The Book of Galatians #14
Genesis 3:25-29
Last week we began looking at verses 23-29 of chapter 3 which compares life before Christ, or in bondage or under the law with life after Christ, or in freedom or under grace. The first is dealt with in verses 23 and 24 by giving two pictures.
We are confined in prison and kept under guard by the law. That’s the first picture. And secondly, we are under a disciplinarian who makes sure we are disciplined and taught.
Then verse 25 provides us with a transition, moving us from one side, under law, to the other side, in Christ. Now we're getting into the after. Here’s where we get to experience freedom.
Verse 25
Once I received Jesus Christ, I was free from the law. It no longer has dominion over us. We’ve been freed from it. We’ve been pardoned.
Unfortunately many are never taught that or get to experience it. The Judaizers in Galatia wouldn't let the law stop. They had to keep the law going on. They said, "It’s fine if you want to believe in Christ. But the law is still required. You’ve got to keep the list of requirements. A lot of Baptists are th esmae way.
But Paul says, "No. Once you arrive at Christ, the law has done its work. It's over. It was simply pointing out your sin and need for a Savior.
It has accomplished its purpose. It’s done its work and once it gets you to Christ, you don’t need it anymore.
Someone says, “So that means I can live any way I want to since I’m saved? That statement misses the point. We’re not talking about behavior; we’re talking about approaches to God and redemption from sin. God's moral and ethical standards haven't changed, but they can't redeem you. We don’t count on them for redemption. Once faith has come, the law has done its work so far as salvation is concerned."
So let’s look at the “after”. First of all he talked about life under the law. Now he talks to them about life
2. In Christ
Now we’re experiencing freedom. This is life after Christ has come.
Verses 26-29
The primary emphasis of the section is found in the little phrase “in Christ”. That is the whole of Christianity. It is what salvation is all about. And with three concise terms, Paul unfolds this concept of being in Christ.
First of all, he uses
- sons of God
verse 26
Whether you're Jews or Greeks or whatever you are, you're all sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus. And the phrase that needs to be underscored in that thought is the words “by faith in Christ Jesus”. That's what he's really banging home.
You used to be prisoners, you used to be little kids who had to have a disciplinarian, but now you're grown-up sons. You're free sons and it is all by faith.
By the way, this is the statement of identification for a Christian. We are the children of God.
John 1:12, "As many as received him, to them he gave the right [or authority] to become the sons of God."
Why is that so emphasized? What are the benefits of being a child of God?
Look across the page to Galatians 4:6.
The first thing a child of God has is God’s Spirit.
Now the Holy Spirit is God, so in so many words, the first benefit of being a child of God is that God lives in you. Now there is a lot that goes along with that, but let’s just stay with the text.
Because of that we can cry, “Abba, Father.'"
We don’t just have a Father, we have a daddy. Abba is a very endearing term. It's like taking 'John' and making it 'Johnny'. It's a very endearing concept. It was the term Jesus used when He prayed to God, and now it is passed on to the church.
So much of our prayer is, "Oh, Holy Father." It's all right, but God is not just some Holy Father distant person. God is also daddy, in the purest sense of a relationship.
I think that is what Paul is saying. "Once you are in Christ, the Spirit comes to live within you and you no longer have to treat God like some great, hierarchical figure. There is an intimacy in the relationship."
So he says, "One of the benefits of sonship is that you feel like one." Isn't that good? You can say, "Father, I just want to talk to you for a minute." You can go right into His throne room and have immediate access.
What else does it mean to be a son of God? Look at Romans 8:14
If you are “in Christ”, you have God’s Guidance
It’s rather exciting to be able to say that in my life, there is no misdirection because God is in absolute control.
I can look ahead to Romans 8:28 and discover that in fact, "All things work together for good for them that love God and are called according to his purpose." God is directing every step. My life is in His hands. He's directing. The life which I live is not mine, but Christ is living it through me. God is in control. Guidance.
In fact, verse 15 is almost an exact repeat of Galatians 4.
In other words, we don't go to God like, "OK, God, I'm coming into Your presence. Don't hit me! I know I don't deserve to be here. Just give me a chance to speak before You do anything." We don't have to go into God's presence like that. We go into His presence with a tremendous confidence. We say, "It's just me, Father, Your beloved son."
Then in verse 16, we have God’s Assurance.
This just goes the same way as verse 15 does. There is some confidence that the Spirit gives us that we belong to Him, a security.
Verse 17 has another thing. We have God’s Inheritance.
If we're in union with Christ, we're joint heirs. It's a fantastic thought: heirs of God, it says. Joint heirs with Christ.
Did you know that in Ephesians 1:13, it says, "God has laid up an inheritance for us." You say, "Yeah, I'd like to see what mine is." You know what yours is? Yours is the same is mine. "Oh, no. I have to share it?" Yes. You know what else? It's the same as every other Christian's. What is it? Your inheritance is God and all He is and all He has. That's it.
Now, the Psalmist says in Psalm 16:5, "The LORD is the portion of mine inheritance." That's right. You know what your inheritance is? It's the Lord! You will inherit God for your own.
What is the promise of Revelation 21, God says, "I'm going to come down and dwell with you. I'll be their God and they'll be my people. I myself will wipe away all tears from their eyes." We inherit God; all He is and all He has.
And by the way, that's exactly what Christ inherits. You say, "How can we ever inherit what Christ inherits?" Because we are in Christ. Whatever is His is mine. That's why I am a joint heir with Christ.
God is not up there saying, "Let's see. You’ve done fairly well so I’ll give you this, and you messed up so you don’t get as much. ." No. All of it is given to Christ. Everything is given to Christ. He is the Seed to whom all the promise was made. But we are in Him, therefore since He’s receiving all the promise and we’re in Him, we'll share His glory.
There are other passages that speak of the benefits of son-ship.
Ephesians 1:5 tells us about our adoption. Because of that, we are “accepted in the beloved one." There it is again. The only reason God accepts us is because we're in Christ. "In whom we have redemption through his blood, forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace." We have wisdom, we have prudence, we have the mystery of His will, etc., etc. We have an inheritance, and he just goes on.
Then there's a great verse in Hebrews 2:10. "It became him [that's Christ], for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory." We're going to inherit glory.
But do you know what I like best? You know what I'm going to inherit, and you're going to inherit, and I like better than anything else?
"Beloved, now are we the children of God. And it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him."
That's our inheritance. You say, "Well, can you give any more details?" No, that's it. So that's what it means to be a son of God:
God’s Spirit, guidance, assurance, security, inheritance and to ultimately be like Christ Himslef. That's what it means to be “in Christ”.
And the basis for receiving all of this is found in
Galatians 3:27.
We will be able to receive all of this because we have “put on Jesus Christ”. You have been baptized into Him. Now understand, there is no water in that word 'baptized'.
You have been placed, not into water, but into Christ. You have been immersed in Christ. That's a spiritual concept. Paul is not teaching baptismal regeneration. Why would he want to do that when he’s spending all this time arguing against salvation by works?
Don't get water in there. If you insert water baptism into that verse you miss the teaching. He's not talking about water; he’s talking about the miracle of salvation. We are united with Christ in His death and resurrection. We're in union.
The moment I believed in Christ, I was placed into His grave and I came out in new life.
That means all true Christians that have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. When I believed in Christ, He covered me. I put Him on.
There might be a reference here to a Roman custom. There was a very significant ceremony among the Romans for their young men that was something like a bar mitzvah. When a young man reached manhood, he was given a robe which signified that he was now a grown-up son, enjoying full citizenship with all the rights and responsibilities that came with it, no longer to be treated like a child.
See the picture? Paul says you are no longer a child under a disciplinarian. You are now all grown up in Christ. You have put on Jesus Christ. You are robed with Him." The Christian joined to Christ, baptized into His death and resurrection, in union with Him, is clothed with Christ's own robe of righteousness. And because of that union I am now plugged into everything God makes available to Christ. He is the source of everything I need.
Do you remember a man by the name of Thomas Edward Lawrence? He was a British scholar, soldier, and author who was better known as Lawrence of Arabia. He was one of the great heroes of World War I, and he was also a leader in the Paris Peace Talks of 1919. He represented a number of the tribes from the Arabian Desert at that point.
When he was attending the peace talks, several of the leaders of these Arabian tribes came to Paris with him and stayed in hotels there.
They were fascinated by the large water faucets in the bathtubs, which appeared to have an unending supply of water. All one had to do was turn a handle and water continued to flow. This was quite a luxury for people who had grown up and spent their whole lives in the desert.
As Lawrence was preparing to leave Paris, he discovered that the Arabians had secured plumbing tools and were taking the bathtub faucets off the wall. They explained to him that they were going to take the faucets back to the desert so that they could have an unending supply of water there.
Lawrence had to convince them that it was not enough merely to have the faucet, but that the faucet had to be connected to a pipe, which, in turn, was connected to a water main, which went to a water reservoir, which got its supply of water from springs, rivers, and wells. Hence, in order for the faucet to work, it had to be connected to the original source of water.
There is no blessing that comes to any man unless that man is connected to the source. All blessing comes from the Father to the Son, and unless you are plugged into the Son, there is no blessing. There is none.
So the first benefit of being in Christ is being a son of God.
The second one is in verse 28. Automatically, when you become in Christ, you not only become one with Christ but you become one with everyone else who is in Christ, because we're all there, like it or not.
Verse 28
He gets very specific here. "There is neither Jew nor
Greek, bond nor free, male nor female."
Why did he pick those three things out? Well, those are obvious distinctions, but more than that, there was a thanksgiving prayer that Jews said in the evening. If Paul was a good Pharisee, which I'm sure he was before he was saved, he probably said this every night.
Part of the prayer went like this: I thank God that You have not made me a Gentile, a slave, or a woman. That was part of the Pharisees' evening prayer. So Paul takes a straight shot at that and says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, bond or free, male or female."
You say, "Well, that's part of Paul's problem. That's why he never got married. He didn't know the difference." No. He was not saying there's no difference; he was saying the difference doesn't matter spiritually.
There is no place for racial prejudice, there is no place for social strata, and there is no sexual distinction either.
From a spiritual standpoint, everyone is the same in Christ, recipients of all spiritual blessings. We're all one person in Christ. The benefits of being in Christ are being sons of God and one with each other.
And lastly, we are heirs of promise.
Verse 29
The promise was given to Abraham and only fulfilled in Christ. As we are in Christ, the promise is ours. We become heirs of all the promise of God when we are in Christ. This, friends, is according to faith, not law or works.
I don't know about you, but I'm glad I'm not before but after. I don't want to be under the law, I want to be in Christ. I trust you are in Christ and experiencing all that is yours and shall be yours.
Let's pray.
