“When God Sent Jesus” – Galatians 4:4-7

Timing is everything. Whether in comedy or agriculture or the birth of a child, the timing is critical. If a comic cuts too quickly to the next joke, he may cut the laughter. If a farmer reaps the crops too quickly, she will ruin the harvest. A baby will come when the baby is ready.

In today’s reading, we learn that God’s timing was perfect when He sent Jesus into our world.

Background

Paul’s letter to the Galatians is an urgent call for them to refute the false teachings of some who profess that salvation in Christ requires not only a faith in Jesus but also an adherence to the Mosaic law. Their argument is that Jesus came to fulfill the law, so it means the law is important in following Him.

Paul refutes this with the proclamation that we come to Jesus by faith, by grace and not by works. He reminds them that Abraham lived before the law was given, yet Abraham lived by faith in God, and his faith was credited to him as righteousness.

Paul argues that faith in Christ leads us to a personal relationship with God and allows us to become the children of God. He uses the phrase of sons because he is writing about inheritance, and at the time of his writing, only a son could inherit, both in Jewish and Gentile law.

In this particular passage, the Bible reminds us that God’s plan was carried out in His time and in His way in order that you and I could become adopted into the family of God. As we look at this passage, let us keep in mind the following truth:

Central Truth: God sent Jesus at the right time to reconcile us to Him.

God sent Jesus:

1. When the time was right (4)

But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.

We are eagerly awaiting the coming of Christmas. For children, it is a time of year that seems to drag. It seems that Christmas will never get here, while the number of presents grow around the tree and the promise of all sorts of goodies seem out of reach.

When God sent Jesus, it was at just the right time. Jewish and Christian beliefs had the idea that God was intimately in control of all aspects of life. As we have seen over the past few weeks, God had a plan in place before the creation of the world to bring redemption and reconciliation to the world through Jesus. The Holy Spirit living in us to help us in prayer (cf. Romans 8:27) is part of God’s plan. All along, God has placed things into motion in order to fulfill His plan.

Part of God’s plan is to allow evil to prosper for a while as He also waits for those who will come to Him by faith do so. God’s patience is to allow all who will be saved to be saved. So it was when God sent Jesus into our world.

The situation was right—the fullness of time had come. The world was in relative peace as Rome controlled the Mediterranean world and most of Western Europe. Koine Greek was a universal language, allowing ideas to be expressed throughout the empire. The Roman system of roads and the relative peace allowed for easy movement by land and by sea, providing relative safety for all travelers. It was also a world in spiritual darkness. The Greco-Roman world had largely turned away from their gods, and the people of Israel yearned for the coming of Messiah to throw off the yoke of Roman rule.

It was into the world that God sent His Son. The term “sent” reminds us that Jesus was fully a part of the Godhead and that His coming was a deliberate action on God’s part. Jesus was sent into our world with a specific purpose—to redeem mankind from sin and death.

Paul includes that Jesus was born of a woman. While Jesus’ conception was divine in origin, the fact that He was born of a woman lets us know that Jesus was fully human as well. Born of God and born of a woman, Jesus experienced life as all people have experienced life.

And as a man, Jesus was born under law. There are those who say that “law” here refers to the Mosaic law. While it is true that Jesus was born into a Jewish family and that His family adhered to Jewish laws and customs, Jesus was also born under the laws that dictate life in our world. He lived in a morally challenging world, replete with temptations and dangers that come from being human.

God sent Jesus into our world when the timing was right. He was sent as Immanuel—God with us, and He was sent as the Son of Man.

2. To redeem us (5)

. . . to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

3. To restore our relationship with Him (11)

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and since you area a son, God has made you also an heir.

Conclusion