Galatians 4:1-7
My Father is rich in houses and lands
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.
My Father’s own Son, the Saviour of men,
Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them;
But now He is reigning forever on high,
And will give me a home in heaven by and by.
I once was an outcast, stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, and an alien by birth;
But I’ve been adopted, my name’s written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.
I’m a child of the King, a child of the King;
With Jesus my Saviour, I’m a child of the King.
Last week we talked about our new identity in Christ,
specifically what it means to be in Christ.
Because we are sons of God,
we are going to be obedient to Him,
we are going to be adorned with Him,
we are also dependent on Him.
We are also heirs according to the promise.
That is what we are going to spend this morning talking
about.
Being heirs of Christ. Galatians 4 is our text this morning.
We will be looking at the first 7 verses.
Galatians 4:1-7
Paul is continuing his thought from chapter 3 related to
the Judaizers saying that the Galatians can’t be sons of
Abraham unless they choose to be circumcised and keep
the law in addition to the grace of Jesus.
Galatians 4:1-3
The Judaizers were leading the Galatian believers into
spiritual immaturity by subjecting them to religious
bondage.
Children in Bondage
Let’s start by defining some of the key words here.
Heir – means one who takes possession of or inherits.
Think about the prodigal son. He took possession of his
inheritance. He had the right to it because he was the
son.
Child – literally the word used here is for an infant or
toddler who would not be able to possess what belongs to
them.
Paul says that as long as the heir is a child he is the same
as a slave.
Slave – The Greek word Doulos refers to a bond servant,
one who is bound to another. Paul spent a good amount
of time being bound to other people while he was in
prison.
The Judaizers are trying to make the Galatians submit to
the law which places them under the curse, but they
have already received grace. And we know that grace is
greater than the law.
Owner – this word means owner, master or possessor.
The point Paul is making is that the heir has every right
to what belongs to him. But if he is a child, he cannot
take possession of what belongs to him.
Paul writes that the child/heir is:
Under guardians and managers
Roman law – boys under age 14 had a legal guardian to
take care of them.
Boys between the ages of 14-25 had guardians to
administer their property, however the Roman law did
give the father the right to select a date when his son
would transition into adulthood.
The Judaizers are trying to act like guardians of the
Galatians.
But in truth they have no right to take on that role.
Until the date set by the father – this is referring to
how long the Jews would have to remain under the law.
The law, as we know, was eventually going to be
perfected by Christ Himself.
Paul then mentions that as children we were enslaved to
the elementary principles of the world.
Elementary refers to the basics. For Jews the law was the
basis of their faith. However, the Gentiles were never
bound by the law. Yet, the Judaizers are attempting to
enslave them when they are in fact free.
Paul describes this concept in great detail in Romans
8:1-11.
It’s fairly lengthy, but it’s worth spending the time looking
at it.
These verses in Romans help us better understand the
text in Galatians.
Galatians 4:4-5
When the fullness of time had come – God sent His
Son…
The fullness of time means at the time appointed by God.
At the exact right time.
God is never early and He is never late.
He is always right on time.
Similar to the way a father could determine when his son
was mature enough to take on the responsibilities of
being a man…
God knew the right time for Jesus to come to earth
to accomplish His work.
Speaking of that, God also knows the exact time when
Christ will come back for His bride, the church. We don’t
know, but God knows the exact minute and the exact
day.
Notice how Paul shows the dual nature of Christ.
His Son – Jesus is God in the flesh. He was fully divine,
humbling Himself by taking the form of a man and
becoming obedient to the point of death.
Born of a woman – Jesus was also fully man, proving
that by being born of a woman, just as God predicted in
Genesis 3.
Why did God send Jesus?
God Sent Jesus to Accomplish our Redemption
Let’s look at a few descriptions of how Christ
accomplished our redemption through paying the ransom
for our sin.
Christ paid the ransom with His blood
Revelation 5:9 “And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals, for you were slain,
and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and
nation,”
Christ removed the curse of the law
Galatians 3:13 “Christ redeemed us from the curse
of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is
written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”
Christ released us from the bondage of sin
1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were ransomed
from the futile ways inherited from your
forefathers, not with perishable things such as
silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ,
like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
Not only did Christ come to redeem us,
He came to adopt us as His son.
God Wanted to Adopt us as His Sons
The Greek word for adoption means “to place as an adult
son”.
Notice the contrast here between how Paul described the
heir in verse 1. “The heir, as long as he is a child, is no
different from a slave.”
Paul wants the Galatian believers to understand that they
are not bound by the law, they are under grace.
They have received grace and truth by the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Galatians 4:6
Paul explains that God sends His Spirit into the hearts of
believers.
He has already sent forth His Son to redeem mankind,
but He doesn’t stop there.
God wants an intimate, personal relationship with
His children.
He sends the Holy Spirit to live inside of us.
Before Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples that He
was going to leave them, but He was going to send
another helper, the Holy Spirit.
Believers are no longer under the curse of the law, we
are under grace.
We have the Holy Spirit to guide and convict us and to
encourage us.
And we can call our heavenly Father Abba.
No matter how big or small our request, we can call out
to Him and know that He hears us.
Galatians 4:7
Isn’t it amazing how God changes our position from slave
to son?
The slave has no right to the inheritance, but the son
does.
The slave obeys out of fear, the son obeys out of love.
The inheritance Paul is writing about is eternal life of
course.
By God’s grace we are adopted as sons and joint heirs
with Christ.
APPLICATION
As believers we know that we have an inheritance in
heaven waiting for us. And as incredible as that may be,
we must realize that God doesn’t make us wait for all of
it until we get to heaven.
Enjoy Our Inheritance Now
I John 3:1 “See what kind of love the Father has
given to us, that we should be called children of
God; and so we are.”
Also, Ephesians 2:7 “so that in the coming ages he
might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God has given us His mercy, love and grace for here and
now.
And He has also given us a relationship which He wants
to grow and develop while we are here on earth.