If you please take your Bibles and open with me to the book of Galatians, be in Galatians chapter three. verse 26, and we'll actually go through, Lord willing, chapter four, verse seven this morning. Galatians chapter three, starting in verse 26. We've come to this particular section of Galatians on the heels of Paul's comparison of the law and the promise. And as Paul was explaining last time, the purpose of the law in verses 19 through 24, he made it clear that humanity was held captive. We were imprisoned. Like an underage child, we were under the law as a guardian until the coming faith would be revealed. And Paul then concluded his discourse on the law in verse 25 by saying, but now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. In other words, we are no longer underage children, as it were. We have reached maturity through faith in Christ. And this leads to the wonderful conclusion that we'll be focusing on today, verse 26. In Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. Through faith in Christ, each and every believer has been adopted into the family of God. And this is wonderful, wonderful news. Well, let us pray, and then we'll read our text together. Father, I plead with you to pour your spirit out upon us now. Would you anoint the ears of those who are under the sound of my voice? Those who are your children, Lord, would you comfort them with this great truth that they are adopted sons through faith in Christ? Lord, for those who are outside of Christ, would you make membership in your family so appealing to them? that they flee to Christ irresistibly and find life. Do all that and more we pray for your glory in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Let's read our text. We're gonna be starting in 26, but let's begin our reading at verse 23 to gain a little bit of additional context. Galatians chapter three, starting in verse 23. Hear the word of God. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. I mean that an heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way, also, when we were children, we're enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts crying, Abba, Father. So you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son than an heir through God. Amen. Chapter 12 of our confession of faith is only a single paragraph, but it is a potent paragraph. And I wanna read that for you now. Chapter 12 of adoption. All those that are justified, God conferred in and for the sake of his only son, Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption. By which they're taken into the number and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God. They have his name put on them. They receive the spirit of adoption. They have access to the throne of grace with boldness. They are enabled to cry, Abba, Father. They are pitied, protected, provided for. And they're chastened by him as a father, yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption. And they inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation. What a list of privileges that we have as children of God. Well, as we go through these verses this morning, my prayer is that God will cause you to appreciate all the more this grace of adoption, that he would impress upon your mind and that he would comfort your soul with the words of verse 26, that in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. And to help guide our examination of this passage, I've established three headings for us. Firstly, chapter three, verses 26 through 29, we see true sonship, true sonship. Next, under our second heading in chapter four, verses one through three, we see a temporary slavery, temporary slavery. And finally, under our third heading in chapter four, verses four through seven, we see a Trinitarian salvation. Trinitarian Salvation. So those three headings once again, True Sonship, Temporary Slavery, and Trinitarian Salvation. Let us begin first with True Sonship. Look with me again to verse 26. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. Again, Paul begins here by giving us the glorious conclusion to the preceding verses. Before faith came, we were held captive under the law. We were imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. The law was our guardian. But now that faith has come, we are no longer held captive under the law. We are no longer imprisoned. We are no longer under a guardian. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. Now this, brothers and sisters, is the glorious doctrine of adoption. When we look at what theologians call the ordo salutis, or the order of salvation, that simply being man's way of dividing up the different stages of the way of salvation, when we look at the order of salvation, we see something like this. There is God's eternal election and predestination of his elect people. There is the effectual calling of God's elect people in time. There is regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. There is conversion, where the person who has been regenerated exercises faith and repentance. There is justification, God's declaration that this sinner is now righteous in his sight. And then there is adoption, membership into God's family, sanctification, and finally, glorification. I think if we're honest, our tendency at times is to prioritize justification when we are thinking of our salvation. And this is certainly proper because without justification, we have no forgiveness. We have no hope for eternity. But as important as justification is, and as important as Paul thinks it is, because after all, justification is the main emphasis of this entire letter to the Galatians. But for as important as justification is, I think we too often neglect the doctrine of adoption. But Paul, here in verses 26 and following, he's not going to let us forget the doctrine of adoption. For in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. Now the all here, you are all sons of God, it refers to all the believers in Galatia. And by extension, it refers to all believers of all time. It refers to everyone for whom faith has come as we read in, excuse me, in verse 25. If faith in Christ has come for you, then you are a son of God. And Paul's use of the word sons here is intentional, and it's important for us to understand. Now, to be sure, Paul is not speaking here only to the men in Galatia. No, he's speaking to all for whom faith has come, all who have faith in Christ. He's speaking to both men and women. But the cultural significance of being a son is what we need to grasp here. And this can be a challenge for us because we live in a very egalitarian age. We like to flatten out the differences between men and women and pretend like they don't exist. But it wasn't so in the ancient world. In the ancient world, sons were the heirs of their father's possessions. This right was generally not granted to daughters, but to sons alone. So in using this expression, sons of God, as he's speaking to the believing men and women in Galatia, Paul is making clear that the inheritance that comes through faith is not reserved for a certain class of Christian, but it's given freely to all who have faith in Christ, both men and women. Again, in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. Now, something else we should notice here, if you'll remember, earlier in verse seven, Paul declared that it was those of faith who were what? The sons of Abraham. But here he goes further. Those of faith are the sons of God. Paul is upping the ante, as it were, here. Not only are the believing Galatians sons of Abraham, more foundationally, they're the sons of God. And the same is true for you and for me if we, as Paul says next here in verse 26, are in Christ through faith. Now as we're reading Galatians, we always have to keep in view this contrast that Paul is holding up for us to see. From the middle of chapter two through the middle of chapter five, Paul is contrasting faith and works. And he's arguing for the supremacy of hearing with faith over and against works of the law as it relates to receiving the inheritance of justification. So when Paul says that in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith, He's reminding the Galatians once again that the message that they've fallen prey to, the false gospel of the Judaizers, that faith plus works is actually what makes a man or woman right before God, Paul is once again tearing down this false gospel. It is through faith alone that one is justified, and it's through faith alone that one becomes a son of God. This is not a privilege that can be earned through law-keeping, but it is a right that is to be received through faith alone. So believer in Christ, because faith has come for you. By the mercies of God, you are a true son of God. You have been adopted into the family of God. And Paul goes on next to highlight three aspects or three privileges, if you will, of true sonship, three privileges of adoption that are true for you who are sons of God through faith. Firstly, to be a true son of God is to be in union with Jesus Christ. Look with me to verse 27. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. Now the ordinance of baptism is symbolic of the believer's union with Jesus Christ by faith. It's symbolic of the believer having been crucified with Christ, having been buried with him, and then having been raised with him to walk in newness of life. The true son of God is the one who has been baptized into Christ. As Paul says, if you've been baptized into Christ, you have what? You have put on Christ. So by baptism, we put on Jesus Christ. Now, we need to remember for a moment that Jesus, his sonship is different than ours. Christ is the Son of God by virtue of eternal generation. He has been the Son of God for all eternity. And the same isn't true for us. Our sonship began at a particular point in time, and it began when what? when we heard the gospel with faith. It began when we put on the Son of God by faith, and that putting on of Christ by faith, it is symbolized in our baptism. So for as much as we must deny the heresy that the ordinance of baptism somehow regenerates a person, again, after all, remember, what is Paul's point of this letter? Chapter 2, verse 16, Paul says that we know a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Christ. Works of the law, whether that be the positive laws of the old covenant, the chief of which being circumcision, which is what the Judaizers were making such a big deal about, or whether that be the positive laws of the new covenant, baptism, the Lord's Supper, works of the law in either covenant will not justify a person. In fact, remember what Paul said, if you rely on works of the law, you are what? You're under a curse. So we have to deny the heresy of baptismal regeneration. However, we must also deny the idea that baptism, when it is mixed with faith, is nothing more than an empty sign. To be sure, without faith, water baptism is powerless. It is an empty sign if it is not mixed with faith. But when it is mixed with faith, It is a means of grace by which our union with Christ is sealed and confirmed. Now, I know for a fact that there are some of you here in this room who are wrestling with the question of your status before God. Have I trusted in Christ? Have I placed all my hope for eternity in Christ? Is my faith really strong enough in Christ? Now, if that is you, I want you to consider that the ordinance of baptism is commanded by the Lord Jesus, in part, for what reason? To strengthen your faith. Yes, it is true. By being baptized, you are publicly professing to be a disciple of Christ. But I would submit to you that baptism is not only, or even mainly, something that you do. Baptism is a means of grace. Like the Lord's Supper, it is an instrument. It is a channel that God uses to pour out his grace upon his children to confirm and strengthen their faith in Christ. So if you are wrestling with this question today of, have I placed my faith in Christ? Is my faith strong enough? to consider church membership and baptism? Do I take that next step, or do I wait until I've seen enough fruit in my life, until I've seen enough works that make me somehow acceptable before God? If this is you, if you can honestly say that you are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ to save you, if you know that you have no other hope besides Him, and yet you are not pursuing baptism, then I would suggest to you that you are in sin. And beyond that, that you are withholding from yourself what would otherwise be a great blessing to you and a strengthening to you of your faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. If you have been adopted by God, you are in union with Jesus Christ. Again, baptism being a sign and confirmation of this union. Next, in verse 28, we see that to be a true son of God is not only to be in union with the Lord Jesus Christ, it is to be in union with other believers. Look with me there. Verse 28, there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Now, as we mentioned earlier, in the ancient world, class distinctions were the order of the day. And the Judaizers, despite their outward profession of faith in Christ, they had not broken away from this cultural trend. And remember how in chapter two, Paul recounts the time that these same Judaizers came to his home church in Antioch while Peter was visiting. And we remember that even Peter was drawn back into this pre-Christ prejudice that led him to forsake eating with the Gentile Christians in Antioch. And Paul had to publicly rebuke Peter for what? For walking out of step with the gospel. And so Paul's emphasis here in verse 28 on the unity of believers in Christ is in sharp contrast to the prevailing structure of the ancient world. And Paul declares here that as it relates to true sonship, as it relates to adoption, there are no ethnic distinctions, neither Jew nor Greek. There are no legal or social distinctions, neither slave nor free, and there are no gender distinctions, no male and female. All this to say is it relates to true sonship, to adoption. God is no respecter of persons. There is no distinction between different types of people. And when we think about this, the same is true for the judgment of God, isn't it? The Bible says that all have sinned, both Jew and Greek, all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God. Well, in the same way, as it relates to adoption, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ. The only distinction is faith. Do you have faith? If so, then you are an adopted son of God. It doesn't matter where you are from. It doesn't matter what color you are. It doesn't matter how much money you make. It doesn't matter if you are male or female. Again, this is why God calling his adopted children sons is so amazing. In ancient Israel, would a Greek ever be called a son? In ancient Israel, would a slave ever be called a son? Would a daughter ever be called a son? No. But in God's economy of salvation, all are one in Christ Jesus. As it's been said, the ground is level at the foot of the cross. And Paul, I think, is touching here on the one new man that we read of in Ephesians chapter two. That dividing wall of hostility has been destroyed and Christ has created in himself one new man in place of the two. So making peace. And what's more, Christ has reconciled all types of believers to God in one body through the cross, killing any and all hostility that may have existed between different types of people when they were outside of Christ. True sonship, true adoption is to be united to all believers everywhere, regardless of differences, and to be united to them in Christ. Now we have to acknowledge that this verse has been abused by those who would seek to tear down any and all distinctions in the created order of God. And that is a gross misuse of this verse. In the created order, there are different ethnicities. God created nations, which are defined in large part by the ethnic makeup of those within that nation. Spiritual union in Christ does not destroy those ethnic realities. In the created order, people have different legal or social statuses. For example, God created civil government, where select individuals enjoy a higher status and rule over their citizens. In several New Testament letters, Paul writes and he addresses different believers of different statuses, speaking to them at their particular station in life. He writes to children and parents. He writes to slaves and masters. He writes to husbands and to wives. Spiritual union in Christ does not destroy and render null and void these different legal and social statuses. Finally, in the created order, there are two distinct genders, despite what you may have heard. Genesis 1.27, God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Spiritual union in Christ does not destroy the male-female distinction in creation. It doesn't. In the created order, distinctions will always exist between different ethnicities, between different legal and social statuses, between men and women. Yet, as it relates to true sonship and adoption into God's family, these distinctions are irrelevant. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Well, lastly, under this heading of true sonship, we see that being a true son of God is to be an heir according to promise. Look with me to verse 29. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. Well, the first three verses of our passage, I believe, find their apex here. Notice the pattern in the preceding verses. Verse 26, for in Christ, Verse 27, baptized into Christ. Verse 28, you are all one in Christ. In Christ, baptized into Christ, one in Christ. And now verse 29, you are Christ's. You belong to Christ, you are his possession. Now please note that the if here, and if you are Christ's, this is not meant as a question, but as the logical conclusion of Paul's preceding statements. You are in Christ, you have been baptized into Christ, you are all one in Christ, therefore, for these reasons, you are Christ's. And because you are Christ's, you are Abraham's offspring, you are heirs according to the promise. Now we read in verse 16, we saw this last time, that Christ is Abraham's singular offspring. And Paul is saying to the Galatians here, because you are in Christ, because you have been baptized into Christ, because you are all one in Christ, because of your union with Christ, you are also now Abraham's offspring. And the logical conclusion for the believing Galatians is that because they are Abraham's offspring, they too are heirs according to promise. Now remember that in verse 16, Paul was pretty clear that the inheritance, the promise of justification and the gift of the spirit, it was made to Abraham and it was made to Abraham's singular offspring, who is Christ. He doesn't say anything in there about that promise being made to us. But through Christ, the inheritance of justification, the gift of the Holy Spirit, those promises flow through Christ to his believing people. Because of your adoption into God's family, you are a fellow heir with Christ. The promises that are made to him are made to you by faith. Again, if you are Christ, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. And so we've seen under this first heading that true sonship, to be an adopted son of God, it is to be in union with Christ, it is to be in union with other believers, and it is to be an heir according to promise, not according to law keeping, not according to ethnicity, not according to economic status, not according to gender or any other distinction, but it's to receive the inheritance through faith in Christ alone. Next, under our second heading, let us see a temporary slavery. As we look to these first three verses of chapter four, Paul simply expands upon his previous argument in chapter three, verses 19 through 25, as to the purpose of the law. Once again, previously, Paul stated that the law was given because of transgressions, that the law imprisoned and held everyone captive under sin, that the law was our guardian until Christ should come, and all this for the end goal of what? Verse 24. that we might be justified by faith. As we saw last time, the law shows how far short men and women and children fall from the glory of God. The law shows us that we are sinners. The law shows us that the wages of sin is death. The law impresses upon us our dire need for a savior. So far from being a way to earn righteousness before God, the law was put in place to serve the gospel promise. It was put in place to lead men and women and children to Christ so that they may be justified by faith. As we read in Romans 10 verse four, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. So in these first three verses of chapter four, Paul simply expands upon this previous argument, and in doing so, he draws from his previous analogy of the law as a guardian. And the guardian of the law watches over the heir while he is yet a child, until he reaches maturity, until he reaches true sonship, as it were, and is able to receive the promised inheritance. Look with me to chapter four, verses one and two. I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything. But he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father." Well, in comparing the child to a slave, Paul is not saying here that they're the same in status. The child is, after all, the rightful owner of the whole estate. Yet regarding their freedom of action, the child and the slave are equal. They are both subject to rules and restrictions. Neither the child nor the slave have the ability or the freedom to make their own decisions. And this is a metaphor for humanity's spiritual state before the coming of Christ. All humanity, both Jews and Gentiles, were imprisoned and held captive under the law. As it were, everyone was under guardians and managers. The Jews were held captive under the written law of God given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Gentiles were held captive under the law revealed to them in creation and in their consciences. Both were under the curse of that law because of their sin and transgressions. Now, this imprisonment and captivity of the child would remain until, as Paul says, the date that was set by his father. When that date comes, the child will receive his inheritance. The guardians and managers are removed and the child takes possession of the estate that is rightfully his. Again, this is a metaphor for the spiritual state of humanity. The date set by the father is analogous to the coming of Christ, what Paul's going to refer to in verse four as the fullness of time. And when Christ comes, or more specifically as we saw last time in verse 25, when faith in Christ comes, the guardians and managers are removed. The captivity of the law is removed and the believer receives the promised inheritance, namely justification and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Well, Paul then brings this illustration to a close in verse three by saying this, in the same way also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. Just like the child who is under guardians and managers, Paul is saying we also, both Jews and Gentiles, Jew and Gentile believers, we also were enslaved, we were held captive, we were imprisoned until the coming of Christ. Now this phrase elementary principles is in reference to the basic components of learning, particularly the fundamental principles of religious learning. Think of it as the ABCs of religion, whether that be Jewish religion or Gentile religion. Commentator William Hendrickson defines elementary principles in this way. These are elementary teachings regarding rules and regulations by means of which before Christ's coming, people, both Jew and Gentile, each in their own way, attempted by their own efforts and in accordance with the promptings of their own fleshly and unregenerate nature to achieve salvation. Essentially, these elementary principles can be understood to be anything that men use to get right with God that is not faith alone and Christ alone. This can be works of the law. This can be heathen rituals or ceremonies. This can be church membership. This can be baptism. This can be philanthropy. This can be science. This can be philosophy. This can be anything that seeks to supplant Christ alone as the only way to God. And truthfully, the list is practically endless and really only limited by the creativity of the person who is in bondage to these things. Now, as it related to the Jews in Galatia, the elementary principles probably is in reference to the types and shadows that were contained in the ceremonial law of Moses. But these types and shadows were not an end in and of themselves. What were they there for? They were there to point people to the coming Messiah. Now, as it related to the Gentiles in Galatia, the elementary principles is probably in reference to their different heathen ceremonies and forms of religion, the things that kept them in bondage before Paul came into Galatia and preached Christ to them and set them free from that bondage. Now there's something here that speaks to the clarity of God's revelation of himself in nature and in creation and how that revelation drives people who have never heard of Jesus Christ to seek after and worship and serve some higher power. We see something of this ingrained desire that all humans have to worship in Acts chapter 17. Paul is speaking to the Athenians who had a myriad of idols and religious artifacts scattered all throughout Athens. And upon seeing this, Paul makes the comment to them, men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. These men knew nothing of Jesus Christ, yet they were in every way very religious. To cover their bases, they even had an altar that was dedicated to the unknown God. And that's the springboard that Paul uses to preach the gospel to them. The Athenians, though, the point being, were enslaved by the elementary principles of the world. They had surrendered themselves to ordinances and ceremonies that they thought would bring them redemption, so much so that they had an altar to the unknown God. This is heartbreaking. My friends, there are people all around us, not just in the four corners of the world, but people next door to us, people in our own homes even, who are no closer to God than the Athenians were when Paul encountered them in Acts chapter 17. And so the question is, what are we going to do to be the Paul? to be the one who goes in with the lifeline of the gospel to deliver those in bondage to these elementary principles of the world. What are we going to do to support the Paul who is going in with the lifeline of the gospel? We are so privileged to have God's word in our own language. We are so privileged to be at a church where we hear the word of God handled rightly by God's grace. I'm afraid sometimes those privileges dull our senses to the spiritual state of those around us. So may God give us hearts that break for those who are in bondage to the elementary principles of the world. And may we do what we can with the skills, with the resources, with the temperament, with the personality, all of those things that God has given us to help free those who are in bondage. And so we've seen the temporary slavery of believers under the law of God, just as the heir is subject to guardians and managers until the date set by his father, until he is of age, if you will. Believers were held captive under the demands and curses of the law until Christ came, until, as we read next, the fullness of time had come. And as we move to verses four through seven, we get the privilege of seeing a beautiful testimony to the Trinitarian salvation worked by our God for each and every one of his adopted children. Look with me, if you will, starting in verse four. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Paul begins by making reference to the fullness time. This is the substance of his earlier analogy in verse 2 where he spoke of a child being under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. The fullness of time is that date set by the child's father. And Paul's use of the word fullness here tells us that there was a building up to this point. There was a working towards this point that had been ongoing since the dawn of time. And Pastor Jerry made reference to it during the expository scripture reading. This is covenant theology. And we think back to Genesis 3.15, when the first promise of the gospel was made to Adam and Eve in the garden, that the seed of the woman, would come and crush the head of the serpent. And then as history unfolded, the same gospel promise was progressively revealed through what our confession refers to as farther steps. And this is simply in reference to God's subsequent covenants with men, each of them building more and more to the coming of Christ. When God destroyed the world with a flood, he didn't wipe out all of mankind. but he saved Noah and his family. And in this way, God's redemptive purposes were served because in preserving Noah and his family, he was preserving the means by which the seed of the woman would be born. God then called a heathen man, Abram, from Ur of the Chaldeans. He promised Abram that through his offspring, all the nations of the earth would be blessed, and we've learned in our study of Galatians that the offspring referred to in that promise is Christ. Through Christ would all the nations of the earth be blessed. And many years after that, when God's people were in captivity in a foreign land, he heard their cries for help, and the Bible says that he what? He remembered the covenant that he made with Abraham. And through Moses, God delivered his people from slavery and he entered into covenant with Israel and he gave them the ceremonial law. He gave them the priesthood and the sacrifices. And the people of God learned under that covenant that there is no blessing without righteousness. They learned that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. They learned that without a high priest, there is no one to mediate between God and man. And through these types and shadows, they were made aware of their sin and of their need for a savior who could make atonement for them. And as redemptive history continued onward, God established his covenant with David. God's promise of redemption now narrowing from a chosen people to a chosen family. And in this covenant, God guaranteed to David, the king of Israel, that his throne would be established forever, that a son of his would sit on his throne forever. And by faith, David embraced this promise and he went on to write these words about his future son who would sit on his throne forever. David would write, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. David saw that this son of his who was to reign forever would not be an ordinary son, but this son would also be his Lord. And so in Adam, we see God's creation stained and cursed by sin, but it's not left without a future hope. Again, the seed of the woman would come and crush the head of the serpent. In Noah, we see God's righteous judgment displayed in the flood, but also his mercy is displayed in the preservation of Noah and his family. And then from Abraham to Moses to David, we see the future hope of God's redemptive plan becoming more clear. A single nation would bring about a specific person who would fulfill the righteous requirements of the law perfectly. who would rule and bless the nations, and who would finally crush the head of the serpent. And this, of course, is fulfilled by Jesus Christ, who appeared when the fullness of time had come. One commentator says this regarding the timing of Christ's first coming. Excuse me. Quote, God does nothing prematurely, but foreseeing the end from the beginning, waits till all is ripe for the execution of his purpose. Had Christ come directly after the fall, the enormity and deadly fruits of sin would not have been realized fully by man so as to feel his desperate state and need of a savior. As it were, sin was fully developed. man's inability to save himself by obedience to the law, whether that be the law of Moses or the law of conscience, was completely manifested. All the prophecies of various ages found their common center in this particular time. And by providence, various arrangements in the social and political as well as the moral world had fully prepared the way for the coming Redeemer. When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son. And I want us to see, as we work through these remaining verses, the Trinitarian nature of our salvation and adoption. I want you to see, as theologians call it, the divine missions of each member of the Godhead, that being their outward actions in time and in space, which bring about the salvation of all believers. And the divine missions can be summarized in this way. Having elected a particular people unto salvation in eternity past, the Father sends the Son in time. The Son, having been sent by the Father, redeems God's elect people. And the Spirit, having been sent by the Father and the Son, applies the redeeming work of the Son to the hearts of God's elect people. Now I want us to look at each of these quickly, each of these divine missions, that is, using our text as a guide. Beginning in verse four, when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son. Now the word sent here means to send someone off for fulfillment of a mission in another place. The eternal father sent his son. but this is no ordinary son. He sent his eternal preexisting son into time and creation to redeem sinners. Now the testimony of scripture is unmistakable. I've got several verses here. I'm just going to give you the references instead of reading them out to you. John 3.16, Romans 8.3, Isaiah 9.6, Luke 4.18, I will comment on that. That's the one where Christ picks up the scroll in the temple. And what does he read from Isaiah? The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives. And this is just scratching the surface. There are myriads of more texts that speak of the father sending the son. but let us note that it was not a creature that God sent. God did not send a good and upright man by human standards. He didn't even send a sinless angel, but he sent his very own son to redeem us. Now, again, I think that this truth is so familiar to us that sometimes we just say, okay, what else do you have to say, preacher? Does that not strike us as amazing? God sent his very own son to redeem us. Now consider our adoption and what this means as our relationship to God as father. He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Brothers and sisters, your father in heaven loves you. If you didn't know that or if you're not sure of that, he sent his son for you. He has provided for your greatest need. He has solved your greatest problem. How much more then can you trust him with your lesser problems? How much more then can you trust him with your lesser needs? If you ever begin to doubt his fatherly care for you, remember that when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son. So continuing on, what we see next is that the eternal divine son who was sent came. He became flesh, being born of woman. Now in God's wisdom and providence, Pastor Jerry preached this mystery to us last week from John 1 14. I'm not going to repeat that sermon, but I want us to be clear that when our text says that Christ was born of woman, he did not stop being God. but rather he became man. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of a virgin, assuming to himself a sinless human nature. As Pastor Jerry mentioned last week, the incarnation of the Son of God was addition without subtraction. In the incarnation, the Lord Jesus Christ took on a human nature to be united with his divine nature forever in his one divine person. two natures in one person forever. Jesus Christ is truly God from all eternity and truly man from Bethlehem onward. As our text says, he was born of woman. Now to be sure, this is incomprehensible for us, but I believe we can apprehend it by faith because it is what God has revealed to us in his word and we need to trust him as father. Now our text says next that Christ was not only born of woman, he was born under the law. And by taking to himself a nature like ours, sin accepted, and being born under the same law that had held humanity captive, Jesus became identified with the people that he came to redeem. His incarnation under the law allowed him to stand in our place as a man, as the second Adam, if you will, succeeding where the first Adam failed. And as a man, Christ obeyed the law that he was under perfectly. He always did what was pleasing to his father. I don't know about you, just every time I read that, it's like, what? He always did what was pleasing to his father. If I could do that for 10 minutes, and his earned righteousness as a man under the law, that is the righteousness, brothers and sisters, that you have imputed to you and by which you stand righteous before God. You and I have the righteous requirements of the law fulfilled in us because of Christ's obedience to the law of God as a man. But he also, he didn't only obey the law as a man, he suffered under the law's penalties as a man. Now his divine nature ensured the infinite value of this sacrifice, but his human nature bore the punishment for sin, providing the shedding of innocent blood that the law required. And because of his obedience and sufferings under the law, verse five, we are redeemed. The Son of God was born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. And this word redeem means to liberate or to deliver. And just as Moses redeemed Israel from Egyptian slavery, Christ redeems his church from our slavery to sin and to the law. And Paul's already explained to us how this redemption occurred. I'll remind you, chapter three, verse 13. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, how? By becoming a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree. We were enslaved under the law. We were held captive under the law and under its curse, but Christ became a curse for us. Christ paid the redemption price with the blood of his cross and freed us from this bondage and curse of the law. Now, considering this fact, that Christ had redeemed us from the curse of the law, that Christ had redeemed the believers in Galatia from the curse of the law, considering this, why would those redeemed believers in Galatia now wish to be placed under the bondage of the law once more? It makes no sense. And we can sympathize a little bit with the apostles' frustration. Chapter three, verse one, oh foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? You were under the curse of the law. You were imprisoned under the law. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his eternal pre-existing son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem you who were under the law. Would you now abandon this? Would you now seek to have the yoke of the law placed once again on your necks? And if they do, if you do, if I do, if we abandon hearing with faith in favor of works of the law, not only is our redemption null and void, we do not receive adoption as sons. Because when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who are under the law for what purpose? so that we might receive adoption as sons. The purpose of Christ's coming in the flesh was to redeem God's elect people. And the purpose of our redemption is that we might receive adoption as sons. Paul brings his argument full circle here. We started in chapter three, verse 26. In Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. The Father sends the Son. The Son redeems us, that we might receive adoption as sons, that we might be sons of God through faith in Him. And finally, verse six, the Spirit. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Even as he's rebuking the Galatians, and this letter is just littered with this, things like this just make you wonder, what was Paul thinking? What were the emotions he was feeling as he was writing this? But even as he's rebuking them, he's at the same time speaking words of comfort to them. You are sons. They heard the gospel with faith. They believed upon Christ. They were adopted as sons of God. God sent the spirit of his son into their hearts, sealing their adoption in Christ. The same is true for us today who believe the indwelling of the Spirit of God in our hearts completes the adoption process that was begun by the Son's redemption. The Spirit makes our Sonship experimental or experiential, if you will, not simply a legal adoption. It's not a cold transaction. The Spirit bears witness to us that we are children of God. He gives us a consciousness of our adoption. He brings us an assurance of our status as sons. And how does he do this? By crying out in our hearts, to God, Abba Father. Augustine commented that the Holy Spirit is the bond of love who binds the Father and the Son together. And in this way, the Spirit is perfectly suited to enable us as believers to share in the Son's relationship with the Father, enabling us as adopted sons of God to take upon our lips the very same cry that the Lord Jesus uttered in his agony in Gethsemane, Abba, Father. And this is a term of intimacy. It's actually the joining of the Aramaic word for father and the Greek word for father. It's really a double declaration, father, father. And this is the intimacy that you have now with your father in heaven. You don't have it through your own merits or through your own righteousness, you have it because the spirit of his son has been sent into your hearts, crying to him for you, Abba, Father. This is the ultimate illustration of what it means to be a son and an heir rather than a slave. Verse seven, so you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Now that we are adopted as sons of God through faith in Christ, the Spirit of God enables us to enjoy this close intimacy with the Father as our Father. Not a distant judge, not a distant creator, but as an intimate Father. This is a level of intimacy not known by Again, the Spirit of God crying out in our hearts brings us an assurance of our adoption as sons of God. And for as much as the Holy Spirit is the comforter and the helper, he is much more than that. He is the divine, eternal third person of the Godhead who brings this Trinitarian salvation home to our hearts by once again crying out to God from our hearts, Abba, Father. I wanna make two applications as we close this morning. First, for my fellow Christians, again, in Christ Jesus, you are a son of God through faith. You did not obtain this blessed status through your own personal merit. You don't maintain it through your own personal merit. You didn't obtain it, you don't maintain it through your own personal morality. Remember, Paul has been saying the entire letter, you obtained it, not by works of the law, but by what? Hearing with faith. And we know from the greater testimony of scripture that faith is a gift of God. It's not a result of works so that you can't boast. But I would also say so that you can't despair. The faith you have, it is not your own. It is a gift. And brothers and sisters, the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. Once a son of God, always a son of God. Once adopted into God's family, you will never be kicked out. Our heavenly father is not like an earthly father who will turn his back on you, who will mistreat you, who will sin against you. He is not like that. He doesn't change. As we read and sung this morning, his mercy endures forever. So I would plead with you, brothers and sisters, do not live in fear that somehow you're going to be kicked out of God's family. that one day God's gonna wake up and realize, what was I thinking bringing that person into my family? That will not happen. Don't live in fear, but instead be assured of your secured place in God's family, and by that assurance, live a confident life of obedience. By the mercies of God, present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. And the apostle prays for the church in Colossae, and you can read that in Colossians, but I think it sums up for us quite well how you and I ought to live as adopted sons of God. Paul prayed that the saints in Colossae might walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father who has what? Giving thanks to your Father. who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. You are an adopted son of God by the mercies of God. Go and live for him. Finally, for my unbelieving friends here this morning, there are two spiritual families that exist in this world. There is the family of God, Those who have received adoption as sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, and there is the family of the devil. Those who have not yet turned from their sin and turned to Christ by faith. You are born as a member of the devil's family. You don't sin your way into it. You were born into his family. You must be born again to enter into God's family. And you've heard this morning about the glorious inheritance that is received by the sons of God, namely justification, the gift of the Holy Spirit, a home in heaven, the ability to cry out to God, Abba, Father. These and many more privileges belong to the sons of God. This is the inheritance or part of it that is for those who are sons of God. But what's the inheritance awaiting the sons of the devil? Have you ever thought about that? If you die unrepentant, what will your inheritance be? Speaking in Matthew chapter 25, the Lord Jesus Christ tells us what the unrepentant will hear on the day of judgment. Jesus says this, then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed. Into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. If you remain a child of the devil, it breaks my heart to say it, this is your inheritance. This is what you have to look forward to. An eternity in the fires of hell prepared for the devil and his angels. But you have also heard this morning of God's great love for sinners just like you. A love so deep that he sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law so that they might receive adoption as sons. Are you a child of the devil this morning? I have one question for you. Do you want to be a son of God? Turn to Christ by faith. and be adopted into his family. Let us pray. Father, we praise you and we thank you that we can call you our father. Thank you for this glorious gift of adoption and the privileges that it contains. Father, I'm reminded of a Illustration that one of the saints of old made regarding adoption, that adoption opens up to us the garden of your promises. Promises that are as herbs, herbs suited for every ailment that exists. Lord, may we be encouraged and assured that we can enter into this garden of your promises confidently and take freely and apply to any area that ails us. Lord, for those who are outside of Christ this morning, would you make the family of God and the promises of God and the inheritance of the sons of God so appealing to them that they would be drawn irresistibly to Christ by faith? and that this day, this very day, Lord, there might be more members added to your heavenly family. We pray that you would do this for your glory.