AbbA Father

Eighteen years ago my friend Andy and his wife traveled to a South American country to complete their adoption of a little girl. At the time this country was gripped by corruption, violence, and political chaos. After Andy arrived, they (that is, anyone who could profit from Andy's plight) kept upping the price for the adoption. When he finally threatened to take the matter to the U.S. consulate, a mysterious figure confronted Andy, warning him of vague but dreadful consequences. It was like a spy thriller, except it was Andy who was caught in the middle of some sinister, dangerous plot.

But he refused to leave without his daughter. The odd thing was that Andy had never even met this girl. She was small and helpless. She hadn't won any awards or aced any tests. He didn't know that one day her smile would light up their living room, or that she'd love their cats and dogs, or that she'd play Mozart pieces on the family piano. For all practical purposes, she was just an orphan condemned to a life of grinding poverty in a far-flung developing country. But for some crazy reason, Andy stayed there, negotiating with corrupt officials, spending oodles of money, squandering time, and even risking his life to find and win this little girl.

Now, eighteen years later, Andy was telling me about an intimate high school graduation party for Maria, his adopted daughter. At one point during the meal, Maria unexpectedly stood up and gave a beautiful speech thanking everyone who had helped her find a better life on Long Island.

As Andy told me this story, he was trying to fight back the tears. I got the impression that he could have lived a hundred more years, or even a hundred lifetimes, and nothing would compare to hearing Maria's spontaneous thank-you. And it all started when Andy walked into that dangerous nightmare in an attempt to bring her home.

When he finished telling me this story, it struck me that Andy, my non-Christian friend, had discovered the heart of the gospel: God's loving, daring, persistent pursuit of people like you and me. Like Maria, there's nothing we can do to earn God's love, but he still loves us. And he doesn't want to leave us behind. Instead, in the presence of Jesus, God walked into the "dangerous nightmare" of human sin and pain in order to save us and bring us back home.

Now that we now a bit more about the doctrine of adoption, we will take some time illustration what this looks like. Paul uses the heir before the time as a picture to explain even more the beauty of sonship.

:1-7

Galatians 4:1–7 NLT

Think of it this way. If a father dies and leaves an inheritance for his young children, those children are not much better off than slaves until they grow up, even though they actually own everything their father had. They have to obey their guardians until they reach whatever age their father set. And that’s the way it was with us before Christ came. We were like children; we were slaves to the basic spiritual principles of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.

I. Guardians

- What was the protocol for children receiving their inheritance in Rome?

A. To begin. Paul uses the picture of the relationship between guardian and heir to illustrate life before and after Christ.

B. In Roman law. The heir would be under the tutelage of a guardian until the age of 14, then till he was the age of 25 he would be under the care of a curator. How we might be getting the picture of a tutor and an estate manager. There may not be much of a difference between the two terms that is why some tranlations will just say guardians but if there is…

if there is any distinction between the two terms he uses, it might be suggested that the ἐπίτροπος is in personal charge of the minor while the οἰκονόμος looks after his property. When the child turned 25 he became a free agent. He was completely on his own.

C. Martin Luther - “I want to give you another illustration from everyday life," he writes to the Galatians. "As long as an heir is under age he is treated very much like a servant. He is not permitted to order his own affairs. He is kept under constant surveillance. Such discipline is good for him, otherwise he would waste his inheritance in no time. This discipline, however, is not to last forever. It is to last only until 'the time appointed of the father.' ”

Bruce, F. F. (1982). The Epistle to the Galatians: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 192). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.

II. Slavery

- Heirs are still treated like slaves until the appointed time by the father.

Excerpt From: Martin Luther. “Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/commentary-on-the-epistle-to-the-galatians/id498662294?mt=11

A. The Child is no different from a slave. We were enslaved before we became Christians to stoy kay a… basic spiritual principles or elemental principles of this world. Again, before we became Christians we were enslaved to stoy kay a. Toys.

B. The word στοιχεῖα means primarily things placed side by side in a row; it is used of the letters of the alphabet, the ABCs, and then, because the learning of the ABCs is the first lesson in a literary education, it comes to mean ‘rudiments’, ‘first principles.’ - More generally, the elementary stages of any subject. Kinda of like the law.

Bruce, F. F. (1982). The Epistle to the Galatians: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 193). Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co.

C. There was nothing wrong with the law given at Sinai, but when the Jews and the proselytes to the Jewish religion began to look upon law-observance as the way whereby salvation could be achieved, and when, with this in mind, the Jewish religious leaders began to add their own multitudinous rules and regulations to those previously received, that law became their tyrant, to which they became enslaved.

There was nothing wrong with the law given at Sinai, but when the Jews and the proselytes to the Jewish religion began to look upon law-observance as the way whereby salvation could be achieved, and when, with this in mind, the Jewish religious leaders began to add their own multitudinous rules and regulations to those previously received, that law became their tyrant, to which they became enslaved.

There was nothing wrong with the law given at Sinai, but when the Jews and the proselytes to the Jewish religion began to look upon law-observance as the way whereby salvation could be achieved, and when, with this in mind, the Jewish religious leaders began to add their own multitudinous rules and regulations to those previously received, that law became their tyrant, to which they became enslaved. The same was true with respect to the prescriptions and ordinances by which the worshipers of pagan deities sought to achieve redemption. By all such means, whether Jewish or pagan, men were putting themselves in bondage.

D. The same was true with respect to the prescriptions and ordinances by which the worshipers of pagan deities sought to achieve redemption. By all such means, whether Jewish or pagan, men were putting themselves in bondage.

The same was true with respect to the prescriptions and ordinances by which the worshipers of pagan deities sought to achieve redemption. By all such means, whether Jewish or pagan, men were putting themselves in bondage.

Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of Galatians (Vol. 8, p. 157). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

Hendriksen, W., & Kistemaker, S. J. (1953–2001). Exposition of Galatians (Vol. 8, p. 157). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.

D. We were all born as spiritual slaves before Christ. Even if we did not know Moses or Jehovah, we were all supposed to live in accordance to some kind of standard. We were all all anxious and burdened… enslaved.

III. The Appointed Time

- This was the time, God sent his Son into the world.

A. v.4 Thank the Lord that He did not desire for us to live in the manner of enslavement to stoy-kay-a. He did what he did to bring us passed simple justification and into the realm of adoption. To become a part of the family of God and to know what it is to receive an inheritance. So here is the appointed time.

B. The First thing. God sent His Son. For God so loved the world that He _______ His one and only son.

C. Born of a Woman - Not to signify anything to do with the virgin birth. But to show the importance of Jesus becoming a actual human. The Humanity of Christ is super important. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

D. Subject to the Law - He lived in accordance to the law. Obeying the Law and Father perfectly to attain righteousness. A righteousness that was imputed to us.

E. To Redeem Us. Removing all of the penalty and debt of ours. Using the word exagorazo redeem. The word used when a persons frees a slave. A persons goes or is sent to redeem a slave.

F. To give us the full rights of sons. Apolambano. Used commonly for a wealthy man who remains childless, a wealthy man could take one of his servants and adopt him. He then ceases to be a slave and now becomes the heir and receives it all. Though by birth he was born a slave, he is now the legal heir… the son. It is a whole new life.

IV. Adopted as Sons

- The sounds of a baby’s cry mimic the voice of the mother.

A. Did you know a baby’s cry matches its mother’s language? A newborn child, just two or three days old, cries in a distinctive way, mimicking the sound of the child’s mother. Researchers recently studied sixty healthy newborn children from both French and German families. What they found was fascinating: each newborn baby has its own “cry melody,” a specific pattern of sounds that is unique to his or her cry. But more than that, they found that babies will match their cry to the sounds and intonations of their mother’s voice.

DID YOU KNOW a baby’s cry matches its mother’s language? A newborn child, just two or three days old, cries in a distinctive way, mimicking the sound of the child’s mother. Researchers recently studied sixty healthy newborn children from both French and German families. What they found was fascinating: each newborn baby has its own “cry melody,” a specific pattern of sounds that is unique to his or her cry. But more than that, they found that babies will match their cry to the sounds and intonations of their mother’s voice.

B. I suspect, however, that very few mothers need a study like this to tell them something so obvious. From day one mothers know this to be true. That’s why they can hear their baby’s faint cry seemingly from miles away and even pick out the sound of their baby crying amidst a chorus of other crying infants.

C. But did you realize this is true of God’s children? They too have their own distinctive cry, and this passage tells us what it sounds like: “Abba! Father!” This is the unique cry of the children of God.

D. This is also one of the great privileges of being children of God. When God adopts us as sons or daughters, he sends his Spirit into our heart, causing us to cry, “Abba! Father!” (4:6). And this cry identifies who we belong to, who our Father is. But it also clarifies for us, and for others who hear our cry, whether we are children of God.

E. Paul realizes the Galatians have begun to doubt their status as God’s children and thus are doubtful about whether they’ll receive God’s inheritance, eternal life. So Paul points to this distinctive cry as a way for them to confirm their status as sons of God. As he reminds them, “If a son, then an heir through God” (4:7).

Wilson, T. (2013). Galatians: Gospel-Rooted Living. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 133). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.