Rooted in Christ

Galatians 3:15–4:7

Prayer:

Opening — The Good Seed

Matthew 13:24–30 “24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ 28 “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ 29 “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ””

Jesus tells of a farmer who plants good seed in his field.

In His explanation:

The farmer is the Son of Man.

The field is the world. like a man who sewed good seat in his field while everyone was his enemy came and among the week and went away when the wheat sprouted informed the weeds also appeared the came to him and didn’t you so good seed in your the the weeds come from an enemy did this year replied the do you want us to go out and pull them up? No, he answered because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them let both grow together until the harvest at that time I will tell the first collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn parable tells him

The good seed are the people of the Kingdom.

The harvest is the end of the age.

Jesus intentionally plants His people throughout His world.

This builds on the framework from the Parable of the Sower:

The Word is sown, and when it falls on good soil, it takes root and then produces a transformed people. It’s those seeds, those followers of Christ that then become the seed Christ scatters into His field here in the parable of the Wheat and the Weeds…

I bring this to light because it is this exactly language that the Apostle Paul is going to draw on in our Scripture for today’s message I titled “Rooted in Christ”

So Turn with me to Galatians 3 this morning and we are going to start by reading 15-22.

You may have heard that phrase before. Rooted in Christ. And that is because it is the start of who God has called our church to be. Rooted in Christ, Growing in Grace, Serving our Community.

So hopefully you have had time to get to Galatians by now… where Paul now takes us back to the beginning:

1. The Promised Seed

Galatians 3:15–22 “15 Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. 17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise. 19 Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. 20 A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one. 21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.”

The Promise Came First

God made His promise to Abraham.

The Law came 430 years later.

The Law could not cancel or replace what God had already promised.

Salvation has always rested on God's promise and faithfulness, not human performance.

The Seed Is Christ

Galatians 3:16 “16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.”

Paul identifies the promised Seed as Christ.

God's covenant promise ultimately finds its fulfillment in Jesus.

Everything God promised Abraham moves toward Christ.

Everything begins with the Seed.

Why, Then, the Law?

Galatians 3:19–22 “19 Why, then, was the law given at all? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was given through angels and entrusted to a mediator. 20 A mediator, however, implies more than one party; but God is one. 21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.”

The Law reveals transgression.

It exposes sin.

It shows humanity its captivity.

It cannot produce righteousness or give life.

Galatians 3:21 “21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.”

If a law could have given life, righteousness could have come through the law.

But life cannot be produced through rule-keeping.

The Law can reveal that the ground is barren, but it cannot make barren soil live. The law is powerless to break the ground of hardened hearts.

If Christ is the promised Seed, how do we share in the life He brings?

Paul's answer is not by keeping the Law.

It is through faith in Christ.

2. Planted in Christ

Galatians 3:23–29 “23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Through Faith

Galatians 3:26 “26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,”

“You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.”

Our relationship with God is rooted in Christ rather than our performance.

Faith joins us to the One in whom the promise is fulfilled.

Being Rooted in Christ means our life comes from Him.

Our roots are not ultimately in:

family heritage

religious tradition

morality

accomplishments

social standing

personal identity

Our deepest identity is Christ.

Baptized Into Christ

Galatians 3:27

Those baptized into Christ have “put on Christ.”

Baptism becomes an important visible picture of our union with Him.

Cross Reference: Romans 6:3–5 “3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.”

Baptized into His death.

Buried with Him.

Raised to walk in new life.

United with Him in His death and resurrection.

The imagery fits naturally:

Buried. Planted. Raised into new life.

Baptism Emphasis

Baptism does not create salvation.

We become children of God through faith—v. 26.

Baptism publicly declares our identification with Christ.

Encourage those who have believed but have never followed Christ in baptism to consider the upcoming baptism service.

Challenge: If your life is rooted in Christ, have you publicly identified yourself with Him?

One in Christ

Galatians 3:28–29 “28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Jew or Gentile

slave or free

male and female

all one in Christ

Paul is not erasing distinction.

He is removing distinctions as grounds for superiority, access, or standing before God.

Christ becomes the common root of an incredibly diverse people.

Cross Reference: Revelation 7:9–10 “9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.””

John sees:

every nation

every tribe

every people

every language

All standing together before the Lamb.

Unity does not require uniformity.

The gospel creates one people without erasing the diversity of the people God redeems. Galatians shows us people being united in Christ. Revelation shows us what the mature harvest will look like.

Returning to the Good Seed

Matthew 13:38 “38 The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one,”

Jesus says the good seed are the people of the Kingdom.

Christ is the promised Seed.

His Word takes root in us.

Through faith we are united with Him.

Then Christ plants His transformed people throughout His field.

This matches the theology previously taught: Jesus scatters sons and daughters of the Kingdom throughout the world so they can bear fruit where He has planted them.

We are rooted in Christ before we are planted in the world.

3. Rooted as Sons and Daughters

Galatians 4:1–7 “1 What I am saying is that as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate. 2 The heir is subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by his father. 3 So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery under the elemental spiritual forces of the world. 4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. 6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”

Paul now shifts the picture from the field to the family.

From Slavery…

An heir still under guardians lives much like a servant.

Paul describes humanity as being enslaved before Christ.

The Law could reveal our condition but could not free us from it.

“When the Right Time Came…”

Galatians 4:4–5 “4 But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.”

God sent His Son.

Born of a woman.

Born under the Law.

To redeem those under the Law.

Again, Christ is at the center.

The promised Seed has come.

Why Did He Come?

So that we might receive adoption.

The goal is not merely:

forgiveness

acquittal

escape from judgment

God brings us into His family.

The Spirit of Adoption

Galatians 4:6 “6 Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.””

Because we are His children, God sends the Spirit of His Son into our hearts:

“Abba, Father.”

Notice the movement:

The Father sends the Son.

The Son redeems us.

The Father sends the Spirit.

The Spirit assures us that we belong.

Our roots now run deeper…establishing a firm identity in Christ

We belong to God.

No Longer Slaves

Galatians 4:7 “7 So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.”

No longer a slave.

Now a child.

And because a child, an heir.

This is the deepest meaning of being Rooted in Christ.

Our identity is not rooted in what we do for God.

It is rooted in what God has done for us in Christ.

We do not work for the Father in order to become His children. We belong to the Father because Christ has made us His children.

Conclusion — Rooted in Christ

Return to the field.

Jesus says His people are the good seed He plants throughout His world.

But good seed must first have life.

And our life comes from Christ.

The Movement

The Promised Seed Christ is the fulfillment of God's promise.

Planted in Christ Through faith we are united with Him, publicly identified with Him in baptism, and made one with His diverse people.

Rooted as Sons and Daughters Through Christ we are redeemed, adopted, given the Spirit, and made heirs.

Then return briefly to Jesus' words about the field.

Christ takes people who are rooted in Him and plants them throughout His world.

Matthew 13 the church gathers for worship and formation, then is scattered back into the world to bear witness through word and deed.

Reference

Luke 10:2 “2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Keep brief…

We are not sent into the harvest in order to earn our place in God's family.

We are sent because we already belong to Him.

And wherever He has planted us, we live and bear fruit from the same source:

Jesus Christ.

What are you rooted in?

Because only when we are truly Rooted in Christ can we become the people He intends to plant in His world.