“God Makes Us Sons and Heirs” Galatians 4:1-7

Almost everyone wants to have a sense of belonging. We find it in community, with teams and with those who have had things in common with us, like classmates or fellow workers. We see it with soldiers who have served in wartime together. We remember where we were and what we were doing when major news jars our worlds, and that gives us a sense of belonging. It is the idea of having something in common with others.

Nowhere is this more important than family. It doesn’t matter what kind of family we have or had growing up. We have a bond with those with whom we grew up and experienced family together.

And almost everyone wants to have a “Father Knows Best” type of family or a Beaver Cleaver family.

In today’s key verse and the passage, the emphasis is that we who are in Christ are God’s family with all the benefits that go with it.

Background

This passage completes the idea that Paul introduced at the end of Chapter 3. He began with the declaration that we have a special relationship with Christ because of what God has done and what our faith has brought us. We are all one in Jesus Christ, and, since we belong to Christ, we are heirs of Abraham’s promise.

In today’s passage, Paul expands on the idea of a child and inheritance. He writes about the role of the law and the role of the child under the law. Then he speaks about a child becoming an adult.

Central Truth: God, through His Son, brings us into a close relationship with Him.

The Role of the Child (1-3)

When Paul was writing this letter, there were certain rituals in Jewish, Greek and Roman societies that designated the transition from childhood to adulthood. In the Jewish faith, when a boy turned 12 years old, his father would take him to the synagogue on the first Sabbath after his birthday. On that day, the father would make a declaration of the son’s age and of him becoming a man, and the young man would then say a prayer of adulthood, committing himself to follow the laws of God and to follow God.

There were similar rituals in Roman and Greek cultures. The age may vary, but both had a specific event that would occur and declare that on a specific day a child became an adult.

Paul probably had this in mind when he wrote the first three verses of the chapter. A child would be under the tutelage of a tutor or a trustee until he reached a designated age. Sometimes, it would occur as a result of the child’s father’s death, but sometimes the culture required the child to be raised apart from the father. In Paul’s example, the father has set a specific time for the child to be declared an adult.

Prior to becoming an adult, the child had to follow the rules and regulations set forth by the tutor or guardian. He may have full ownership of the estate, but he didn’t have legal access to it. All the matters of the estate were handled by the person designated to oversee the child. In this regard, the child is similar to a slave in that he has the benefits of the estate, but he is restricted in his freedom.

Paul makes the argument that before Christ came into our world and into our lives, we were very much like the child under the tutor. We had only the law to guide us, acting as our guardian or tutor. This law was what gave us an idea of what God expected of us, but offered us no way to attain this relationship with God. It could open our eyes to the need for God, but there was nothing that could free us from our sin and the ultimate consequences of our sin. So, the law had a purpose, but that purpose was to prepare us for becoming free in Christ.

God Makes Us His Children (4-6)

As Paul mentioned in v. 2, a child is subject to a guardian until the time designated by the father. Paul then uses the idea of the fulfillment of time to show us how God stepped in to bring us into full sonship with Him.

When God knew the time was right, He sent Jesus into our world. We’ve looked at this before. The time was right in the context of history and society. There was universal peace through the might of the Roman army maintaining peace and safety throughout the Empire. There was a universal language, koine Greek being the language of commerce and of educated people throughout the empire. People could communicate with each other, regardless of what part of the empire was their home. And there was convenient travel throughout the Roman Empire thanks to the road system built to move the armies of Rome quickly. These same roads were used for commerce and travel.

But the time was right in God’s eyes, too, because the world was ready to receive His Son. There was a spiritual darkness and longing throughout the Roman world. Israel longed for the Messiah. Greeks and Romans no longer found security or answers with their gods. There was a spiritual void when God sent His Son into our world.

And Jesus was born of a woman, under the law. That is, even though Jesus is the Son of God, He is also a human being, born as Mary’s son. And He was born as a Jewish child, which entailed observing the rites and rituals of the law of Moses and being trained in the faith.

But Paul also says Jesus was born under the law for the specific purpose of redeeming us from the law, setting us free to become full sons of God. The proof we are God’s children is that we have the Holy Spirit inside us, bringing us into the family relationship with God. By the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit, we can speak to God as “Abba, Father.” “Abba” is the Aramaic version of “dad” or “daddy.” It was the term Jesus used when speaking about and to God.

The Spirit seals our relationship with God through Jesus. Because Jesus came at the full time, fully God, fully human, and because He redeems us from the slavery of the law and sin, we are now free to call upon God as our Father.

We Are Now God’s Sons and Heirs (7)

This verse summarizes what Paul began in Galatians 3. This is also the verse that we want to spend time to understand, because it tells us a very real truth about our relationship with God. Paul still has some things to say about slavery and sonship, but the focus on this verse is to state very clearly that we are now, through Christ Jesus, God’s sons and heirs.

We are a child of God. This comes about because of God’s actions, not our own. Years ago, when Kim and I were still relatively newlyweds, we had a friend who would tease me about starting a family. One day, I told him that we had decided we were going to adopt. He said that was a good idea and that many families are made from adoption. So I told him that we weren’t wanting to adopt a newborn child. Instead, we were looking for a really rich old guy with no family. We were going to adopt him.

Of course, that was a joke. But the point of the joke is to say that no one gets to choose who will adopt them. We can’t walk up to someone and tell them we have decided to become their child in a very real and legally binding sense.

No, only God’s actions have made us His children. Paul uses the term “son” because of the legal implications of his time and age, but God makes men and women His children. The moment we come to a saving relationship with Jesus, the moment we profess our faith in Him for salvation and for Lordship, we become God’s children. This means that God makes us a new creation, and He begins working in us through His Spirit to bring us more closely into His family each day.

Because we are God’s children, we have a relationship with Him. We can enter into His presence whenever we want to or need to. We can speak freely to Him about what’s on our minds. We can trust Him to provide for us and to take care of us. We are God’s children, and He loves us as any other parent would. The only difference is that God as Father is perfect, all-knowing and all-caring. We are His by His desire and plan.

And we are heirs. We enter into the relationship and immediately we are given the riches of the kingdom of God. That doesn’t mean earthly treasures and wealth, but peace with God, power from God, hope and assurance from God. And, when Jesus returns, we shall reign with Him and fellowship with Him. God’s kingdom is our kingdom. God’s promises are ours to embrace. Because we are heirs, we have the assurance that we will see our hopes become reality through Jesus Christ the Son.

Because God had a plan, and because God fulfilled that plan through Christ, and because God worked in our lives to bring us to Him by faith in His Son, we are also sons and heirs. That truth happened the moment we first believed.

Conclusion

There are times in our lives that we feel alone. We feel misunderstood or dismissed. We convince ourselves that we really don’t belong.

Again, these feelings and convictions are all lies from Satan. He knows the truth, but he doesn’t want us to know and live the truth.

The truth is we are sons of God, and because we are sons, we are heirs also. We are God’s children.

Let’s live as the children of the Creator of the universe, the Lord of all.