Father, many of us who are Christians, we forget who we are.
We sort of remember it when we're in church, but then we forget who we are.
And Father, in fact, many of us who are Christians live our lives as if we are only half saved, not fully saved.
Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would move very powerfully in our lives
and open your word to us and bring your word home to us, Father,
so that we might be disciples of Jesus who are gripped by the gospel
and learning to live day by day for your glory.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
I guess because I'm in Canada and because I'm white, I don't often think of race.
But when I was in Angola, my race was very powerfully evident to me in different ways.
And I saw in very powerful ways how race can affect how you're perceived and what you're able to do.
So when I was in Angola this summer, I was in a poorer part of, like most of Angola is poor.
So that doesn't really narrow it down.
I was in Lubangu, as many of you know, and it's like a lot of poor people in that city.
And, you know, in fact, I was just thinking as I was trying to the 8 o'clock service,
the house that I was staying at, like on a sort of very busy road,
just about, like from your point of view, if you're looking out at the road,
about 20 yards that way, there was a pothole.
And listen, if you think there's potholes in Ottawa, you have never been to a place like Lubangu.
When I say there was a pothole, it was probably about, I don't know, like about, you know,
from here to that table.
And it was probably from about this chair to the edge of the stage.
And it must have been about two feet deep.
Now that's a pothole, okay?
So it dawned on me that it actually was very convenient for Norm and Audrey,
whose house I was staying in, because all the cars coming this way
had to basically go into the other lane of traffic to get around the pothole,
which always meant that it was easy for them to back out of their driveway
and go to where they were going.
I don't know if they picked the house because of that.
They probably didn't.
But anyway, it's a very poor city.
And I had decided I was going to go for a walk to buy some milk.
And so I go.
It's about a 10-minute walk.
You know, there's sewage on the streets, garbage everywhere.
You know, all the sidewalks are broken.
The road is broken.
It's dry.
It's dusty.
It's very poor.
And I hadn't quite realized what I was about to see
because I go through a lot of beggars,
a fair number of children in particular who are begging,
and I step past them.
And all of a sudden, the pavement is perfect.
And I look, and I realize that the building is perfect,
and it's almost as if I'm in a first-world mall.
And in fact, that's what it was.
It was a mall made by Brazilian and Portuguese and rich Angolans,
and it had a multiplex movie theater.
I could have watched the summer's edition of Spider-Man there
and other hit Hollywood movies.
There was electronics stores, sporting goods stores,
and a very, very good, like you would have thought
that you were in a really nice, clean grocery store here in Canada.
But here's the thing.
There are lots and lots and lots of security guards,
like lots of security guards.
And they're everywhere, and they're giving everybody the look,
but they just glance at me, and I go in.
Why?
I'm white.
I'm treated differently.
And it was actually sort of very odd for me to realize
that all the other people would get a close look,
but I could just walk in because I'm white.
There were certain assumptions about me.
And I mean, in many ways, they were correct assumptions,
but they were still assumptions just because I was white.
The text that Ken read just a few minutes ago
actually has a virus in it
that after it has been written,
and in much of the world it's been separated from the root,
but there's a virus text that Ken just read a few minutes ago in Galatians
that has gone on to slowly infiltrate
and affect much of the thinking throughout the world,
even though people might not realize that it ultimately came from a text
explaining the implications of the gospel.
And so for many people, it's separate from the gospel.
It's just this idea that's become a bit of a virus throughout the entire world
that something's wrong about a whole range of things that go on in the world,
and it starts off in this letter to Galatians.
So if you have your Bibles, it would be very helpful if you looked at it with me.
It's one of the implications of the gospel,
and it's in Galatians chapter 3,
and we're going to begin reading at verse 26,
which is where our text begins.
Galatians 3, 26, and here's how it goes.
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.
You can see that virus?
Like it's separated from the gospel.
It's all one of the implications of the gospel,
that if you are in Christ Jesus,
there is no Jew or pagan.
There is no slave or free.
There is no male and female if you're in Christ Jesus,
if you've received the gospel.
It's an implication of the gospel,
but this is a tale of radical equality.
Radical equality.
That a slave should be treated the same way that a free man.
That a male should be treated the same way as a female and vice versa.
That Jew and Gentile, we should be treated the same.
It is an idea that has gone throughout the world,
even though it's maybe been separated from the gospel.
It's one of those implications of the gospel that changed the world.
Now, some of you might say,
you know, George, that's actually, like, that's interesting.
I'd heard of that text before,
and that's a very interesting idea.
I hadn't sort of thought about how that has, in fact,
you know, like in ancient Greek thought,
in a much pagan society,
where you are was where you deserve.
The king was a god.
And where you were was where you were deserved.
In Hindu creation myths,
the caste system is part of the Hindu creation myth,
the creation system.
So you deserve to be there.
And here we have an implication of the gospel
that human beings are,
that these differences,
that you're still going to have differences,
but there's a basic type of dignity
and way I've been treated.
And some of you might say,
George, that's a very interesting idea.
I hadn't really thought of it.
But, George, you know,
isn't the text unbelievably hypocritical?
Like, because they go ahead and say that,
but, George, all the way through,
if I remember correctly,
Ken was reading that text.
He kept saying sons, sons, sons, sons.
Like, isn't that sexist?
Like, isn't that just typical of Christians?
You have this high-finding idea,
but it's just covering a bit of a rot underneath,
something which is fundamentally wrong.
Actually, the fact that all the way through,
the word sons is used,
and not child,
is unbelievably good news.
Unbelievably, powerfully good news.
Listen to it again,
and then I'll explain.
Listen to verse,
begin at verse 26.
Just listen to how it goes.
For in Christ Jesus,
you are all sons of God.
And if your version says child of God,
it's a bad translation.
The word sons should be there,
as I'll explain in a moment.
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 could put up the first point,
Andrew, that would be great,
and I'll explain it,
why this is actually very,
very powerfully good news.
It'll be there in a second.
Jew or Gentile,
slave or free,
male and female,
when we put our faith in Jesus Christ
as our Savior,
we become God's adopted son
and full heir.
So,
my wife is from a family of five kids.
There were four girls,
and I don't know,
like five years and a bit.
And then there was like a five-year gap
or something like that,
and then Richard comes along.
In the ancient world,
at the time that this was written,
when Louise's dad died,
95% of the estate
would not have gone to the oldest girl.
The estate would not have been divided
equally amongst 20% each.
95% of the estate
would have gone to Richard.
the oldest son.
For most of the ancient world,
and in many parts of the world,
even today,
primogeniture,
that's what it's called,
where you want to keep,
people who are wealthy
want to keep their wealth,
so they give it to the oldest son.
That's,
for many parts of the world,
that's just common sense.
That's just like,
why would you do it any other way?
You know,
with any luck,
Louise's dad would have married
the four daughters off
to people who could look after them.
He probably would have,
I know he was always disappointed in me,
but that's the topic of another sermon,
and maybe therapy for me.
No,
not,
no,
no therapy.
He didn't like me when I think I,
I asked her to marry me,
and I don't think he ever liked me,
but there you go.
That's another topic,
right?
So,
he wouldn't have given me,
that Louise to me,
as a next,
you know,
as a good thing.
But,
so just think about it.
So throughout most,
so what's so radical about this text?
What is so radical about this text,
and why all the way through the text,
it says son,
and in fact,
you can see it in the text,
but in the original language,
it's a technical legal word
for the son who inherits the estate.
So what is this saying?
If you are a slave,
and you have become a Christian,
who are you now?
In terms of God's eyes,
you are the son who will inherit the entire estate.
If you are a woman,
who will not inherit anything,
when you receive Jesus as your savior and Lord,
God has adopted you,
and your status in his eyes,
is the son who will inherit the entire estate.
If you are a female slave,
the bottom of the bottom,
when you put your faith and trust in Jesus,
how does God now view you?
You are the son who will inherit the entire estate.
That's why in good translations of the Bible,
the word son is there all the way through,
and not the word child,
because it's trying to communicate
this unbelievable idea
that God does not weigh our merits,
that the normal order of how things work
the normal way that people think of as being natural,
that is being overturned,
underturned,
upside down,
and that all of the things that might make a person say,
well,
I'm a male,
and I'm rich,
and I'm,
you know,
whatever,
therefore,
obviously,
God's going to love me more.
No,
that's not the case.
He doesn't love you more because of that.
He loves all human beings,
and when we put our faith and trust in Jesus,
we become God's son by adoption.
See,
in the ancient world as well,
it was possible.
It couldn't happen now.
I don't know.
Maybe there's somebody here that's in their 70s,
and God didn't bless you with children,
and in the ancient world,
you could adopt me,
even though I'm,
I'm not going to tell you how old I am,
but even though I'm not like a cute little baby,
you could adopt me so that I would get the whole thing,
and that's what it's saying,
that God has adopted you.
When you put your faith and trust in Jesus,
you put your hand out to him,
he takes you,
and,
you know,
maybe at first when you become a Christian,
who knows?
You just,
you want some hope.
You,
you may want to have some guilt removed.
You want something more.
You don't understand it,
and what the Bible starts to explain,
who you are in Christ,
and who you are in Christ,
is you are now treated by God the Father
as if you are the Son
who will inherit everything,
and you have the rights and privileges
of that new status.
male and female,
Jew and Greek,
slave and free.
It's a very,
very,
very powerful text.
Now,
some of you might say,
whoa,
George,
okay,
that's,
that sounds really quite amazing,
but George,
you Christians have sure sucked
getting that out.
Just the other day,
I was talking to a woman
who grew up in South Africa,
so the mic keeps going in and out.
Is that me,
or what's happening?
You're checking it out.
Okay.
If all of a sudden,
I can't hear,
you can't hear me,
just wave,
and I'll,
I'll just speak louder.
So,
I was just talking the other day
to a woman who grew up in,
in South Africa.
She's white,
grew up in South Africa
under apartheid,
and one of the things
we chatted about
was,
in fact,
there were a lot of churches
that white people went to
in South Africa
that specifically,
in their sermons,
would legitimize racism
from the Bible.
And,
and that's just,
I mean,
this isn't just talking now
about,
you know,
the South or anything like that,
United States.
I mean,
this is,
in the lived memories,
many of you were alive
when there were still churches
in South Africa,
and as we all know,
there's a continuing problem
where somehow or another
people can read the Bible
and see texts like this
and still somehow or another
justify racism.
And so,
the pushback can be,
well,
George,
how on earth does this happen?
Well,
actually,
if you keep reading
in chapter four,
Paul explains how it can happen.
Some of it
is,
in fact,
sort of all right news
and some of it,
in fact,
is,
it can be a little bit,
it's one of that hard parts
of Christianity where,
well,
let's read chapter four,
verses one,
to three.
Here's how it goes.
I mean,
okay,
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.
What about us?
Or in the same way,
or what about us?
We also,
when we were children,
were enslaved
to the elementary principles
of the world.
Now,
that's a bit of a,
you know,
I have to confess,
I kept telling my wife
all week,
I slaved over that text
trying to figure it out,
but there's two different,
two different ideas
that are at work here.
And the first idea
is this,
it is possible for us
to be the son,
but live like we are a slave.
That's what the point
of the analogy is
in the first two verses,
that,
you know,
on one level,
he just said,
you look at a rich estate
and you see slaves
and you see,
like a young child,
but the young child
is under guardians
and tutors
and in those days,
you know,
the tutor or the guardian
could,
you know,
whack the kid
on their behind
with a stick
or their hand.
It could be very tough,
very demanding
because in the Roman world,
they wanted their kids,
their boys,
to grow up to be men
who were going to be leaders,
so they could be
very tough on them.
And in some ways,
it would look,
you might not even be able
to tell on one level,
at a behavioral level,
whether the person
was a slave
or in fact the heir.
And the point of this is
that we all know,
and we're going to think
about this more in a moment,
but it's possible for us
to have one status
but live as if
we're something else.
I mean,
that's just part of the tragedy
of many of our lives.
And Paul's going to,
to develop this more in a moment,
I'm going to talk more about
in a moment.
But here's the other thing,
which is verse 3.
If you could put up
the next point.
Part of the hard part
about the Bible
for many of us in Canada
that teaches positive self-esteem
all of the time
is that the Bible
is unbelievably frank
about our human condition.
And verse 3 is based,
and it comes in a technical word
for child.
The technical word
for child in the text
means somebody
who's immature,
incompetent,
dispossessed,
and then he adds
something else.
So here it is.
In my natural state,
I am immature,
incompetent,
dispossessed,
and a slave
to elemental powers
and spirits.
In other words,
I serve elemental powers
and spirits
as if I have no choice.
Now this,
see,
here's part of the thing
about the Christian faith.
So the question began,
George,
how on earth is it
that you can account
for the fact
that Christians
have this wonderful text
in Galatians chapter 3,
28,
and then you can have
churches in South Africa
back in the day,
not that long ago,
opening the Bible
and somehow justifying
apartheid
and racism
and terrible things
that went on
in that culture
all from the Bible.
And so Paul says,
well,
I'm going to give you an answer,
but you're not going to like it.
A lot of you Canadians
aren't going to like it.
Part of it you sort of might like,
which is the fact that,
you know,
it is possible
to be a Christian
and live as if
you're not a Christian.
And I guess what I'd have to say
is to the extent
that a church
in South Africa
was preaching apartheid,
they were not living
as Christians.
Not saying they weren't,
but they weren't living as it.
They weren't teaching
as if they were.
They were in serious error.
They were my brothers
and sisters in Christ
in serious error.
Serious error.
But why is it
that that could go on?
Because you have to know
something about human beings.
Human beings are immature,
incompetent,
dispossessed,
and a slave
to elemental powers
and spirits.
Elemental powers,
the fact of the matter is
that there are powers
of money,
there are powers
of class,
there are powers
of sex
and gender,
of religion,
there are powers
of ideology,
and we Christians,
and not just,
sorry,
not just Christians,
now just as a general rule
for human beings,
we easily start
to serve these things.
If you go back
and read Genesis 3 once again,
it's a very,
very powerful text.
In Genesis 3,
Adam and Eve
thought that they were beginning
when they rebelled against God
and they said,
we are going to be like God.
And they thought
they were ushering in
the age of the human
who rules.
But the irony
and the tragedy is
is that what they ushered in
was not the human
who rules,
but the human
who dies.
And the human
who will serve
created things.
We serve our phones.
Many of you do.
Imagine,
for those of you
who are university students,
I don't know if many professors
do it,
if they said,
before you come into this class,
I'm taking all of your tablets,
phones,
and computers.
Many people,
their anxiety level
would go through the roof
because we serve it.
We serve race.
We serve sex.
We serve ideologies.
And elemental,
those are elemental powers.
There's also elemental spirits.
There are evil spirits
that we willingly serve.
And we are dispossessed.
We might not feel
like we're dispossessed right now,
but you know,
as I get older,
time just slips
through my hands.
And the children
who once were just
so cute and tiny
and I could hold them
and now they're bigger than me.
And they have children
of their own.
And one day I will die
and when I die,
when Bill Gates
and I die
on the same day,
his 89.3 billion,
oops,
nope,
sorry,
89.4,
oops,
sorry,
89.5,
no,
oops,
sorry,
89.6,
oops,
sorry,
89.7.
Every time I tell the number,
the number's gone up
in that few seconds.
When you're that rich,
that's how it works.
But he and I
will have the same number
of possessions
one second after we die.
For the record,
I'm not close
to 89.3 billion.
I tell people
I'm half a millionaire.
I have the air,
not the million.
And so this,
you know,
it seems very stark,
but that's the stuff
that God works with.
You see,
in one level,
the Bible tells us
our condition
is vastly worse
than we know.
But the text
is just telling us
about how Jesus
willingly,
in a second,
it's going to go
right into it,
how God
willingly
sent his son
to die
for immature,
incompetent,
dispossessed slaves
to elemental powers
and spirits.
He willingly
loved you and me
so much
that he would leave
the glories of heaven
to come and die
for you and me.
That I might be
redeemed from slavery
and I might have
the status
of God's adopted son
who inherits everything.
The gospel both tells us
we are far
more broken
than we realize,
but we are far more loved
than we could ever imagine.
our minds,
even the most
narcissistic
amongst us,
our minds
can't really
grasp
the depth
and the extent
and the purity
of God's love
for us
that we see
as God,
the Son of God,
dies upon
the cross
for you and me.
Just the other day
I was asked by somebody
about why I became
a Christian.
I became a Christian
when I was in grade 12
and he asked a little bit
about the process
that led to me
becoming a Christian
and I said that
I started to go
on a bit of a quest.
I all of a sudden
became,
I had grown up
in a Christian home
and I found
Christianity boring,
I found it irrelevant,
I was far more interested
in the counterculture,
I was far more interested
in countercultural music,
countercultural politics,
countercultural lifestyles,
countercultural dress.
That's what I found
interesting,
that's what I found
as if it would be meaningful
and Christianity
was boring
and it was irrelevant
and I really didn't even
think about whether
or not it was true
and I don't want
to go into it all
but basically
something one day
it was something
that happened to me
while I was on
Elgin Street
here in Ottawa
all of a sudden
made me think
that maybe something
there was something
more to Christianity
and at the end
of the year,
at the end of the year
of a spiritual quest
I became a Christian
and he said to me,
the person who asked
me this question
said,
well why would you
go on a spiritual quest?
What a great question,
eh?
And I,
and this is one
of those times
you know where
somebody must have
been praying for me.
It's really important
church to pray
for each other
because I don't think
I'd ever been asked
that question before
and I paused
and I said to him
because I came
to the conclusion
there must be
something more.
There must be
something more.
And you know
when you hear this talk
and what's going on
here in the
biblical text,
if you,
you think you're
a master of the universe,
it feels like you're
a master of the universe,
you have sexual conquests,
you have the money
pouring into the bank
and it's hard for you
to imagine that
there's something more.
The gospel is going
to make very little
sense to you.
But for many people
who have all of those
things,
they realize I can have
all of these things
and there must be
something more.
And for others of us
who are very broken
by elemental powers
or by the elemental
spiritual forces
of the world
and maybe we're
broken by shame
or we're broken
by drug addiction
or we're broken
by abuse
or we're broken
by failure
or we're broken
by poverty,
it maybe is very easy
for us to hope
and believe that maybe
there is something more.
And the Bible says
there is something more.
That's what it talks about.
Listen to how
just after Paul
in verse 3
gives us this
unbelievably bad news.
Remember verse 3,
we'll read it again.
In the same way
we also,
when we were children,
and that's a technical
word in Greek,
meaning one who is
immature,
incompetent,
and dispossessed.
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 are under the law
so that we might receive
adoption as sons.
And when it says here
adoption as sons,
it doesn't mean adoption
as one who will inherit
everything but has to live
under a guardian.
It means that when
I have put my faith
and trust in Jesus,
when you put your faith
and trust in Jesus,
and he takes you,
he doesn't say,
he doesn't,
he just,
when you put your trust
in him,
he takes you.
He takes you.
And when he takes you,
not only are you
redeemed,
but you automatically,
you're not adopted
as a child
who maybe in 50 years
will be old enough
to inherit.
No, the word son there
means right now
you are of maturity
to live and to receive
the inheritance.
Could you put up
the next point,
Andrew, please?
The gospel is the good news
that when I put my faith
in the person and work
of Jesus,
I am redeemed
from slavery
and I am adopted
as God's son
and heir.
And I could add there,
ready to inherit.
That's what these two verses say.
Listen to it again,
verses 4 and 5.
But when the fullness
of time had come,
God sent forth
his son,
born of woman,
in other words,
fully human,
born under the law,
born into this world
where the moral law exists.
Why did he come?
to redeem
those who are
under the law
so that we might receive
adoption as sons.
And the word redeem
is the word that's used
to free someone
from slavery
at the payment
of a price,
at the price
that was borne
by God himself
in the person
of his son.
Everyone who puts
their faith and trust
in Jesus
are redeemed
from slavery
and adopted
as the sons of God.
It's very, very, very,
very powerful news.
But here's
a searching question
and I know this is
a mix-up of an analogy.
If you could put
the next point up,
Andrew, sorry.
It's a bit of a mix-up
of analogy.
Really, my point originally
was just the second half
but I realized
the first,
I just sort of felt
I had to add it.
I know,
am I living like Cinderella
with amnesia?
Or am I living
as if I,
in other words,
am I living
as if I am a slave
and not the son
who inherits fully?
Christian,
that's the question
for you and me.
I know the Cinderella
analogy breaks down.
She was, you know,
but she's,
you know,
because she married
Prince Charming
and all that
but I just,
this idea,
imagine in that story
as if Cinderella,
after she becomes
the queen,
went back to living
as if she was the slave
serving her stepmother
and her sisters.
She wasn't living
like who she was.
And it's easy for us
to maybe look
and say,
how on earth
could those people
in South Africa
misread the Bible?
But what about you and me?
Is our relationship
to God,
is my relationship
to God
as if somehow
God gives me
these commands
and I need to do them
and I have a bit
of anxiety
and I have a bit
of a depression
about the state
of my life
as if I'm just a slave
and it's just drudgery
and it's just brokenness
and it's just order
and it's just rules
and maybe some days
I feel like it's,
like I'm doing
all those things
very well
so I feel very,
very good.
I can show myself
at church
because,
you know,
my marriage
is going well,
my kids are going well,
my finances are going well
and,
you know,
maybe I'm not reading
the Bible very often
but nobody can see that
but things seem
to be going well
at a very superficial level
and then some of the bottom
falls out of some
of these things
and maybe your marriage
isn't going as well
or your romantic relationships
aren't going as well
or your finances
aren't going as well
or your job's in trouble
and all of a sudden
it's not even as if
we want to be around
other Christians
and why is that?
Because,
you see,
at our bottom line
we do not understand
or not really believe
that God adopted us
as his son
with full rights
of inheritance
but I am living
as if my relationship
with God
depends upon my ability
to fulfill
his orders to me
and if I can't fulfill
his orders to me
in a satisfactory way
I am a bad slave.
I'm a bad slave.
My church doesn't become
a mega church
I am a bad pastor.
Bill Hybels tells
a famous joke
go big or go to Canada.
You know,
and I think it's just so funny
go big or go to Canada.
You know,
like if I was a really
successful pastor
I'd be snapped up
by some American church
and I'd have thousands
of people coming.
You know,
it's,
that's the question.
Look,
look at verses 4 and 5 again.
But when the fullness
of time had come
God sent forth
his son
born of woman
born under the law
to redeem
those who are
under the law
so that we might receive
adoption as sons.
Could you put
up the next point
please,
Andrew?
God's adoption
of me
as his son
with all
of the rights
and privileges
of being his son
is just
as certain
as the fact
that I am
pardoned
and redeemed.
It is just
as certain.
It says
redeemed
and adopted.
It doesn't just say
redeemed.
In other words,
I've taken you
out of slavery
but George,
you've taken out
of slavery
but now you better
perform very well
if I'm going to
really love you
because all I've done
is just taken away
the bad stuff
but you need to add
good stuff to your life
so you better
make sure you do this
and you better make sure
you're successful in that
and you better make sure
you perform well that way
and you better make sure
this and you better
make sure that
because all that I've done,
George,
is I've just taken away
the bad stuff.
You've got to sort out
the good stuff yourself
and a lot of times
that's how we live
the Christian life
and a lot of times
that's all the way
that the gospel is presented
that when Jesus
died on the cross
he took away your sins
you're pardoned
you're delivered from slavery
and it's all just presented
only and almost exclusively
as if the bad things
have been taken away
but the good things
by implication
in the soul
in our soul
that I have to perform those
but in this text
both are just as certain.
When Jesus took me
as his own
everything that I had ever done
that was wrong
from the moment of my conception
to the moment of my death
was dealt with on the cross.
All of the shame
from the moment of my conception
to the moment of my death
was dealt with on the cross.
All of the slavery
that I have experienced
experience
to how people think about me
or how this works
or whatever
is all taken away
but at the same time
right to the moment of my death
even though God knows
my successes and failures
in the future
all the way
my status
is as an adopted son of God
because of what Jesus
has done for me
with the full rights
I do not get
a better inheritance
if I grow a megachurch
I do not get
a better inheritance
if I can memorize
more Bible verses
I can have more successful
relations
I do not
I can add nothing
to what God has done
for me in the person
of Jesus.
Could you put up
the next point please
Andrew?
Listen to the text again
as it goes up
But when the fullness
of time had come
God sent forth his son
born of woman
born under the law
to redeem those
who are under the law
so that we might receive
adoption as sons
Am I living like
I am half saved
only pardoned
not adopted?
Am I living as if
I am only pardoned
not adopted?
You know
brothers and sisters
this is one of these
things that we need
to pray into our lives
for ourselves
and we need to pray
it into each other's lives
like if you are
trying to figure out
how to pray for the church
one of the things
you can do is just say
you know
Lord
help George
to understand
that he is
God's adopted son
help the wardens
help Shirley
help Daniel and Jonathan
know that they are
not just redeemed
but God has adopted them
as his son
with the full rights
of inheritance
and not just the leaders
but help the people
who come on Sunday
when you are trying
to figure out
how to pray for people
as they come to church
and you get here
maybe a bit early
and you have a moment
to pray
just pray God
may you work
in people's lives
today
so that they will
not only know
that their sins
are pardoned
but they'll also
know that
God adopted them
when they put
their faith in Jesus
we need to pray
that over us
could you put up
the next point
please
listen again
to verse 4 and 5
as the point goes up
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
being God's son
by adoption
and grace
is not a goal
for a Christian
but a present
and eternal
reality
it is a present
and eternal
reality
listen if you're
sitting here right
now and you're
thinking you know
I just came here
I know because my
friends dragged me
my folks dragged me
my mom's been
bugging me
from somewhere else
and I just thought
I'd go take a bulletin
take a picture of it
you know get her off
my back or whatever
and if the Holy Spirit
is touching you
in any way
and if you're thinking
that's all very good
for George
he seems like he's
a good guy
or that's already
that's alright for the
people around me
but if God knew
how bad I was
if God knew
how much
what I had done
if God knew
the things going on
in my heart
then these things
would not apply to me
but I want to tell you
right now
that he does know
and the offer is for you
he does know
he knows everything
about you
and still his son
came to die upon
the cross
to redeem you
from slavery
and make you
his adopted son
by grace
just in closing
there's a
a great
the text goes on
in such a great way
listen
one final time
of reading verses
4 and 5
and then we'll go to
verses 6 and 7
because it's such
a wonderful promise
but listen again
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 sent
the spirit
of his son
into our hearts
crying
Abba
father
so you are
no longer
a slave
but a son
that's why
I spent so many
times on that
one point
you are no
longer a slave
you are a son
and if a son
then an heir
through God
you put up the point
Andrew
this is a
very precious thing
it's not just
that we've been
redeemed and
pardoned
it's not just
that we've been
adopted
but God
sends the Holy
Spirit
when it says
hearts
in most of the
time in the New
Testament
when it says
the word
heart
it doesn't
mean emotions
you know
think
starship
enterprise
and Jean-Luc
Picard
and he comes
and he sits
sorry
in the chair
of command
that's the heart
the command
center of your
lives
and God
sends the
Holy Spirit
into the
command center
of our lives
and what
is he
one of the
things that he
does there
the Bible
has lots of
things that says
about what the
Holy Spirit
does but what
does the Holy
Spirit do
while he's
there
while he's
in our
hearts
he says
Abba
father
Abba
father
he wants
to train
me
and Abba
is the
intimate
word
that a
child
would use
of his
or her
own
father
and if
for you
maybe you
had a
bad dad
and he
had to
call him
sir
but in
your heart
you know
what you
wished you
had a
dad like
and what
you could
call your
dad
maybe it's
daddy
maybe it's
pops
maybe it's
dad
I don't
know
whatever it
is
but whatever
that word
is
the Holy
Spirit
is in
you as
a believer
saying that
word
and training
and encouraging
you to call
that out
to God
in intimacy
to understand
who you
are
intimate
with God
please stand
Andrew the
final point
it's from
an old
hymn
you know
all we
can say
is this
it's used
at ordination
but it's
such a
brilliant line
come Holy
Ghost
my soul
inspire
and light
and with
celestial
fire
come Holy
Ghost
my soul
inspire
and light
and with
celestial
fire
father
let's
pray
let's
pray
come Holy
Ghost
our souls
inspire
and light
and with
celestial
fire
father
pour out
your Holy
Spirit
upon us
for those
of us
here
father
who are
Christians
you know
how easy
it is
to live
as if
we have
amnesia
and as
if we
are
slaves
in a
slave
relationship
with you
a performance
based
relationship
with you
father
may you
bring these
truths of
scripture
home to
our lives
deeply
father
may your
Holy Spirit
move and
work and
speak ever
more loudly
in the command
center of our
lives
Abba
father
teaching us
and forming
us to call
out to you
as our
father
as our
father
as our
dad
and father
if there are
any here
who have not
yet given
their lives
to Jesus
may your
Holy Spirit
bring them
to saving
faith
help them
father
to form
those words
to call
out to
Jesus
that he
will be
their
savior
and lord
and all
these things
we ask
in the name
of Jesus
your son
and our
savior
amen