the loving tenderness of the Father, the grace and love that was poured out for us on the cross, the mercy that is available to us in Christ.

We don't have to pay for our sins.

Christ paid that debt for us that we owed, the debt for our sins.

We're sons.

We can call out to our Father.

We're heirs.

The Son has sent his Spirit, God sent the Spirit to dwell within us.

In John chapter 7, there's a feast going on, the Feast of Booth.

John 7 · chapter mention

This is one of those annual celebrations and observations that every Jewish person would take part in.

In John chapter 7, verse 37 to 39, on the last day of the feast, of the feast of booths, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

John 7:37–39

Whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive.

Those who were to believe in Christ would receive his spirit.

Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.

For as yet the spirit had not been given.

The spirit hadn't hadn't come yet, because Christ was still here.

If you believe, if you confess with your with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, if you submit your life to him, you confess your sin before him, you believe in him, he will send his spirit, and the spirit, the spirit will help you see your need, help you cry out to God, the Father.

Let's write this down for point number three.

Cry out to the Father as a spiritual son.

Cry out to the Father as a spiritual son.

That could be a battery issue.

Cry out to the Father as a spiritual son.

And remember, it's it's a spirit that prompts you to do that.

You in and of yourself have no desire, have, have, there's no logical need to cry out to God without you recognizing your need for him.

You're not gonna do it.

You're not gonna do it.

You're not gonna go for help unless you realize your position that you're in.

You're not gonna go and charge your battery if you don't know that your batteries are dead.

Spiritually, your batteries are at 0%.

And no matter how many times you plugged in your battery to try to charge it, no matter how many, how many different ways you tried to get your spiritual self back up to 100%, it's it's all in vain.

It's all a worthless pursuit.

Cry out to God as a spiritual son.

If you know that you're not a spiritual son, if you know that you don't have faith in Christ, ask that he would show you and reveal to you your need for him.

Paul's explaining the gift of the helper given to God's spiritual sons.

And again, the spirit is the confirmation of your adoption.

It's the legal paperwork to enter into the family of God.

It's the proof.

Look, I'm sealed.

I have the receipts, I have the spirit.

This is my confirmation.

This is the proof.

And it's not anything that you can go and buy and purchase and secure, it's a gift of God.

So you're thinking, like, well, if if the spirit is the proof, well, I'll just I'll just go get the spirit.

You're not gonna go find the spirit at the grocery store.

You're not gonna go find the spirit.

You're gonna ask the spirit for help.

You're gonna ask God to help you believe.

And God may be working on working on that right now.

You might be working through some things.

You might have a lot of questions, you might have some things that you need to clarify.

Or maybe you think you have a good understanding, but maybe maybe it's not clear yet for you.

It's still in progress.

But God is faithful to help you see your need.

Ask Him for help.

Your identity in Christ is the most important identity that you can have.

So Paul concludes, he's he's saying in this section, if you can cry out to God saying, Abba Father, you're no longer a slave, you're no longer bound under the law, you're no longer trapped, you're no longer cursed under the law, but you're a son.

If you're a son, then an heir through God.

You have an inheritance, a rich inheritance of eternal life.

You have what God promises for you, life everlasting.

Every spiritual blessing is yours.

In Romans chapter 8, verses 14 through 17, Paul is making a similar, uh similar argument here.

Romans 8:14–17

All who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Are you being led by your own desires?

Are you being led by your flesh, or are you being led by the Spirit of God?

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons, whom we cry, Abba Father.

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our Spirit that we are children of God.

We started the started this evening with a question.

You need to be asking yourself, who am I?

Where am I going?

What is my inheritance?

Am I an heir?

What happens to me?

These are good questions that you should be thinking about.

It's okay if they keep you up thinking at night.

That's okay.

That's a good thing for you to be contemplating these things.

And there's there's no there's no uh cookie-cutter Christian.

You don't have to look a certain way, you don't have to act in a certain click, you don't have to have the right clothes, you don't have to have the the right hobbies or the or the right interests.

All you need to have is is a love for God that that finds your hope and security in him alone, not in your works, not in the things that you can do, you can accomplish, but what he's done.

You're no longer a slave.

Your identity is found in the eternal Son of God.

If your identity is found in him, then you're an heir through God.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 12 and 13, and Paul says this to the Corinthian church.

1 Corinthians 12:12

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

For in one spirit we were all baptized into one body.

Jews or Greeks slaves are free, and in and all were made to drink of one spirit.

If you have, if you have the Spirit of God, you are an heir.

You have eternal life because you've placed your hope and trust in the work of Christ for salvation.

You've accepted the gift, the gift of faith that is able to save.

You are an offspring of Abraham, an heir of the promise.

Ask yourself questions that are that are hard to answer, that take some time, that maybe have you fumbling over your own words and your own thoughts.

These are these are okay.

It's okay to not have to have a clear answer on this.

But my challenge to you is to be looking for a response.

Can you articulate?

Can you communicate what it is that you believe?

What where are you going?

What is your hope and trust found in?

If it's anywhere outside of Christ, it's not going to go well for you.

You need to turn and put your hope and trust in him for salvation.

Even tonight.

Put your hope in him, put your trust in him tonight.

Let's pray.

God, there's so many distractions even tonight.

Um, even at our tables, even in these chairs, in our notebooks, and our pens, and our in our in our note sheets, in our own brains, we're so easily distracted.

And in the spiritual life, we're so easily distracted thinking that our own, our own efforts and our own works can please you outside of outside of your power, outside of your your work in our lives.

God help these students.

Help us all to see just the value and worth of Christ.

Help us to help us to assess ourselves and assess our minds as we think about who we are.

Are we an heir?

Are we a child of God?

And God help us to cry out to you for help.

Even tonight for clarity on salvation.

Help us to cry out for help to you.

Help these students see their need.

Help the adults in this room see see their identity, their value, their hope, their trust.

It's only found in Christ.

God, will you be glorified through that, through that thought process?

And God help us to live a life that is pleasing to you.

Uh and it's just full of faith, God.

We need we need more faith to trust and believe in you, Lord.

We fall short, we wander, we get distracted.

Help us to believe, cause cause our minds to find our our only hope and trust in you and your word.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.