The Christmas Heirloom: A Gift for Eternity
Notes
Transcript
Preliminary:
Preliminary:
Introduction:
Introduction:
Read Gal 4:4-7
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
I see this passage as The Christmas Heirloom.
What is an heirloom? Oxford defines it as “A valuable object that has belonged to a family for several generations”
Another ties an heirloom to inheritance - “property that changes ownership to a descendant, upon the death of a parent.”
Heirlooms are a link to the past and a walk down memory lane.
Sometimes our heirlooms expose our misplaced values...
John Underhill was painting the home of an 89-year-old lady in Spokane. She had a large family Bible prominently displayed on the coffee table and remarked that it was 116 years old and a priceless heirloom. I commented on how remarkable that was, and added, “It doesn’t matter how old the Bible might be, what’s on the inside is what matters.”
She immediately replied, “Oh, I know. That sure is the truth. Why, we have family records and births and marriages and deaths that go so far back, all recorded in that Bible; we could never replace them.” - John Underhill
John Underhill, Spokane, WA, 1984.
Well Christmas is often a time when some families who treasure family heirlooms pass them on to the next in line.
I have heard of boys getting hatchets, or compasses, or guns that had been granddads or great granddads.
Sometimes ladies will get a special set of dishes, or a wedding dress, or some other prized trinket or treasure.
While there is nothing wrong with passing on these treasured heirlooms - the Bible talks about one that is given to us - to everyone.
Lets look at all this heirloom entails:
Read Gal. 4:4-7
4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
An heirloom isn’t something you pick up brand new at the big box store or The Dollar Tree
- an heirloom has to set around awhile - it has to have some years on it. It may not be considered valuable by antique collectors but it has lived through some time.
It is fascinating to set in a Cracker Barrel and look at all the interesting items on the wall. I have been in Cracker Barrel’s from the West Coast to Ohio and have never seen the exact same display of antiques on the wall.
The Cracker Barrel site states,
“There are approximately 90,000 pieces of authentic Americana in the Cracker Barrel Décor Warehouse and another 700,000 in stores. All items are originals – there are no reproductions.”
Just as a side note of trivia: There are five common items found in every Cracker Barrel location. Can you guess what they are?
According to their site: Every Cracker Barrel has an ox yoke and a horseshoe hanging over the front door, a traffic light over the restrooms, and a barrel with a checker board in front of the fireplace.
Our text talks about the giving of The Christmas Heirloom: but as A Gift for Eternity
Now we could sum up and end this sermon right here with saying that the gift is Jesus - I mean look at Galatians 4:4 “...God sent forth his Son, ...”
That is a tremendous answer - But it’s kinda like missing the point.
One Sunday morning, a pastor of a small church was invited into the children’s Sunday school class to share a lesson. When all of the children were seated and quiet, for sake of an illustration, the pastor began describing a squirrel. He started out by saying, “I am going to describe something and I want you to raise your hand when you know what it is.” The children nodded eagerly.
The pastor continued, “This thing lives in trees (pause)… and it eats nuts (pause)… and it has a long bushy tail (pause).” No hands went up. The pastor was shocked. He continued but to no avail; there were no hands.
Finally, one little boy tentatively raised his hand. The pastor breathed a sigh of relief and called on him. The boy said, “Well, it sounds an awful lot like a squirrel to me… but I know the answer must be Jesus!”
There is so much more.
I want us to notice first this Christmas Heirloom includes:
1. The Gift of God’s Timing (Gal 4:4a)
1. The Gift of God’s Timing (Gal 4:4a)
In a debate with the atheist (and now deceased) Christopher Hitchens, William Lane Craig noted how Christ's arrival on earth occurred at the perfect time. Craig said:
Human beings have existed for thousands of years on this planet before Christ's coming. But what's really crucial here is not the time involved; rather, it's the population of the world. The Population Reference Bureau estimates that the number of people who have ever lived on this planet is about 105 billion people. Only two percent of them were born prior to the advent of Christ. Erik Kreps of the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research says, "God's timing couldn't have been more perfect. Christ showed up just before the exponential explosion in the world's population."
The Bible says in the fullness of time God sent forth his Son, and when Christ came, the nation of Israel had been prepared. The Roman peace dominated the Mediterranean world; it was an age of literacy and learning. The stage was set for the advent of God's Son into the world. And I think in God's providential plan for human history, we see the wisdom of God in orchestrating the development of human life and then in bringing Christ into the world in the fullness of time.
William Lane Craig, "Does God Exist," Reasonable Faith (4-9-09); source: Erik Kreps quoted in Dinesh D'Souza, What's So Great About Christianity? (Tyndale, 2007), p. 64.
In the book, God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas by Dietrich Bonhoeffer - which to my understanding is actually a compilation as the most of his writings in the devotional are letters from his prison cell. But the book includes a beautiful piece by Lucy Shaw about time and waiting - what it takes to make an heirloom and heirloom - and what it took for the fulness of time to come:
God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas Day Six: The Unfathomably Wise Counselor
In winter it seems that the season of Spring will never come, and in both Advent and Lent it’s the waiting that’s hard, the in-between of divine promise and its fulfillment.… Most of us find ourselves dangling in this hiatus, which in the interval may seem a waste of time.… But “the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.” With such motivation, we can wait as we sense that God is indeed with us, and at work within us, as he was with Mary as the Child within her grew.6
Poet Luci Shaw, in God with Us
One poet has put it this way:
God has perfect timing,
never early, never late
It takes a little patience and faith
But it is worth the wait.
When the time was right - God sent Jesus…
I want us to notice second this Christmas Heirloom includes:
2. Christ was born of a Woman (Gal. 4:4b)
2. Christ was born of a Woman (Gal. 4:4b)
The verb “born” (genomenon) in this passage is the same one used in Philippians 2:7: “born to be like other men.” It is fitting that one equal with God should be born and become flesh in a distinctive way—the holy God through lowly birth. This is consistent with the theme of reversal common in the nativity images: no room at the inn, born of poor parents in a remote village, and the flight to Egypt.1
1 Thomas C. Oden, The Word of Life: Systematic Theology, Vol. II (San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 1992), 144.
Have you ever wondered why Jesus was born a male? And why it was a virgin birth? Why was Jesus not born of “man and woman?”
I suppose it is only human to think theoretically and hypothesize alternative ways in which God could have entered our humanity other than the virgin birth -
But it doesn’t take long for the objections to such conjecture to far outweigh and tear them to shreds
The formally conceivable ways of being born are reduced to only two: normally, of one male and one female parent; or virginally, of a female parent alone. There is no third for the simple reason that male sexuality cannot give birth alone. {and aren’t we glad of that men}
Thomas Oden argues, “if both sexes are to be honored in the incarnation, and if the one giving birth must be female, then the one sex remaining—the one to be born—would have to be male. If one hypothesizes that both the mother of God-incarnate and God-incarnate might have been female, this would have been less representative of humanity than a man born of woman”
Augustine the great theologian and Church Father wrestled with the question in a meaningful way long before modern feminism. In his Eighty-Three Questions he writes,
“Mankind’s deliverance had to be evidenced among both sexes,” hence if the incarnate one is male, “it reasonably followed that the deliverance of the female sex be seen by that man’s birth from a woman”
While much more could be said on this point - we won’t take the time to say it at this time.
But it should be noted that this plan of God is so perfect that in God sending our redemption through the womb of a virgin Peter could write:
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
That is a gift of God’s perfect timing, and God’s perfect planing
Adam Clark in his sermon on this passage said,
Discourses on Various Subjects relative to the Being and Attributes of God, and His Works in Creation, Providence, and Grace, Volumes I–III Sermon III: The Plan of Human Redemption
I. God is too wise to err.
II. He is too holy to do wrong.
III. He is too good to be unkind.
As we continue to unpack our Christmas Heirloom I want us to notice
That when we receive Jesus, we receive additional gifts from God - Oh I know I could go of on a rabbit trail of the Gifts of the Spirit - but I want to talk about the gifts listed in this passage
3. The Gift of Receiving Adoption
3. The Gift of Receiving Adoption
I think the wording here is very intentional
We like the word “accept” but I see it as very Pelegianistic (is that a term - I’m not sure) but it implies that we consent to something
Like we do God a favor by accepting his gift - the term “accept” in regards to salvation is never found in the Bible
The term “receive” on the other hand is -
John 1:12 “12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”
1 Corinthians 15:1 “1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;”
But our Gift from God included our redemption that included our adoption -
Now not just an adoption - but adoption of sons
Adoption is an act whereby one man takes the son of another man to be his own son, giving him the same legal position, the same advantages, and the same privileges as a son by birth.1
1 Adrian Rogers, “Spiritual Adoption,” in Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust, 2017), Ga 4:4–7.
the Bible says that God redeemed us that we might receive the adoption of sons.
That means, that we have the position, we have the advantages, we have the privileges of the Son of God himself when we are adopted into God’s family.
We should notice that we get into God’s family by birth and by adoption.
Isn’t that strange? It is by birth that we receive the nature of God, and it is by adoption that we receive our legal position in the family of God.
By the way, you need both.
Now what does spiritual adoption bring to you?
Three things:
first of all, a Father;
first of all, a Father;
Galatians 4:6 “6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.”
Dr. Brown told us in our study of Romans & Galatians:
“The word Abba is not so much associated with infancy as it is with intimacy.”
It is an Aramaic word found in three places in the New Testament and refers to God - it means “father”
It is the name a child would use as distinct from a servant or a slave
It is used in such a way that it both emphasizes our nearness to God and inculcates respect
In saying Abba Father it shows we have the Father’s love
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Introduction)
I heard one time about a man who was a bookkeeper and took great pride in keeping very legible and very exact books. His ledger was so clean and so neat and every entry was made just right. He had his office at home.
One day, his little son came bursting into his office, ran across the room and gave a leap and jumped up into his daddy’s lap. You know what happened? That pen went skewing across the page and made a big mark there, a blob of ink on the page, and ruined the whole page that he worked over laboriously. The dad looked at him and said, “Now, son, look what you’ve done. Hasn’t Daddy told you not to bother him while he’s working? You’ve ruined the whole page. Now get out of here and close that door behind you and leave me alone.”
The little boy’s eyes ran with tears and his chin started to quiver and he said, “I’m sorry, Dad. I just wanted to sit on your lap and tell you that I love you and rub your beard.” Well, you know what that did to that daddy. He put that pen down and closed that ledger and said, “Come here, son.” He picked him up and sat him on his lap and they talked about the things that a father and son ought to talk about and had that fellowship together. He loved him for a while before he sent him out and got back to his work.
Aren’t you glad that God the Father—oh, the great King of the universe—aren’t you glad that God the Father never gets so busy hanging out stars and taking up moons and running this universe that He doesn’t have time, to take a little time with His children?
Friend, listen: God loves you so much, and you’re missing a blessing and God is being cheated if you don’t spend some time saying “Abba Father.” We have a father and we have the father’s love.
Not only do we have the Father’s love
but we have the Father’s care.
The Bible says we’re to cast all of our care upon Him “for He careth for you.” In Matthew 6:32, “Your heavenly Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.”
Are you worried that perhaps you’re not going to have a future because you might lose your job?
Are you worried about some particular financial matter?
Are you worried about some matter of health?
Are you worried about how you’re going to make it through December?
Friend, listen: Your Father knows what you have need of.
Said the robin to the sparrow, “I would surely like to know
why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so.”
Said the sparrow to the robin, “I think it must be
that they have no heavenly Father such as watches you and me.”
Oh, friend, listen: If not a sparrow falls [but what He] knows about it, if God clothes the grass of the field, if God feeds the fowls of the air, God your Father is going to take care of you. King David said, “Once I was young and now I’m old, and yet I’ve not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread.”
When you are adopted into the family of God, you have the Father’s love and you have the Father’s care,
We have a Father - the songwriter says,
We have a Heavenly Father above
With eyes full of mercy and a heart full of love
He really cares when your head is bowed low
Consider the lilies and then you will know
First a Father....
secondly, a family;
secondly, a family;
We have the family likeness to wear
We are to be like Christ. (Maybe tell about Peggy visiting Tiffany and how you sensed she loved and knew Jesus)
We have the family love to share
Jesus said we would be known by our love
We have the family load to bear
As members of a household - you often have to share chores - fun stuff right
But in the family we too all have jobs to do - and most of the time that is simply exercising your gifts, sharing your love, bearing one another’s burdens and fulfilling the law of Christ.
and thirdly, a future
and thirdly, a future
Look at Gal 4:6-7 Paul goes through this logical argument… can you follow his train of thought?
6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
If we are adopted, that means we are sons, if we are sons of God that means we are an heir of God through Christ.
Paul says in Rom 8:17
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
These are verses that shake the very gates of hell and echoe with the thunder of heaven's promise.
not just children of God but heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
Can you fathom it?
To be written into the will of the King of kings?
To share in the inheritance of the Son of God Himself?
Oh, how this truth should stir our souls!
We have a future
What does it mean to be a joint-heir?
It means that everything Christ has, He shares with you!
Lets think about this for a moment:
Christ has authority over all creation
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
As joint-heirs, we too will reign with Him
2 Timothy 2:12 “ If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:”
Christ has defeated death and hell
Revelation 1:18 “ I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”
As joint-heirs, we share in that victory, knowing death has no sting for us
1 Corinthians 15:55 “55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father
Ephesians 1:20 “20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,”
As joint-heirs, we are seated with Him in heavenly places
Ephesians 2:6 “6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”
Brothers and sisters, the treasures of heaven are not reserved for angels or distant saints but for YOU who are in Christ.
What will this inheritance look like? Scripture gives us glimpses:
A New Body – We shall be like Him, transformed into His glorious likeness
Philippians 3:21 “21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.”
No more sickness, no more pain, no more death!
A New Heaven and Earth – The curse of sin will be no more, and we will dwell in a world of perfect peace and righteousness
Revelation 21:1–4 “1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
An Unending Fellowship – We will see our Savior face to face, dwelling with Him forever
1 John 3:2 “2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
Our Christmas heirloom: A gift for all eternity
I trust you have recieved, and opened your gift -
Picture it:
a new body, untouched by sickness. A new heaven and earth, untouched by sin.
An eternal family gathered at the feet of Jesus, singing, 'Worthy is the Lamb!'
Your heart can swell with gratitude, knowing that you are a child of the King.
This is your heirloom. Cherish it, proclaim it, and live in the hope of the glory that awaits."
"What else can we say, but 'Hallelujah, what a Savior!'
No wonder Paul wrote in 2 Cor 9:15
15 Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.
This Christmas Heirloom—this gift of God's perfect timing, Christ's incarnation, and our adoption—is not something we deserved but something freely given.
We have a right to rejoice in our inheritance,
we rest in our Father's love, and we reach out to a world that needs this hope.
As we close, let’s bow our hearts and thank the Giver of every good and perfect gift.
Come, let us adore Him—the Christ who came, the Christ who reigns, and the Christ who is coming again."
