Have you ever asked one of your Jewish friends, what is the meaning of Hanukkah? Why do you celebrate it? Maybe you've asked a Muslim friend or some stranger, why do you celebrate Ramadan every year and fast? Those will open up interesting conversations. And then you can ask anybody this question, What is the meaning of Christmas? Why do so many people celebrate it? What do you think Christmas is all about? Listen to their answer. If you were to take a poll, I guess most people would say something like, well, Christmas means peace, goodwill, be happy, be friendly to people, love. Then if you ask most little children, What do you look forward to at Christmas? They'll say presents, no school, Santa Claus, jingle bells. But you notice none of those answers say anything about Jesus. Oh, they might say Santa Claus. Public schools, you can't talk about Jesus, maybe in whispers. And it's coming now, so they don't even want you to talk about Santa Claus. You can't say Merry Christmas, you may get by with Happy Holidays. Then if you ask some adults, what do you look forward to at Christmas? They say parties, alcohol, even immorality. But unfortunately, other people, for Christmas, it means depression, sadness, either because they're away from home in the military or at college, or they've lost a relative, or they're divorced. For some people, it's a time of sadness. Heard a Christmas song not long ago, from years ago. And it had this line, the real meaning of Christmas is the giving of love every day. Well, that's closer to the truth. But what is the real meaning of Christmas? The Bible tells us. If you get a conversation started along these lines, what Bible verse would you quote to someone to tell them the real meaning of Christmas. Well, you could share John 3.16, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. It's Christ's birthday. First Timothy 1.15, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And there are other such verses that nail it down and might open up a conversation. Today, we're going to look at three such verses that sum up the true meaning of Christmas in a very deep way. So I'm gonna take you deeper than the shallowness of most Christmas cards. Yes, it has to do with peace, goodwill, love, friendliness, but the real meaning of Christmas has to do with Jesus. So we're gonna go deep and we're gonna look at these verses phrase by phrase. Turn with me to Galatians chapter four on the real meaning of Christmas. Galatians 4, the Apostle Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has been both rebuking them and teaching them and encouraging them. And then in chapter 4, verses 4 to 6, he says these very profound words. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you were sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. As you can see, this is as rich as one of those Christmas fruitcakes that you have to take a small slice of because it has got all those different fruits and nuts and then it's dipped in a honey syrup. It's rich. These verses are very theologically rich. Let's look at them. He begins by saying, in the fullness of time, Well, some have said, well, that meant when things in the world were just right for Jesus to come. In other words, the Roman Empire was at peace, the Pax Romana. There were roads where Christians could travel and spread the word, and Greek was the universal language. But that's not what Paul means here. If you're looking for those things, why not much later when there were interstate highways and the internet has nothing to do with the conditions of humanity. The fullness of time meant the time had come that God had previously set, like an alarm clock. When was it set? Not in time, but in eternity, when God predestined everything that happens in time. Bible says for everything, there is a time and a season planned by God back in eternity in predestination. Now the time has come. Not only that, in eternity, but in history before Jesus, God had sent prophets to say, I'm going to send you my son, a Messiah, a Savior, at the right time. And he kept sending prophets saying, he's coming one day. And finally, John the Baptist said, he's here. There's one Christmas hymn that says, prophesied, now arrived, Jesus is born. And Jesus, his very first sermon, would you know what his first sermon was? Mark 1 15, he said, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel. Several times in his ministry, Jesus said, my time hasn't come yet. Time for what? Time for his death, the reason why he came to earth. And then right before he was arrested, he said, the time is here. Romans 5, 6 says, in due time or at the right time, Jesus died for our sins. So all this was according to God's timeline in the fullness of time. Among other things, this tells us this. The story about Jesus recorded in the Bible is true history. It's not a myth. It's not a legend. It's not just a good story like Santa Claus or other things that people like to tell a good story. No, this is a true story. It's historical fact in the fullness of time. Look at the next phrase. God sent forth his son. Now, those five words are a lot deeper than you might think. For example, when it says God, that is referring to God the Father. Sometimes when the word God is used, that refers to the whole Trinity, Father, Son, and Spirit. But when you see God used with reference to the Son, that refers to the Father. So you could say God the Father sent forth His Son. Just like in John 3.16, God the Father so loved the world that he gave his Son, the Father and the Son. I told you we're going deep. Let's go a little bit deeper here. This tells us Jesus was God the Son before he came into the world. Look at the verse. God sent his Son. He was Son before he was sent. He's eternal. He was not less than the Father. He was equal to the Father. This is that great doctrine theologians call eternal generation. Brendan, I hope you've been taught this at seminary. If not, shame on your teachers. It's a historical truth. We know, of course, Jesus has always been God. The Bible says so at least a hundred times. I know someone that's written a book on the subject that's going to be published next year, Lord willing. Jesus is God, but He is also God the Son in eternity before He became the Son of God in time. That's what this verse tells us. God the Father sent the One that was already His Son, the Eternal Son. He didn't become the Son when he was born on earth. He was God the Son from all eternity, equal to the Father, equal to the Spirit, in glory, power, and personhood. So what does it mean He's God the Son and the first person is God the Father. It's a relationship of love. It's an eternal begetting where the Son is, the Father is always saying, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And when Jesus came to earth, he said those very words. Again, this is ignored and often denied, and you don't hear it preached on very much. I heard it once preached. I was on vacation. I turned on the radio and went across the dial, and there was someone preaching on this very point that Jesus was eternally God the Son of God the Father. And I was thinking, well, who is this? He was a Greek Orthodox preacher of all people. Have you ever heard this wonderful truth? God the Son before time. A number of years ago, the great John MacArthur didn't quite see this, and in two books he said no. The idea of Jesus being the son, that refers to his birth. Later he changed his mind when some wise theologians took him aside and said, wait a second, what about Galatians 4.4, John 3.16, and other verses. He was the son before he came into the world. being a son he has a father, that's God the Father. Question, if he's a son does he have a mother? Told you we're gonna go deep this morning. And so some people think they're clever and say, well it's the Holy Spirit. No, the Holy Spirit is not the mother of Jesus within the Trinity. The Holy Spirit is not the wife of God the Father. In his deity Jesus has a father but he has no Mother. So let's go deeper. The Holy Spirit is not the mother of Jesus. He's not a second son or daughter of the Father. But look at the text. God sent his son. Jesus is the son, not the daughter. He is not genderless, even in his deity. Have you ever thought about that? What is the gender of the Trinity? The Father, obviously, is male. The Son, He, the Holy Spirit, also is male. Just something to ponder. John 3 16 says, God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son. This is what we're talking about at this point. He is eternally begotten. He didn't come into existence back into eternity. He was always eternally begotten. Now the father sent his son into the world. That's the meaning of Christmas. God sent forth his son. He sent his son. He didn't send an angel, as the Jehovah's Witnesses say. They say, God so loved the world, he sent an angel to become his son. It's not what the Bible says. Why? Why didn't God send Michael the archangel, the highest of all the angels, or Gabriel, or, you know, the Bible says there are millions, billions of angels. Why didn't God send one or a team of 10 into the world to do this work of redemption? The answer should be obvious if you know your Bible. It's this, you don't send a boy to do a man's job and you don't send an angel what only God could do. An angel could never redeem us. John Calvin said, if God sent all of the angels into the world to become humans and they all died on crosses, even all of those angels dying for us could not redeem us from even one sin. It took the Son of God, God the Son, to come into the world. Read Hebrews chapter 2. Why? Why is this so significant to understand the real meaning of Christmas? We have to understand who He is before we can see what He did and why. Why did this Savior have to be God and man for this reason? We are humans. We are finite. God is holy, he is infinite. We have sinned against God, therefore we incur an infinite debt to God. And it has to be paid by a human, but humans are finite. They cannot pay an infinite debt. On the other hand, God is infinite. He could pay it, But the debt has to be paid by suffering. God cannot suffer. He has to shed blood. God as a spirit doesn't have blood. He has to die, but God is immortal. So there's the dilemma. Only God could pay, and it has to be done by a man. Therefore, God became the God-man. God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, to pay this infinite debt to the Father in order to redeem us. Isn't that beautiful? I preached on this many times and I never ceased to be amazed at the wonder of this wonderful truth. The eternal God the Son became a man to redeem us from our sins. Look at the text for the next phrase, born of a woman. God the son became the son of God in a new way. It was appropriate that it was, are you with me? God the son to become the son of God. It wasn't appropriate for the father to become a man, wasn't appropriate for the spirit. You see the trinity in these verses. It was appropriate for God the son to come into the world and to have the father as his father and Mary as his mother. It says he was born of a woman. Now, in his deity he was not created, but his humanity was created when he was born of a woman. Now, don't skip over this phrase too quickly. You would say, well, duh, we're all born of a woman, except Adam and Eve, but everybody is born of a woman. Yes, but this was a special birth because of who Jesus was. We know that before there's birth, there's nine months of waiting and it begins with conception, life begins at conception. So actually, even before Jesus was born, he came into the world in the mystery of what's called the virgin birth. What is the virgin birth? Mary was a virgin, she had never had relations. But God didn't have relations with Mary. There was that unique miracle. Look it up in Luke 1.35, where this spirit did this inexpressible miracle in the virginal conception of Jesus, uniting the two elements, one from the Father, God, and one from Mary. Joseph was not the father. Why? Some would say, well, what difference does it make? Couldn't God have used Joseph? No, no, no. If Joseph was the father, then Jesus would have been a mere man. Not only that, he would have inherited sin. Remember, we've talked about original sin recently. But it says Jesus was holy. Mary didn't pass on sin. Joseph would have. God was the father. Therefore, Jesus was born holy, impeccable, absolutely sinless in the miracle of the virgin birth. So if you're ever talking to someone that laughs at the virgin birth or makes fun of it, say to them, I believe in the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because the Bible says so, and he is the God-man. Now notice what I just called him, the God-man. He is not half God and half man. He's 100% God and 100% man. There's no parallel to that. This is the only time God was also a man. The only time a man was God. Told you this is deep. This is wonderful. Better than those Christmas fruitcakes. Something else. Ponder this. He was as old as his father, but older than his mother. You got it? He was as old as his father. Anybody here as old as your father? No, of course not. Anybody here older than your mother? No. But Jesus was, because he was as eternally ancient as his father, God, but he was older than his mother, Mary, because he had already existed. Therefore, when Mary held that baby in her arms, she was looking at the one that was actually her creator, because the Bible says he created all things. No wonder it says Mary pondered these things in her heart. Have you pondered these things in your heart? This is the real meaning of Christmas. And then at just that right time that had been predestined in eternity and predicted in time, Jesus was conceived and then born on Christmas Day. When God became a man, we call it the incarnation, not reincarnation, the incarnation. Only time it's ever happened. God took on a human body and a human soul. The eternal God, the Son, now is God, the Son of God in human flesh. Look at the text next. Born under the law. Now that would refer to the law of Moses giving to the Jews, because Jesus was a Jew. Mary was a Jewess. His stepfather Joseph was. His genealogy is in two of the Gospels, so he kept the ceremonial laws. But Jesus was also born under the law that is given to all mankind. The Ten Commandments, the Two Love Commandments, the Golden Rule. Jesus, when he became a man, didn't say, well, I'm above the law. No. When he became a man, the lawgiver now submits himself to his law and he kept it 100%. The only person that's ever done that. That also qualified him to be our Savior. Look at verse 5 now. This is the significance of the incarnation. We've just seen who he was and how he became a man. The question now is why? This is the significance of why God became a man. It says he came to redeem those who were under the law. He came under the law to redeem us who were under the law. He came to save us. We are under the law in a different way than he was. Why? He was under the law to obey it and he did. We're under the condemnation of the law because we have not kept it. He came to save us. We know John 3, 16. Do you know verse 17? It says, God so loved he gave his only begotten son. to give them eternal life, it says, God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. He came to be our savior, as the angels said. Last week, Mr. Helmer asked the children, what is the meaning of Matthew 1, 21, when the angel said, you shall call his name Jesus for? Remember the rest of the verse? For he shall save his people from their sins. Jesus came to save us, and he is the only Savior. 1 Timothy 1.15, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Ladies and gentlemen, that's us. He came to save us. But to be precise, look again at the verse. It says to redeem those. What does redeem mean? It's a Bible word. Also redemption, sometimes it's translated as ransom. It means to buy something, to buy it back, to pay a debt as it were. Remember I said we owed an infinite debt to God. But also there's this idea that we are sold in sin, as we said a few weeks ago, we belong to the devil in this sense. We are slaves of the devil, he owns us. So Jesus came to pay the redemption price, but he didn't pay the ransom to the devil, he paid the redemption price to God the Father. The Father stayed in heaven, the Son came to earth to give the redemption price to the Father. Many people don't see this and so they miss the mystery of Christmas. They don't realize they owe something to God. A debt they can never pay. They need to be redeemed. Now some people begin to feel the burden of this. They begin to feel their guilt and loneliness. Maybe they're worried about what happens after death. So they say, Well, I owe something. Maybe I can work off the debt. You know, this last year during the COVID crisis, many people have gone into debt and they're going to try to repay it. So some people say, I guess I can redeem myself by, you know, being a good person, going to church, giving to charity, being a good person. Nobody could be that good. Only Jesus. So we cannot redeem ourselves. It says in the book of Psalms, no man can by any means redeem his brother. If you can't redeem someone else, you certainly can't redeem yourself. We need a redeemer to redeem us by paying what we cannot pay ourselves. It says he redeems those that are under the law, both Jews and Gentiles. Now, the law was given to mankind to show them God's perfect standard. Nobody has ever kept it and God doesn't lower it. We're under the law, we're condemned by the law. Jesus redeemed us by keeping the law with a sinless life. And then, oh, this is the essence of it all. He not only obeyed it and earned all the rewards for keeping it, He took our place by taking the condemnation of the law we deserve. That's what it meant when he said he redeemed us. Remember Jesus said, as the son of man, he came to redeem that which was lost. He is our redeemer. And he did that by suffering and bleeding and dying in our place. And the Bible regularly says he is the only redeemer. Why? People say that's not fair. Doesn't God give many different ways? You know there's Christianity and there's Judaism and Islam and why can't you just kind of pick and choose? They all make it different roads to the top of the mountain. That's not what the Bible says. God says he's the only redeemer. Why? First, because of who he is. Remember, he's the God-man. That qualifies him to be the Redeemer. Muhammad. You know, Muslims will never, ever dare say Muhammad was God. They say, God has no son. Muhammad was the prophet of God. And then you ask the Hindus, well, what about Krishna, Vishnu, and the other gods? They'd say, well, they may be gods, but didn't become man. But Jesus is the only God-man. That's why he's the only Redeemer. But secondly, he's the only one that redeemed us at the cross by suffering and dying in our place. It says here he came to redeem those. And whenever you read the word redeem, think of the cross. This is the only way God could save us. Ah, but someone, you know, people. have this tendency to believe something other than the Orthodox. Remember, we mentioned that last week, Hebrews 13. Don't follow after strange doctrines. People get tired of the truth. And so 700 years ago, a medieval theologian who thought he was profound, his name was Duns Scotus. His followers were called Dunces. That's true. But he thought he was profound by saying, you know, God could have saved us and redeemed us some other way. He didn't have to send his own son. I wonder if he had access to Romans, to Galatians 4. He says God could have sent an angel or God could have sent A perfect man that never sinned like Adam before he sinned. Or God could have accepted an animal sacrifice. And some of his followers said God could have even accepted the sacrifice of a pig or the Virgin Mary. No. The very nature of the situation was it took the God-man to suffer in our behalf and to die for our sins. There's no other way. that we could have been redeemed. Look again at the text. That we might receive the adoption as sons, that would include daughters as well. Why is that significant? People say, well, wait, wait, wait, wait a second. Everybody everywhere is already a child of God and there's the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of all mankind. It's not what the Bible says. Now, by way of creation, there are two verses that say, God is our father that created us. And in that sense, yes, we're sons and daughters. But we're not talking about mere creation. We're talking about redemption and adoption. There has to be redemption so that we could be adopted into God's family. That's what adoption refers to. But we're not born in the family of God. Ladies and gentlemen, that might surprise you. We are not born in the family of God. What does the Bible say whose family we are in? I'll quote you Jesus. He said, you are of your father, the devil. We need to be taken out of that family and put in the right family. And that's what Jesus does when he saves us. He, as it were, yanks us or de-adopts us out of the devil's family and adopts us into the family of his father. that we might receive the adoption as sons and daughters. Adoption is a wonderful thing. You know, if there was more adoption in this country, there would be less abortion. You know, I was watching an old Christmas movie the other day, and they talked about an orphan home and people wanting to be adopted. I don't think there's any more orphan homes. It's hard to adopt. Why? Because of abortion. But according to the Bible, adoption is a good thing. We've had members of this church that were adopted or they have adopted children. It's a wonderful blessing. So it says here we can be adopted as sons and daughters of God. Why? Romans 8 tells us the purpose of our adoption so that we can become heirs. You see, When Paul wrote Galatians, they got the metaphor when he said, yes, adoption. Because this was a legal practice in the Roman Empire. It's very common, where a man and a woman were not able to have children, or maybe their only child died. And they wanted to adopt a child, not just to show love, but to be the heir that the father could leave all of his possessions to and leave his name so that the family line continues. For example, have you ever seen one of the greatest of all movies, Ben-Hur? And adoption then wasn't just for little babies. Ben-Hur was like in his 30s and adopted by a Roman citizen. And there's that moving scene where the senator says, I now adopt you and you are heir of all that I have. Romans 8 says we're adopted to become heirs. Heirs of what? We inherit the earth. Jesus said, blessed are the meek, they shall inherit the earth. We inherit heaven. We inherit the universe. Why? Because it belongs to God. And God says, I'm leaving this with you. You will be co-heir, as it says in Romans 8. So never underestimate the great blessing of adoption. Come to verse 6. And because you were children, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Notice the Spirit, the Father, the Son, now the Spirit. Being adopted, now we can truly call God our Father who art in heaven. Before we are saved, we cannot say that. John Gerstner used to say, he's kind of a gruff old theologian, he said, before a person is saved, he can only say, our Father which art in hell, how cursed be your name. But once we are adopted, we're part of the family of God and we can say, our Father, my Father, who art in heaven. And it says there, the Spirit moves our hearts to say, Abba, Father. Abba is an Aramaic word, found its way into Hebrew. It means Dada, Daddy. It's a very personal word. Go to Israel, you'll still hear it over there. Some years ago, a good friend of mine, it's a Christian, married a woman that had two little children. And I still remember one of those little boys, about six years old, came up to him and said, Can I call you daddy? And that moved that man's heart so much. He says, yes, you can. And they hugged. It pleased him to hear that little child say daddy. When the spirit adopts us and moves us to say to God, you are my father, Abba, that pleases the heart of God the father. And it pleases our hearts as well. Because you are children, God says, sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts. Now notice the order of all this. Very important, unbreakable chain. Jesus became the God-man, he redeemed us by his death, and then he saves us and adopts us. How then is this completed in us? It says here that we might receive this. How do we receive it? By being good people. Again, nobody could be that good. Look down in back, excuse me, Galatians 3.26. You are all children of God by faith. We are justified by faith. We are saved by faith. We are adopted by faith. Those that do not have faith in Jesus are not adopted. So the very moment we believe in Jesus Christ, we are justified, we're saved, we're washed, we're cleansed, we're adopted. legally, permanently, into God's family. And that's an unbreakable chain. Incarnation, redemption, adoption. And you cannot break that. Not only that, the Father not only so loved us that He gave us His Son, He gave us His Spirit. Look at the verse again. The Spirit comes into us. More icing on the cake. So there's the Trinity. The Father predestined us. The Son redeems us. Now the Spirit adopts us and indwells us. Let me ask you two questions. Have you been redeemed? People still wonder, what do you mean redeemed? Have you been redeemed? When I was a brand new Christian umpteen years ago, there was a little chorus going around. Some of you may remember it. I've been redeemed. I've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And that's the only way we could be redeemed. Second question, have you been adopted? Are you part of the family of God? Have you turned from your sins? The Bible says repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you been truly adopted into God's family? Earlier I quoted that song, the real meaning of Christmas is the giving of love every day. That song is talking about our love for other people, but it comes closer to the truth. The real meaning of Christmas is that God loved us and gave us his only begotten son, the God-man, to redeem us so that we could be adopted. That is the real meaning of Christmas. Shall we pray? Father, we've swum in very deep waters this morning, but it's good. It's better than Santa and reindeer and even presents to think about Jesus, the eternal God, the son became a man sinless. And yet that one died for us to redeem us and sent his spirit to adopt us. What a rich, wonderful truth this is. Thank you for telling us the real meaning of Christmas. In Jesus' name, amen.