God With Us

Today’s Reading from God’s Word

Galatians 4:4–7 CSB

4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.

Introduction

Over the course of December we have been focusing on How God secured our hope.

All of this is related to the introduction of our theme for vision 2024 … Open the Eyes of My Heart.

You may remember that Paul was praying for the Ephesian Christians (and ultimately us) to grasp the immense spiritual blessings we currently possess.

These are described in detail in Ephesians 1.3-14.

Now, look at 1.17-19:

Ephesians 1:17–19 CSB

17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, would give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.

Do you see the three things he prayed for them? (They’re indicated by the words “what is” in the text.)

Ephesians 1:18 CSB

18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened so that you may know what is the hope of his calling, what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 1:19 CSB

19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the mighty working of his strength.

This is what we’ll be focusing on as we go throughout 2024.

During December, we’ve been focused on that first prayer request of Paul, and specifically, how God has been working to secure our hope.

Last week we were in Romans and Hebrews looking at how Abraham played a role in our hope.

We learned that we can trust God.

He is faithful to every promise he makes.

He cannot lie.

He actually wants to reassure us in our confidence in Him.

If there were more he could do to assure us, he would do it.

But he has assured us through His promise …

And he has sworn an oath to Himself that He will carry through for those who believe.

You can rest your soul on His promises and when your time comes, lay your head down with the strongest of confidence and expectation … that when you awake on the other side … you will be with Him forever.

Today, we’re going to look at God’s greatest desire in creating us … His desire to be with us…

What God Desired From the Beginning

Genesis 2 describes the world before sin.

A world of perfection.

Genesis 2.4-7 - creation before the fall.

2.5: No briars, bramble bushes, thorns or weeds.

2.6: No lack of water or vegetation.

Everything producing in its fullness.

2.8-14 - Eden

2.8: God made a home for the man.

2.9-14: It was no ordinary home.

Genesis 2:9 CSB

9 The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Eden (in the ancient languages) is always associated with luxury, abundance, delight, or lushness.”

It was filled with precious stones.

It would have been a place of wonder, beauty, and riches.

God placed trees that looked good and provided food.

Whatever God chose was the best to look at and to eat.

The tree of life was in the garden.

So was the tree of the knowledge of good & evil.

2.15 - speaks of what man did in the garden.

Genesis 2:15 CSB

15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.

2.15: Not toil … but to serve & honor…

He was a gardener. He was tend it and keep it.

2.16-17 - all the blessings were conditional.

Genesis 2:16–17 CSB

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

All these blessings were conditional.

One restriction. One test.

No reason to be disloyal.

They had everything.

No reason to disobey or doubt.

No reason to resent God.

What do we learn here?

God is amazingly generous. He gave his best to us.

God created everything for us to enjoy. He loaded the planet with wonder, wealth, and beauty.

God created us in His image.

He created us to relate to Him.

He created us for fellowship. Oneness in love and communion together.

God gave Adam a garden with everything he needed.

No trouble.

No anxiety for the future.

And yet, we know how the story ended … Adam & Eve destroyed that relationship with selfishness.…

They weren’t satisfied.

They chose to honor their own desires, rather than God.

This brought harm to themselves.

They weren’t content with the blissful life and fellowship with God that he so richly gave.

Sin destroyed it all.

They were each cursed for their part in their sin.

Satan was cursed.

the earth was cursed.

In a moment, it all changed.

sweet fellowship was broken.

only Guilt, separation, remorse, uncertainty, and death remained.

God Moves to Restore the Relationship

After the Garden

From Genesis 3 onward is the story of how God has, is, and will move to get us back.

After Adam/Eve were expelled from the garden, God gave Adam some instructions on how they could make atonement for sin.

We know this, because of the actions of Abel and Cain in Genesis 4.

There was a time for an offering … at a designated place… and with specifics on how atonement could be made.

Abel approached God in faith … his offering was received.

Cain did not … his offering was rejected…

He succumbed to sin … and destroyed his relationship with God because of a lack of faith…

And if you read the rest of Genesis 4 and into chapter 5, you see the progression of sin.

By the time we get to the opening of Genesis 6 we read of total corruption.

Genesis 6:5–6 CSB

5 When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time, 6 the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.

Had it not been for Noah, we would not exist.

Genesis 6:7–8 CSB

7 Then the Lord said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I created, off the face of the earth, together with the animals, creatures that crawl, and birds of the sky—for I regret that I made them.” 8 Noah, however, found favor with the Lord.

Never skip over this verse lightly.

See the value of righteous living.

See the grace and compassion of God.

See the power of one man’s faith.

Abraham & the Patriarchs

After Noah, God chose Abraham and his family by grace.

It would be through his descendants that all of the earth would be blessed.

God was working his plan of reconciliation with man.

The miracle of the coming of Isaac; the promises of blessing and protection were all revealed……

Through a personal dialogue, miracles, signs, and wonders.

Even with these revelations and interactions, man failed to understand God.

Moses in Egypt

Next comes Moses and the leading of Abraham’s descendants out of Egypt.

They had been slaves for generations.

Pharoah was determined not to allow them to leave.

God sent plagues which were to display his amazing power of what were then believed to be the most powerful gods on the planet.

God thwarted them all.

Men failed to trust God’s power.

In the Wilderness

God’s people left Egypt.

They crossed the Red Sea by His power, escaping annihilation from the Egyptian army.

As they entered the wilderness, a barren stretch of desolate land, God gave the manna from heaven, showing them his ability to provide.

And we know the story, they refused to depend on Him.

During the Conquest

The book of Joshua shows impossible odds and the challenge of defeating an entrenched nation filled with unimaginable power.

God took on the super power of the day — and defeated them — mightily.

The enemy didn’t stand a chance.

And many still turned away from him.

With the Judges

After Joshua a new generation arose that did not know God.

Each person became his own law — and the people did horrible things in the sight of God.

God delivered them into punishment and held them in it until they cried out.

Then a deliverer would come.

Over and over again God demonstrated his willingness to rescue as long as the people would admit their need.

Eventually, they quit thinking they needed him.

During the kingdom

God brought them through that turbulent period … and the nation grew stronger…

They looked at all the nations around them and wanted a king.

This was not his intention and he longed to be their king.

Instead, he demonstrated his patience to allow them to be like the people around them that they weren’t supposed to want to be like.

They trusted their king more than their God.

With the Prophets

God sent prophet after prophet … they delivered their messages to deaf ears.

They performed signs and wonders to blind eyes.

What do we have here?

time after time. Story after story. rejection after rejection.

God’s people seem determined to quit being God’s people.

What have we seen?

God tried

power

patience

provision

God

rescued

redeemed

revealed.

God

punished

rewarded.

None of it worked.

So what did God do?

God sent Jesus

Matthew 1:18–21 (CSB)

18 The birth of Jesus Christ came about this way: After his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, it was discovered before they came together that she was pregnant from the Holy Spirit.

19 So her husband, Joseph, being a righteous man, and not wanting to disgrace her publicly, decided to divorce her secretly.

20 But after he had considered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife, because what has been conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

God couldn’t impress us … so He sent Jesus to become one of us…

Maybe, just maybe, our inability to see a distant God could be solved by God in our midst.

And what happened?

We rejected him.

We spit on him.

We whipped him.

We put him on a cross.

Today, It is Appropriate to Focus on Jesus’ Birth

Let’s note Paul’s writing:

Galatians 4:4–5 (CSB)

4 When the time came to completion, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

5 to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

The gospels of Matthew & Luke give us a good amount of space detailing Jesus’ birth and the events surrounding it.

He came, not just to be born and be a man, but with a greater purpose:

Bringing redemption

Bringing salvation.

Note 4.5:

Because Jesus was born, we can receive the adoption as sons.

Your salvation is more than receiving forgiveness. More than being spared condemnation.

It is a complete change of status.

You have been adopted to be a child of God.

The relationship restored.

We are adopted into the family with all the rights of inheritance.

Note 4.6-7:

Galatians 4:6–7 (CSB)

6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”

7 So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then God has made you an heir.

v. 6 - the presence of the Spirit in our life allows us to cry out as a son or daughter of God.

v.7 - Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, we are heirs of a promise.

1 Peter 1:3–4 (CSB)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

1 John 3:1 (CSB)

1 See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him.

Look at what Mary said as she was expecting:

Luke 1:50 CSB

50 His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear him.

Because Jesus was born, we are the recipients of His great mercy shown throughout the generations.

We receive salvation and redemption by His grace, and more, we receive the adoption as sons and the grand inheritance provided by Him.

The blessing of being able to cry out, “Abba, Father!” is beyond words.

What day he was born on doesn’t matter.

And as the world pauses tomorrow to focus on his birth,

let us use it as an opportunity to glorify God along with them for His great gift of Jesus, the true Seed “born of a woman” to redeem us all from the curse of sin and provide the means of adoption through which we become God’s heirs!

As We Close…

Adam Shanks: The story of “God with us” is one of the most ironic and significant stories of twists and turns ever experienced by man.

The One who created life, who lived eternally, became a created life who would live temporarily.

The One who lived became dead so that we might die to death and experience resurrection to live life eternally.

The One who died lived again so those alive would experience a first death, avoiding a second death.

The One who first lived eternally went before us to live eternally again so we might live eternally for the first time.

Only God could put this together.

Only God could concoct a plan that works like this.

Only “God with us” can become God in us.

That same God, who desired to live with us from the beginning, has also given us His Spirit, who lives in us because of the gift of God (Act 2.38).

We once again have “God with us.”

We gain God when we forfeit ourselves in baptism.

A death in exchange for life—all possible because Jesus was life in exchange for death.

God is still with us…. He lives in us through His Spirit.

And because of Jesus’ work on the cross

Romans 8:1–3 (CSB)

1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus,

2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

3 For what the law could not do since it was weakened by the flesh, God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh as a sin offering,

We are forgiven, redeemed, and sanctified unto him.

Romans 8:11 (CSB)

11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then he who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through his Spirit who lives in you.

Does he live in you?

There is no more important question you will ever answer.