We’re Adopted

The Apostle’s Creed

When I was younger I was a member of a church where every week we recited the Apostle’s Creed. It had gotten to the point where I had it memorized - so a few years later when I had a church history exam that asked about it i wrote it in the margin… hoping my professor would be impressed… I’m not sure that he was…

I believe in the holy catholic church DOES NOT refer to Roman Catholicism - this creed predates the Roman Catholic Church by about 700 years.

Apostles’ Creed

I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth

And in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord

Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary

Suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried; He descended into hell

The third day he rose again from the dead

He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty

From thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead

I believe in the Holy Spirit

I believe a holy catholic church; the communion of saints

The forgiveness of sins

The resurrection of the body

And the life everlasting. Amen.

But I wanted to read this creed this morning because it is the fundamentals of the Christian faith. If there is a bare minimum for what it means to be a Christian church it is to affirm this creed.

And yet from our text today we see that Paul right in the middle of this text lays out the essentials of Christology - or the doctrines of who Jesus is, and how it extends to our salvation.

Every two years, Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway partner together to produce the State of Theology survey. In this survey they ask participants of various religions if they agree or disagree with various theological statements and social issues.

From the results of the 2022, 43% of self-professed evangelicals agree with the phrase “Jesus was a great teacher but he was not God.” 43% of those surveyed professing to be evangelicals apparently aren’t even Christian- they believe damnable heresy.

I understand that at times it can seem like my sermons are really heavy in theological assertions - and may not seem practical at times - but this is why. The Scriptures tells me that I will give an account for those who I shepherd and I must make sure that at every opportunity I have I point you to sound doctrine. This text that we will look at today is filled with strong doctrinal assertions about God’s sovereignty, Jesus’ divinity and humanity, our adoption as sons of God, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and our redemption.

Paul in verses 1-3 returns to the language that he used back in 3:24-25. It is this illustration of an heir under the care of the guardian. In 24-25, Paul speaks of the heir (us) being under the care of this guardian, until Christ came and faith in Christ releasing us from that guardian. Paul then returns to the heir who is still under the care of the guardian. The heir being the one who will one day be

And in this he isn’t just merely giving instruction concerning the first century Roman family but rather he is teaching the Galatians, and us about humanity and their sinful state before God.

As Paul argues that the child under the guardian is as a slave so are we slaves to sin and the “elementary principles of the world.”

What does Paul mean by elementary principles of the world? This would be the sort of things that Paul describes in Romans 2. Where the law of God is made plain to even those who were not given the law.

Then in verses 4 and 5, Paul writes one of the most Christologically packed sentences in the Bible. And we’re going to walk through each phrase of this sentence.

This is incredibly important as to truly know Jesus - you must know right things about Jesus.

An example I’ve used many times is that if I ask you to describe my wife Vanessa and you tell me that she’s a 6 ft tall blonde professional volleyball player - it will be clear that you do not know my wife.

The same goes for Jesus - if you describe the wrong things about him - it is very clear that you do not know him.

In this first clause, Paul speaks of Jesus’ eternality, God’s sovereignty, and God’s plan of redemption before the foundations of the world.

But when the fullness of time had come…

The fullness of time referring to the perfect time that God had ordained before the foundation of the world.

Since God has chosen his saints before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:6), the method by which he has saved his saints must also be done before the foundation of the world. It was always God’s plan in creation that the son would be given at the perfect time for the salvation of sinners.

And it’s at that perfect time of God’s choosing that he sent his son. The fullness of time was not when the political climate happened to be perfect, or when the Pilate happened to be governor - but when God had perfectly worked all things together for our redemption. Nothing about the gospel, or the sacrifice of Jesus was happenstance - but it was all planned from the beginning of time. It wasn’t a reaction or a change of plans when Adam and Eve didn’t work out or when Israel didn’t keep the law but was planned before time itself. Similarly we read:

1 Peter 1:20 ESV

20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

Jesus has always existed, but was made manifest when he took on flesh in the First century and dwelt among us.

The next phrase in verse 4 is

God sent forth his son…

God sends his son… I’m going to draw our attention to God’s son, rather than the Father’s sending.

What does it mean that Jesus is the Son of God?

As Christians, we do not believe that God had a literal son with anyone. Rather we believe that Jesus has eternally existed. He has no beginning. He has no end.

What we do believe about Jesus being the Son of God is that he has as Son submitted himself to the will of the Father. The Son of God is the rightful heir to the throne - Jesus is King.

We’ve all heard of the Duck Test “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck… it’s probably a duck.” And the son of a duck is always going to be a duck… duck’s don’t lay eggs that hatch into alligators.

So as the son of duck is a duck, and the son of a man is a man - so Jesus as the son of God is “of the same substance of the father.” What the Father is, Jesus is. They are united in divinity, but still two distinct persons.

And that brings us to the next phrase that Paul uses here in verse 4…

Born of a woman…

This does not refer to Jesus’ origin or his beginning. Jesus did not come into existence when he was conceived by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb.

He was born - but he existed before then. There was a time when he did not have human flesh, but there was never a time when he was not. Before you were conceived you did not exist. You are not some eternal spirit being that one day God happened to give a body. (That’s taught in many other religions - it is not taught in Christianity.)

So in this text we come to the combination of Jesus being the eternal Son of God and born of a woman. Jesus is God. Jesus is a man. Jesus simultaneously has two natures - a divine nature, and a human nature. This is called the hypostatic union. Also expressed by the language that Jesus is truly God and truly man.

Born under the law

Jesus is born as a Jew, living in a life where he is expected and responsible to keep the law. And Jesus did what no one else who was born under the law did - he kept it. For Jesus to be a perfect sacrifice for us he had to be perfectly obedient to the law - and he was.

Redemption

But then in verse 5, Paul continues by stating the end for which these things happened. All of this is important background for Jesus as redeemer and for us as we are adopted.

Jesus had to be man so that he might be an acceptable substitute for us.

To quote Gregory of Nazianzus a 4th Century Theologian:

“What is not assumed is not healed.”

To explain that - what he is saying is if Jesus did not take on human flesh, that which is assumed - then Jesus could not redeem humanity. Jesus had to be born of a woman and born under the law so that he might save humanity from their sins. And Paul says just this in verse 5.

Galatians 4:5 ESV

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

And thus the goal of our redemption, that Paul focuses on in this text is our adoption as sons.

Adoption

Adoption is a word that we understand as it means the same thing today. In Christ, we are adopted and brought into the family of God.

Adoption is costly.

The average cost for adoption, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services is $20,000 to $45,000. And yet the cost for our adoption is significantly higher. We are not just being transferred from one family to another,

And while that is an outrageously high price- the price that Jesus paid that we might be adopted as sons of God is his own life.

A price that only he could pay. For us to become sons of God, THE sinless Son of God had to give his life.

The text here refers to the Spirit as the Spirit of his Son. This is referring to the Holy Spirit. Which further demonstrates the unity in the Trinity. All three persons of the eternal Godhead were active in the creation of the world, active in the resurrection of Christ Jesus, and they are active in the work of our salvation and our adoption. And for those who are adopted the gift of our adoption is the Spirit dwelling in your.

And the Spirit’s dwelling in the Sons of God enables them to call God their father.

Our Family Cry

And because we have been adopted we cry the same as Jesus. Jesus in Mark 14:36 addresses God as Abba Father.

Mark 14:36 ESV

36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

This is Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane moments before his arrest. And the reference to the cup is the Cup of God’s wrath as we looked at last summer in Psalm 75:8.

Jesus, the Son of God, is in anguish because he knows that the wrath of God is going to be poured out on him.

And yet while this is a very emotional text. Cry does not exclusively mean cry as in the sense of a baby crying. We also see that when Jesus entered into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday they shout or cry out - Hosanna. So our family cry is not merely one of sorrow, though it may bring comfort it sorrow - but it is also a shout of joy.

Aside from Jesus’ prayer, and Paul’s use of Abba Father here in Gal. 4:6 the phrase Abba Father is also used by Paul in Romans 8:15.

Romans 8:15 ESV

15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”

and the other is in this text here. So comparing Romans 8:15 we see that Paul says very similar things in Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6. He links us crying Abba Father with our adoption as Sons of God.

Abba means Father. However, contrary to what you might have heard: Abba does not mean daddy. It does mean father. It was a title used by both children and adults - not just children as some have mistakenly claimed. Jesus repetition is an emphasis of his sonship. And for us it’s an emphasis of our adoption, and our identity in Christ.

And though it’s been a popular concept that has spread through much of modern christianity - it’s actually inappropriate.

And here is why:

Who primarily uses the title daddy? Children. Small children at that. Only one of my children regularly calls me that. Jesus isn’t acting like a two year old in his request here. Jesus isn’t throwing a temper tantrum for God to remove the cup. Daddy removes reference and awe to emphasize relationship. And while there certainly is a relational aspect to the Christian faith - do not forget that God is a holy and righteous judge who will not pardon iniquity.

Jesus wasn’t calling God daddy in the garden, and it’s not the same cry for us either.

It is a term of intimacy and familiarity, not a term of immaturity or infancy. Though we are children of God, we are encouraged to grow in maturity. Though the faith of children is lauded by the Bible, the maturity, reasoning and attitudes are not.

While Paul begins this section with showing that the heir when he is child is indistinguishable from a slave. Paul mirroring that in verse 7, then ends this section with stating that this isn’t you. If you are in Christ you are a son - you are not a slave. And if you are a son - then you are an heir.

But also notice Paul’s statement “If a son”…

This would demonstrate that not all are sons.

The phrase “we are all God’s children” is a lie. By default you are not a child of God - you are a child of wrath. Your default state as a human is that you are dead in your trespasses and sins, and outside of Christ we are all deserving of the wrath that Jesus took upon himself.

And one of the beauties of God’s work of adoption is that it was planned from the beginning. We read in Eph 1:5

Ephesians 1:3–6 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

Before the foundations of the world God chose us in Christ that we might be adopted as sons.

If you are in Christ…

You’re not a slave anymore.

You’re not a slave to the law.

You’re not a slave to sin.

encouragement in times of “I haven’t done enough.”

Encouragement in times of “I shouldn’t have done that.”

And that’s been secured since before the foundations of the world.

APPLICATION:

In the moments when you feel that you are once again enslaved to your sin. When you find you cannot stop gossiping, when you

selfishness,

In moments of suffering.

In moments of joy.

In those moments, we are able to cry out Abba Father. God hears the prayers and cries of his children.

If you are in Christ then you are not a slave to sin anymore, you are not a slave to the law anymore. You are a servant of Christ, and you have been adopted into the family of God.

When your conscience, your old habits, or old “friends”, or satan himself comes to condemn you for old sins you remind all of them that you don’t belong to them, you don’t belong to sin - you belong to God.

When sin seems overwhelming or guilt comes knocking you remind yourself “I’m adopted.”

If that’s not you, if you have not placed your faith in Christ, then you are still dead in your sins. The wrath of God waits for you. At the end of life you will face judgment - or you can turn your back on sin and look to Jesus for the forgiveness of those sins.

Transition to Lord’s Supper