CRCF””12-13-09
2nd Sunday of Advent
The Family of Freedom
Galatians 4:4-7
Introduction””
Imagine . . .
That you are about 6 years old
That you are always cold in the winter
That you rarely, if ever, get a square meal and that your clothes are threadbare, filthy and too small””especially your shoes that also have holes in the bottoms
That you live on the streets, though you”™ve got parents somewhere, but they only show up every now and then when they need to use you to beg for money they”™ll use to buy drugs
That you”™re regularly tempted to try dangerous drugs in an effort to escape all of the pain in your life””and that you”™ve been thinking you”™ll probably go for it the next time that older boy offers
Life for you is more than hard and unhappy””you”™re miserable!
Now imagine that out of the clear blue, the world”™s richest man comes to your town and to your street, all the way to your alley and finds you in the dumpster where you always dig for food and says, “I”™ve come to take you home with me””I”™m going to adopt you and make you my child. You”™ll have your own room, plenty of food to eat, clean clothes that fit, you”™ll get to go to school””and I”™ll be your Daddy and love you like you ought to be loved. Now, I”™ll discipline you when you need it because it”™s best for you. We”™ll talk and laugh and play together””and I”™ll hold you and tell you that I love you every day. All you have to do is say “Yes” right now and we can go home!
Did you know that Christmas is about adoption? It”™s about family and the freedom that comes by being adopted into God”™s family.
Jesus was born to make us free as God”™s children! He didn”™t come to convert us to a religion of rules and regulations but to call us into a relationship of grace and love. Jesus was born because His Father wanted to become our Father by adoption.
Galatians 4:4-7 (NLT)
4 But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law.
“when the right time came”””God graciously had a plan to send Jesus to rescue us! And when the time was just perfect, “God sent his Son”!
“born of a woman, subject to the law”””God the Son became man””one of us””so that He might save us!
John 1:14
So the Word became human and lived here on earth among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father.
5 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.
Jesus was born to be our Substitute concerning God”™s law! His life perfectly fulfilled the requirements of God”™s law for us; and His death perfectly satisfied the curse of God”™s law against us!
Galatians 3:14
But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, ”˜Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”™
The result?
Romans 8:1
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
Galatians 5:1
So Christ has really set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don”™t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
Galatians 4:5b””“so that he could adopt us as his very own children.”
Now, since Jesus has taken the curse for us and made us righteous before God, the Father can adopt us into His family forever, if we”™ll simply accept the gift!
6 And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God”™s own child. And since you are his child, God has made you his heir.
Jesus was born to make us free as God”™s children!
We need to get this so that we can celebrate the freedom that Christmas brings””the freedom that comes from being in God”™s family!
He didn”™t come to convert us to a religion of rules and regulations but to call us into a relationship of grace and love.
Jesus was born because His Father wanted to become our Father by adoption!
So, what do you and I need to do with this truth?
Well, if you”™re here and don”™t know God as Father””you haven”™t trusted Jesus as your Savior and been adopted into God”™s family, then you need to simply take the gift of family and freedom that God is offering you this morning! Just say “yes” and go home to live forever with God as your Daddy!
If you”™re already in the family this Christmas season, then just slow down and remember what an awesome thing your adoption really is! Remember what was like on the streets before God came to take you home as His own. And celebrate Christmas with a renewed gratitude and enjoyment of the freedom of God”™s family!
Galatians 3:26-28 (NLT)
26 For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. 28 There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.
All of our differences racially, economically, history-wise, baggage-from-the-past-wise””ALL of our differences disappear when we trust Jesus! Because we”™re ALL forgiven the same way””by trusting Jesus Who is our Substitute! It”™s not by being religious or keeping all the rules or being a member of a particular church or going through certain rituals prescribed by tradition, that we hope to somehow make things right with God! It”™s through a relationship of trust in God, where we rely on the fact that Jesus did it all for us, that we are forgiven and adopted!
As we come to the Lord”™s Supper this morning, we celebrate God”™s grace in several ways:
1) We celebrate the forgiveness of our sins made possible because Jesus was born to die!
2) We celebrate our adoption into God”™s family made possible because Jesus became one of us and paid the price for our sins!
3) We celebrate our forever family here””and around the world””in the family of God!
4) We celebrate God”™s once-and-for-all statement that religion will send you to hell, but a relationship with Jesus is the path to freedom, and ultimately, to heaven””to the everlasting presence of God!
Celebration of the Lord”™s Supper