The Advantage of Sonship

Main Point: What is the one main point I want people to leave knowing?

Tension: What is the big question we can answer that will build tension and grab people attention

A Child and a Slave

Paul returns to the idea that when under the law we were no different than a slave

His analogy may be hard for many of us to understand, but if for a moment we pretend to be part of the wealthy class we can understand a little better

It’s not uncommon for the wealthy to place their assets into a trust, locking them up so that children cannot have or use them without a trustee’s approval

The child may have ownership of everything the parents own, but they do not have control

I’ve experienced this in my life, not that I was the beneficiary of a trust, but in my employment I have encountered beneficiaries of trusts

Just like the trust document limits the freedom of the child, the law limits the freedom of a spiritual child

The beneficiary of a trust in under the trustee, and unbelievers are under the law

Not only are they under the, but they are enslaved to the “elementary principles of the world”

In other words, the basic desires

humans are enslaved to our desires

From the most understandable, to survive or live, to the desire for fun and pleasure

The Significance of Christ

But Jesus came to set us free from the rule of the guardian

Much in the same way as a child reaching a pre-determined age being the freed from the guardianship of a trustee, Jesus came at “the fullness of time”

Many commentators believe Jesus’ coming happened when it did because of many changes to the world that occurred at that time:

The expansion of the Greek language

Cultural moves away from pagan beliefs and a looking for something more

Pax romana

roads of Rome

But not only was the time of Jesus’ incarnation special, the details of His life were special

Born of women

Born under the law

This is why he was able to redeem us

To buy us out of slavery

Because he was born under the law, and able to keep it, He was an accepted sacrifice

Because our sin, we could not be an accepted sacrifice

But there’s more, not only did He buy us out of slavery, but he granted us adoption as sons of God

And it is through this adoption we receive all the blessings of God

The Gift of the Spirit

When a child reaches the age where they are no longer under the control of the guardian, they receive the wealth that was kept away from them

When we come to Christ and receive adoption, we don’t receive wealth and riches, but the Holy Spirit

When we think about the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit’s work in us, we tend to think about miraculous actions

Most churches that speak about the works of the spirit focus on healing and tongues, but what Paul tells we receive is the spirit to cry “abba, Father”

Abba, is a Greek word for father that goes beyond simply someone that is your male parent

Abba, is a term of endearment

Often I have heard it referred to as Daddy.

Takeaway: How does the answer to our question change the way we live