Real Purpose of the Law

I’m not going down the Covid-19 path because I realize our congregation has people with differing strong opinions on spread and treatment. But I would like to talk about another ailment for which I have been immunized in the last year.

I have never had this ailment, but I do know others who have experienced it and the symptoms are something I do not want to experience, EVER!

When I was a child I had chicken pox and I have been told that since I had chicken pox then the virus is within me and could produce symptoms at any time. Possessing the virus and hearing of the symptoms prompted me to take both injections for Shingles.

For 7 messages you have heard me say that obeying God’s law will not guarantee your place in His eternal kingdom. That only happens through trusting faith in what Jesus accomplished in the Crucifixion and Resurrection. So if obedience doesn’t merit heaven, should the law be ignored?

Paul clearly states in today’s text that the law serves a very positive role in identifying the type of life that leads to God’s pleasure and blessing.

Because I do not want to experience the virus known as Shingles, I will look for a way to avoid it. Right now the best way to avoid it, is through 2 immunizations.

If people wanted to avoid the curses mentioned in the Pentateuch, they had to stay within the boundaries set by God.

Transition: The description of shingles has prompted me to seek the remedy. The violations of humanity point to the need of the promised seed of Abraham.

Supervision Required (Galatians 3:19-25)

Transgression (v.19-20)

We saw last week (v.17)that the law came 4 centuries after Abraham placed his faith in God.

This week we see that the law came because of man’s sinful tendencies.

One of the first lessons that parents learn is the consequences of not providing enough activities for their toddlers. What happens when a young child doesn’t have enough positive things to hold his attention? I heard that the scariest thing a parent can find is a sharpie cap without a sharpie. Sometimes kids are drawn into mischief without knowing it is wrong. I’m sure Abraham loved his grandsons, but Jacob and Esau become an illustration of conniving and manipulation to get one’s way.

3. What happened to the Israelite’s jewelry while God was giving the law to Moses? Moses came down and saw all sorts of idolatry and debauchery.

4. Because of man’s sinful tendencies, and man’s attempts to justify himself, God gave Moses a list of things that do not lead to God’s blessing in this life.

5. V.20 means that when God made a covenant/promise Abraham, He did it directly.

6. V.19c means that when God defined the law for the Israelites, He did it through Moses (intermediary) and (according to Jewish tradition in Paul’s day) angels. Perhaps Paul references angels just to prove how the law (how it was given and how it was lived out) had become twisted by human ideas.

Boundaries Imprisoned (v.22-23)

Once the law was given, it set boundaries on acceptable and unacceptable behavior.

The nature of our transgressions is to try the boundaries.

I feel like I’m preaching to the choir because I see some cattlemen who have spent more hours than they would like to admit on rounding up beef that got beyond the boundaries: cows outside the fence.

3. Even though boundaries can be a loving protection (keeping an animal from being hit on the road), to the animal they constrain or restrict and seem like prison walls keeping me from that grass that is just on the other side.

Monitors Guardian (v.24-25)

When I was in school there were some parents, some students and some employees who were given particular roles without much authority. Their role was to observe and report.

The hall monitor, the lunchroom monitor, the recess monitor, the bathroom monitor and the safety patrol were appointed to remind the other students of the proper expectations and to report violations.

In Paul’s day it was common for a wealthy parent to appoint a slave to monitor/guard a child until he or she reached puberty. This guardian was different than the guardian we will learn about in 4:2.

I was the eldest of the 4 children in our family. There came a time when I no longer needed a “babysitter” but wasn’t yet mature enough to be responsible for all 3 of my sisters. I remember explicitly telling someone invited by my parents to watch the girls, that I did NOT need a “child guard/παιδαγωγὸς”

Transition: Unlike the open range of southern Chase County, there are clear fence lines that separate those who are on Christ’s ranch, and those who are outside. In verse 26 the pronouns change from “we” to “you” to indicate Paul is changing his focus to only those who are on the pastures of God’s ranch.

We are Family! (Galatians 3:26-29)

Participation with Christ (v.26)

1. Through faith all who are in the family are in Christ. If you are in Christ, you are in the family.

2. By speaking to you, (the Galatian believers) Paul is not addressing those outside the family, he is addressing those in the family

3. Those in the family have FULL identity as sons.

The Roman legal system had 3 categories: slaves, children & heirs. Paul is stating that all believers are full heirs. Our courts have tried to draw distinctions of quality within the identity of being human. Intimating that dependence makes one some type of sub-human or potential human who does not have the same rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We believe that the Biblical teaching of anthropology is that from womb to tomb you either are or are not human.

4. If you have faith you are a full heir, regardless of development, maturity, or ability!

Parity in Christ (v.27-28)

If you are identified in Christ, you have full standing as a citizen of God’s Kingdom regardless of race, social standing, or gender.

This does NOT say that all distinctions disappear, My wife being a Christian does not diminish her femininity in any way or cause it to be irrelevent. By leveling the standing of all believers, it is NOT permission to define your own impression of your gender.

Parity means that God doesn’t love boys more or less than girls. However just because He accepts us both equally, it does NOT mean that we can crossover to the other.

Just because a man cannot nurse, does NOT mean that men are worthless in raising children! Just because a woman cannot (according to 1 Tim 2:12) be an elder in the local church does NOT mean that women are unable to make significant contribution to the kingdom of Jesus.

How many of you have tried to touch your elbow with your tongue in the last 2 weeks? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go back and listen to the sermon audio from Feb 19. I saw another physical challenge on Thursday of this week. Face a wall, stand 24” away, bend over at your waist, and pick up a chair. Then try to stand up. I’m told that women can do it, but men cannot. Maybe that is a test that Topeka lawmakers can impose to determine which lockerroom or team athletes can participate.

5. Paul’s one means that we all saved the same. We all receive the same inheritance, NOT that we all serve the same.

Privilege of Christ (v.29)

The Thomas Estate is not going to put any of my sisters or myself on the Forbes’ Wealthiest Americans List, and even though I am the only male and the firstborn, none of my sisters are going to get a cent less than I will.

We are all full and equal heirs. Likewise, we are full and equal heirs with Christ in the kingdom to come.

Romans 8:16–17 ESV:2016

16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Transition: While we’re talking about inheritance, Paul goes right into talking about the initiatives of the Best Father.

Initiative of a Good Father (Galatians 4:1-7)

Provides necessary protection (vv.1-3)

The guardians and managers in v.2 are different than the guardian of 3:24

The chapter 3 guardian was a individual who kept the son from going astray. The chapter 4 guardian ensured that the Father’s desires were carried out throughout the family and estate. The manager ensured that the Father’s estate flourished and grew.

The ch 3 guardian focused on the child specifically. The ch 4 overseers supervised how the family as a whole related to one another, so that the ch. 3 guardian could protect the child from himself.

In western Chase County is a vineyard that was planted the year I came to FHCC. The owner has contracted with individuals (chapter 4) who oversee the grape to wine process with concerns about protecting the vines from drought, soil conditions, exposure to herbicides, and other threats. The owner has also hired vinedressers (ch. 3) who give attention to the individual plants with pruning and shaping so they can contribute to the vineyard as a whole.

Sends a Timely & Sufficient Son (vv.4-5)

1. Fullness of time – other translations say the set time or right time. Text

I’ve heard that the difference between knowledge and wisdom is that knowledge is knowing what to do, wisdom is knowing when to do it. Last year I tried raising tomatoes for the first time. I couldn’t just knee-jerk react to the first day above 50°; I consulted with wise and experienced producers who guided me to the right time to plant varieties to maximize our growing season.

2. Israel had waited for hundreds of years for Messiah to come the first time, While several of us are very anxious for Christ to come again, we can trust that God will appear for us at just the right time!

3. God sent forth his son – God did not send a prophet or angels. He did not send a dream or a sign. He sent his only Son through human AND supernatural means.

4. The Son came to redeem and adopt, not to revolt, establish a government or punish the enemies of God’s people.

5. The Son was exactly who was needed for mankind’s greatest problem (separation from the one who created us for His good pleasure).

6. At the right time the Son will come again to accomplish the Father’s plan.

Shares the Spirit who relates and rules (vv.6-7)

God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. A person exists outside of our bodies and Jesus said it was to the disciples’ benefit that He go away. Because then He and the Father could send not only the one next to us, but the one within us!

I believe the Spirit and Son are distinct persons (vv.4 & 6), yet one in purpose and essence so that Paul introduces a wise nuance in that it is the Son’s Spirit that indwells into our hearts.

The end of v.6 indicates that the Spirit fosters relationship.

V.7 indicates that the Spirit changes us from slaves into sons who are heirs of God’s throne. Royal inheritance was a significant element of Paul’s Theology. I’ve already pointed to Romans 8, but we also see it in...

Titus 3:7 ESV:2016

7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Conclusion:

Royalty is not just a Paul theme either. The writer of Hebrews describes it in 6:17, and John wrote about it in Rev. 20:4-6.

Raised royal is not just a Hallmark gold crown or Kansas City sports thing! In Christ we are Royal, we are Chiefs, we are Kings, we are Monarchs.

In Christ we are no longer slaves to sin, but Sons clothed in the Righteousness of Christ.

Song of Response #201... “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”

Benediction: Isaiah 40:31 (ESV) — but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.