Christmas 2022

I. Slaves vs. Sons and the Need for Redemption

The analogy of the Son vs. the Slave

The analogy is that of a wealthy Hellenistic Household, which would often use a slave - man or woman - as a nanny to raise the children. In this case, the Eldest Child is to inherit everything. Yet like any child, the Nanny has to give him many, many specific instructions - what to eat, what to wear, when to go to bed, when to get up, etc. But this is exactly what a slave-child in that house would have to do as well.

In a wealthy Hellenistic household, the father could establish when he considered that child old enough to take care of himself, and at that time the child would become an adult son. Of course, the father likely wasn’t dead yet, so the adult son might still not have actually inherited the property yet, but once adulthood was reached, he was no longer subject to the rules of the nanny.

Once the father died, the son would, of course, receive his inheritance. In this case, Paul envisions the son inheriting everything.

The Elementary Principles of the World.

What are elementary principles? not building blocks of matter, but moral basics.

Paul includes himself, thus the Law of Moses must be included. But why? The Law of Moses was given to a people part of whom were regenerate (Moses, David, Daniel), and part of whom were not. God appealed to them to repent and be forgiven, but many of them had yet to do that. Deut 9:6; 10:16; Lev 26:40-42

Deuteronomy 9:6 NKJV

Therefore understand that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people.

Deuteronomy 10:16 NKJV

Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no longer.

Leviticus 26:40–42 NKJV

‘But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers, with their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, and that they also have walked contrary to Me, and that I also have walked contrary to them and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts are humbled, and they accept their guilt— then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham I will remember; I will remember the land.

Now the experience of those who had repented and been forgiven was very different from the unregenerate. The Regenerate said things like this: Psalm 119:97; but for the unregenerate, God imposed regulations on them from the outside, because if he didn’t there soon wouldn’t even be a nation for God to save. It was instead - do this or else.

Psalm 119:97 NKJV

Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.

These elementary moral principles, imposed on the outside were necessary for survival. But wait! Paul also includes his audience - Gentile! They were raised Pagans. However, while there’s a lot of error and idolatry mixed in, not every moral admonition among the Pagans was wrong. They too had to impose an ethical code on their people, for if they didn’t they would cease to exist. Though their moral code was vastly inferior to the Law given by God, it had the same external effect, simply by the necessity of the survival of the people.

So, our “childhood” was before we were saved. Then, there was literally no difference between those who would never be saved and those who would someday accept Christ as Savior. We all had to do things we didn’t feel like doing, for fear of what would happen to us. 1 Tim 1:8-11

1 Timothy 1:8–11 NKJV

But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.

Now, however, we ought to live because we love God, and because we love others. It doesn’t matter about punishment, because we want to do right from the heart and our sins are forgiven. So we are free from these external moral constraints because of our internal moral compass.

Now, just like the adult son who still has a living father, we are no longer under Nanny Law, but we are still waiting to receive most of our inheritance.

II. God Sent his Son in the Fullness of Time

The Fullness of Time - when the time was right; when God had made everything ready. How did the world need to be ready for God’s Son?

There must be a people of God for Jesus to be born into; God had to first supernaturally create and preserve them; then give them the land.

This people would have to have a law, or they would not survive as a nation; this law was given to help them, however, no one can keep the law perfectly. Redemption is necessary, and animals can’t do that. Yet without the sacrificial system we wouldn’t have the ability to understand what Jesus was doing on the Cross. The Law of Moses had to happen first, before the world was ready.

This Son would need to be a King, but for that to happen, there would have to be a Throne for him to inherit. So David needed to come and reign, and God had to first give him the Davidic Covenant so this Son would have the Throne he needed.

The people God created were going to sin enough to fail, so they needed to do that first, so God could offer them a way out of their exile.

Finally, God needed to reveal himself and his plans, so people would be able to recognize him when he came.

Born of Woman under the Law

This Son would need to be God, so he was great enough to redeem us; but he would also have to be man, so he could die for us. Because God had to wait until Israel failed and went into exile, God would also have to solve the problem of the curse, and all this required a Virgin Birth.

This Son would be born under the law. Here, as Jesus of course obeyed God from the heart, he was not enslaved to the elementary principles as we were. But he did have to obey the Law, in the same way I still have to obey the laws of the USA. If I was to move to Canada, I wouldn’t be under the law of the USA. Doesn’t mean I can do whatever I want - Canada has laws too. But I wouldn’t be under US law. Similarly, Jesus was under the Law of Moses - simply because he was born a Jew during that time.

III. Redemption and Adoption

The key question is why did God do all this? We need to have redemption because everyone who tries to keep the law fails; Because the law carries a curse for those who fail to keep it, we need to be bought back from the slavery of sin. Gal 3:10-13

Galatians 3:10–13 NKJV

For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.” Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),

Adoption was a Greco-Roman practice, not a Jewish one. It was usually when a wealthy person would adopt someone as an heir, as an adult so he could pass on his property, not as a child to raise it first. This adoption is our being changed from being slaves to Sons.

Here the adoption seems to be referring to being made an Heir.

God has given us evidence of this adoption. We can now call God “Father,” which was not something anyone really did before Jesus taught us to do that. One of the ministries of the Spirit is to inform us that we are indeed God’s children Rom 8:15-17

Romans 8:15–17 NKJV

For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Now this ministry is a feeling, but it isn’t a feeling without information. You know you are God’s child by believing what God says; when you know that by faith you are his child, then you can choose to accept what God says as true; when you really get ahold of that, you will be confident that you truly are God’s child.