Sons of God

Sinclair Ferguson - “The notion that we are children of God, His own sons and daughters … is the mainspring of Christian living… Our sonship to God is the apex of creation and the goal of redemption.”

This is the climax of everything that Paul was bringing us to. We are at the top of the mountain. Mt. Jesus.

Do we want to understand an important, maybe to some even the most important, piece of what it is to be a Christian?

Do we want to understand why being a Christian is a privilege?

Do we want to understand what is it to have the position as children of God?

We need to understand this thing called adoption.

Galatians 3:

Galatians 3:26–29 NLT

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

I. We are Sons of God

- Through faith we ALREADY are children of God.

A. We saw the wonderful promises that the Lord had given to Abraham and his people. We saw that the Law showed us our sin. It does not bring life, but death. The promises given to Abraham and his seed, which is Christ, is what was going to bring life. So how do we receive this inheritance? Adoption.

B. This is the reason we are called sons of God. So to continue to make it clear to the Galatians, we ARE sons of God, it is not something that we are aiming at. It is not a future attainment. It is not a progression. Was there something more that needed to happen to be a Christian?

C. Again, it is not universally given in the sense that we are all God’s creatures. All humans are made in the image of God. But this is seen as a deep kind of relationship. What comes with this is that we have Faith in Christ. It is through faith that God will adopt us. Through faith we are not just image bearers of God, but we are now legal heirs of God.

D. Quick aside on some gender things here. Ladies, you should not be concerned about the use of the word “sons” here when identifying all christians male and female. The scriptures here are not trying to be chauvinistic. Some of the translations are kinda trying to neutralize the gender verbiage of the scriptures by saying children. But when we do this, when we try to over-contextualize biblical language … we might miss the real beauty of what the word is communicating. Uios is commonly translated “son.” We should not let this be an issue. When Paul is using it, it carries something so amazing...

E. In most of the cultures at the time, daughters could not inherit property. Uios “son” carries the understanding of “legal heir” which for many cultures including Galatia was a title illegal for women to have. But what we are seeing here is that ALL of us (men and women Jew and Gentile) are all called legal heirs of God. Paul is making a real point here by calling women sons of God. We are all legal heirs of God. Think of Jacob adopting Joseph’s sons so that they could get an inheritance.

F. Yeah but Shane I still don’t like being call a son of God, yeah well I don’t like being called the bride of Christ either.

G. We are all adopted into the family of God. Now its kinda funny when I talk with people about their understanding of adoption. Sometimes there is difficulty catching the essence of it. Voddie Bauchman tells of his children… so which ones are your kids. All of them. No which ones are your natural kids there all natural. No which ones are your real kids, oh so some of them aren’t real?

I have personal experience with it because I was adopted. But let me share somethings with you.

I belong to my dad legally from the day I was born. Don’t believe me I can show it to you on my birth certificate.

If my parents were to get divorced my dad could get custody. And or pay child support. I will always belong to my dad. I am and always will be his heir. I am his and have always been his even when he was a CB with the Navy in Taiwan at least in the eyes of the law. I am the oldest son and even though I am adopted, I will get the Sowers ring from my dad.

He is my dad and will always be my dad and I do not look at him in any other way and neither does he. Nothing changes. Some people have a hard time understanding all of this. Even when I reconnected with my biological father it did not change who my dad was. When people refer to my real Dad… all I think about is my real Dad. My dad who adopted me. I love him as much as any child could love their father and he loves me as much as any father could love his son. I am a Sowers. How could this be?

Some have asked parents who adopted children from other countries if they care about their heritage or where they are from. Yes is does play a part but, there heritage is here in America now. They are our Children and our heritage is their heritage. Period. One of my best friends adopted a little girl from China. She is from China, but she is Hawaiian now. She is their daughter.

Some say that they do not know if they can love an adopted child as much as a biological child. If you ask the parents they all say that they feel no different for adopted and natural kids. My friend has an adopted and a biological daughter and he loves them both more than anything in the world. My dad would say the same. People can an do love adopted children as much as biological children.

H. But for many, the understanding of adoption is foreign and there are alot of questions and discomfort in ignorance. This is why preaching on this topic is so needed, especially for those who do not have first hand experience with it. David Platt, who adopted two children, talks about how ignorance here affects our understanding on how we are adopted by our heavenly Father.

I. “These phrases, myths, and misconceptions about adoption are not just annoyances to parents who have been through the adoption process. They’re symptoms of something deeper. They show how little we understand what it means to be a part of God’s family. Even our infatuation with the ‘biological’ and ‘adopted’ labels and the distinction between the two shows our tendency to qualify children into categories based around flesh and blood. As long as that’s the case we will struggle with the gospel that tells the story of a spiritual, transracial adoption that changes the lives of each of us for all eternity. We are adopted into the family of God, and the implications of this are huge for understanding and living out Christianity.”

J. How huge? Wayne Grudem writes, “In regeneration God gives us new spiritual life within. In justification God gives us right legal standing before him. But in adoption God makes us members of his family. Therefore, the biblical teaching on adoption focuses much more on the personal relationships that salvation gives us with God and with his people.”

In regeneration God gives us new spiritual life within. In justification God gives us right legal standing before him. But in adoption God makes us members of his family. Therefore, the biblical teaching on adoption focuses much more on the personal relationships that salvation gives us with God and with his people.

Grudem, W. A. (2004). Systematic theology: an introduction to biblical doctrine (p. 736). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; Zondervan Pub. House.

K. J.I. Packer - “Adoption is the highest privilege that the gospel offers: higher than even justification.” In a way what packer is getting at… The doctrine of justification makes us right before God the judge, but in adoption we are loved by God the Father. Packer continues, “To be right with God the Judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater.

II. Clothed with Christ v.27

- What does it mean to be clothed with Christ?

A. As you can see, Paul likes to use the metaphor of clothing. Paul likens Christ like a garment. So lets go with it here.

B. Our clothes tell us who we are. Our clothes tells people about us. Gender, social class, nation, special interests. A form of expression of who we are. We find our identity in Christ. Who we are is union with Christ.

C. Our clothes are close to us. We are sheltered by them. They go with us. They protect us from our shame. It is a moment by moment dependance on Christ. A constant awareness of Christ…especially when we look in the mirror.

D. Our clothes also reflect how we live. What we stand for. We by clothing ourselves with Christ causes us to be imitators. We walk before Him. We put on his truth, his gospel, his virtues and his commands. In a way we are to dress up like Jesus.

E. Clothing ourselves with Christ is a metaphor in this case of a whole new look of a whole new life. We are now children of Go, we are adopted into the family of God, now let us dress like it. All that we now think say and do are to be adorned with Christ. This is more than than just simple obedience. This is being in love with our Savior. We do not obey because we fear punishment, but we obey because we love our Lord.

III. Unity in Christ

- There is no such thing as division within the body of Christ.

A. There is to be unity between Christians. There are no more barriers. There are no more walls of seperation. There is to be no division between races, social strata, or even gender.

B. This does no mean that we do not have diversity or differences within the church… we have to have that. Unity and diversity. But what we have here is not a call away from diversity, but a call away from division. Paul is not telling Gentiles that they have to become Jews if they want to be Christians. He is actually trying to get away from that in this letter. He is not saying that we should no longer have a distinction between a man and a woman. Unity with diversity is the goal. What are things that cause division in the church?

C. What this means is that we are all one family. We are all family members and co-heirs with Christ. We are all one. Another way to get this point across. Tim Keller - “It means I am a Christian before I am anything else.” All that seperates people in this world comes down in Christ. No more. And especially Jew and Gentile.

D. The culture barrier must come down. Neither Jew nor Greek. People of one culture do not need to become like another culture to be in Christ. Cultural Anthropology in missions. No two groups needed to see this more than Jew and Gentile… what a mess. But what a testimony of the power of the Gospel.

E. The class barrier must come down. Neither slave nor free. Christians cannot bring division regarding economic class. The poor or modestly paid must not feel inferior to the rich visa versa. The wealthy must not be resented. We were all adopted into one family. We are all one in Christ.

F. The gender barrier must come down. Neither male nor female. This was a strong barrier in Paul’s day and it is confusingly building barriers in our day today. In Paul’s day women were see as inferior to men. And even today, we seem to struggle with it. But it is becoming a mess. In any case, what is being communicated by Paul here in Galatians was revolutionary. Women are equal heirs with men in Christ.

G. One thing important for us to see here is that the aim of this is not social change. He is showing us how the gospel brings down these barriers, not that the gospel is the bringing down of these barriers. It is the preaching of the gospel that will change the world. Look at the arguments we see today regarding public policy… nobody is changing anybodies mind today. Every-bodies heels are dug in and passions are redlining. Only the Holy Spirit is gonna change these hearts.

H. How does the gospel do this? The gospel creates unity. All of the privileges we get in the gospel surpass any kind of earthly merit or inherited advantages. How can we look down upon anybody who is clothed in Christ? How can we be jealous of anyone when you and I are sons of God?

I. The bad news of the gospel creates unity. All of the blessings and benefits that we receive come unearned and this is important. Our pride in race, heritage, status, or even gender is removed. None of that played a part in our salvation and adoption in Christ. None of it. We are not saved and adopted into the family of God because we are Jews. We are not redeemed from sin because we are rich and free. And we are not heirs of God because we are men. All of us have sinned and we all equally deserve to be punished. This keeps us all from thinking that we are any better than anyone else. There is no reason to exclude others. We are all sinner who were adopted by grace.

IV. All Abraham’s Seed

- Union with Christ is what makes us heirs of the promise. Abraham’s offspring, or better yet, Israel.

A. Incorporation into Christ qualifies us to be Abraham’s offspring. And as a result the promise God made to Abraham and to his seed is now good for all who come to Christ through faith. Whether we are a Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, white-collar or blue-collar, Democrat or Republican doesn’t matter. What matters is whether we are Christ’s.

B. Why we need to make sure we understand that you do not receive special benefits because of your race. Especially when we are talking about Jews. The promise that God made to Abraham was to be given to those who would be found in Christ, who was the true seed or offspring of Abraham. No Jew nor Greek in Christ. Christians… We are the offspring of Abraham and have always been the offspring of Abraham.

But incorporation into Christ qualifies us to be Abraham’s offspring. And as a result the promise God made to Abraham and to his seed is now good for all who come to Christ through faith. Indeed, everything God promised to Abraham’s offspring is offered to us if we come to Christ. Whether we are a Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, white-collar or blue-collar, Democrat or Republican doesn’t matter. What matters is whether we are Christ’s.

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 130). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.