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Voddie Baucham - Galatians 4_4-7 · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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Speaker 1: If you have your Bibles with you, open them to
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Speaker 1: my favorite Christmas passage, Galatians chapter 4. Galatians chapter 4.
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Speaker 1: We'll read the beginning in verse 4. But when the
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Speaker 1: fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son,
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Speaker 1: born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem
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Speaker 1: those who were under the law, so that we might
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Speaker 1: receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God
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Speaker 1: has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
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Speaker 1: So you are no longer a slave, but a son.
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Speaker 1: And if a son, then an heir through God. This
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Speaker 1: is the word of the Lord. Take your seats. Y'all
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Speaker 1: should have warned me about that one. It's like, what happened?
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Speaker 1: Where are we going? That reminded me of, uh, from
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Speaker 1: time to time, and it's been a little while since
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Speaker 1: I've done it, but from time to time, I would, uh,
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Speaker 1: have the opportunity to speak on college campuses, um, sometimes
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Speaker 1: on secular college campuses. And, um, as you could imagine,
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Speaker 1: that would sometimes be, um, controversial, right? From, for me
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Speaker 1: to be, um, speaking on a secular college campus about
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Speaker 1: issues of the day from a biblical perspective. And on
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Speaker 1: this one occasion, um, I think it was the University
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Speaker 1: of Idaho, maybe. I'd stand up to do my thing,
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Speaker 1: and all of a sudden there's this planned protest, and
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Speaker 1: people stand up, and they shout their slogans, and then
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Speaker 1: they turn around, and they leave. And I just, you know,
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Speaker 1: sat there kind of waiting. And then someone went, nope,
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Speaker 1: that was it. I said, oh, okay. Like, you know.
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Speaker 1: That's all y'all could come up with? So I couldn't
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Speaker 1: help but think of that when the kids got up. Well,
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Speaker 1: Galatians chapter 4 is not what we usually think about
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Speaker 1: when we think about Christmas. And the reason that this
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Speaker 1: passage means so much to me is because I am
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Speaker 1: so enthralled with the theology of Christmas. And I believe
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Speaker 1: that it's something that we have to fight for, especially
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Speaker 1: as Christmas becomes more and more commercialized, more and more sanitized.
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Speaker 1: There's one fact that I always keep in my mind
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Speaker 1: to just kind of remind me of what we've come
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Speaker 1: to in terms of this holiday, and that is that
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Speaker 1: the most expensive Christmas tree In history, by the way,
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Speaker 1: the price of the most expensive Christmas tree in history, $ 11. 4 million. $ 11. 4 million.
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Speaker 1: It wasn't the tree, it was the decorations. The tree
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Speaker 1: was decorated with diamonds and pearls and sapphires, with necklaces,
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Speaker 1: with Rolex watches and things like this. And it was
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Speaker 1: at the It wasn't just the price, right? That in
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Speaker 1: and of itself lets you know something about the materialism, right,
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Speaker 1: that this time of the year has come to represent.
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Speaker 1: But it was the place. It was the place. It
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Speaker 1: was a luxury hotel in Abu Dhabi in 2010. Abu Dhabi,
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Speaker 1: the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi. where
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Speaker 1: it's illegal to preach the gospel Abu Dhabi where you
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Speaker 1: get kicked out of the country if you're giving Bibles
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Speaker 1: away to people Abu Dhabi where it's illegal for Muslims
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Speaker 1: to convert to Christianity the Christmas tree is so unchristian
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Speaker 1: that the most expensive one in the history of the
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Speaker 1: world 11.4 million dollars shining in the lobby of a
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Speaker 1: hotel in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. Now,
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Speaker 1: if the Christmas tree, if they thought the Christmas tree
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Speaker 1: had anything to do with the theology of Christmas, it
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Speaker 1: would have been illegal. Completely and utterly illegal. So I
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Speaker 1: say that not to say, you know, if you got
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Speaker 1: a Christmas tree, you're a bad person, whatever. Knock yourself out.
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Speaker 1: Decorate your house. You know, have fun, whatever. My point is,
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Speaker 1: when and if we're not careful, we move away from
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Speaker 1: the theology of Christmas and this time of year, becomes
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Speaker 1: saturated with a kind of nostalgia and tradition that can
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Speaker 1: give us very warm feelings without having anything to do
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Speaker 1: with the person and work of Christ. And it's become
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Speaker 1: more and more prevalent, especially as the celebration of Christmas
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Speaker 1: has moved earlier and earlier and earlier. You know, it
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Speaker 1: used to be Thanksgiving was over and then it was
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Speaker 1: time to go, right? Now, Halloween, right? It's Halloween and
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Speaker 1: then the Christmas stuff comes out. And not only that,
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Speaker 1: but the radio, the radio stations begin to slowly but
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Speaker 1: surely play more and more Christmas music. Well, because of
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Speaker 1: this the long extended Christmas season, there has become more
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Speaker 1: and more of a need for Christmas music. Because you
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Speaker 1: can't sing the carols for 12 weeks. Amen? Your radio
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Speaker 1: season's not going to do well if you're just playing
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Speaker 1: the carols for 12 weeks. And so not every year,
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Speaker 1: every major artist is coming out with a new Christmas album.
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Speaker 1: And they have everything to do with nostalgia. Everything to
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Speaker 1: do with family. Everything to do with, you know, coming home.
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Speaker 1: And everything to do with winter and snow. Which I'm
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Speaker 1: sure you Hawaiians just absolutely love. The fact that, you know,
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Speaker 1: it's all the winter and snow stuff, right? Everything to
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Speaker 1: do with that. And less and less to do with nostalgia.
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Speaker 1: the advent of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And so,
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Speaker 1: I love this passage because it brings us right back
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Speaker 1: there and it reminds us, it reminds us of why
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Speaker 1: this is important. Not just important, it's the most important
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Speaker 1: event in human history. It's the most significant event in
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Speaker 1: all of human history. Now, as I say that, you know,
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Speaker 1: there are Maybe people have theological quibbles and all this
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Speaker 1: sort of stuff. Listen, I'm not arguing that as a
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Speaker 1: theological point, right, this is the most critical theological issue.
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Speaker 1: We can argue about that. We can debate about that.
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Speaker 1: We can talk about the resurrection and all that. But
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Speaker 1: hear what I'm saying here when I make this point.
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Speaker 1: What I'm saying is the most significant theological moment, the
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Speaker 1: most significant theological moment event issue in history. What I
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Speaker 1: mean is not for us as Christians. I mean for
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Speaker 1: everybody in the world. Every human being. Don't believe me?
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Speaker 1: What year is it? 2024? No. A.D.? 2024. What's AD?
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Speaker 1: Anno Domini, the year of our Lord. This event is
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Speaker 1: so significant, it's split time in half. I don't care
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Speaker 1: where you are. Well, you know, the Chinese, they have
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Speaker 1: a different calendar in the Chinese New Year. Go to
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Speaker 1: China and the calendar will say 2024. Because that's what
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Speaker 1: year it is. For every human being on the planet. Why?
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Speaker 1: Because of the most significant event in the history of
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Speaker 1: the world. that's what I mean when I make that
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Speaker 1: statement and I don't care and I know that you
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Speaker 1: know that there's a whole movement in academia you know
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Speaker 1: where people are trying to move away from BC and
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Speaker 1: AD and now they say BCE right before the common
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Speaker 1: era Oh, you're so smart, Mr. Atheist. You've run away
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Speaker 1: from Jesus because now you say BCE, not before Christ,
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Speaker 1: but before the common era. That's great. Really me this
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Speaker 1: bad man. What brought in the common era? Because your
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Speaker 1: BCE is the same year as my BCE. So you
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Speaker 1: haven't changed the event. You've just changed the terminology so
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Speaker 1: that you could avoid acknowledging the event. Which actually makes
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Speaker 1: it more obvious that the event is of the utmost significance.
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Speaker 1: Because why else would you fight so hard against it?
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Speaker 1: Why else would it bother you so much? Christmas trees
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Speaker 1: don't bother people that's why they spent 11.4 million dollars
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Speaker 1: in 2010 decorating one in Abu Dhabi this this so
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Speaker 1: whether you decorate a tree or not this this has
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Speaker 1: to be at the center of everything that we're doing
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Speaker 1: at this point in time well why Why this passage? Well,
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Speaker 1: I'm glad you asked. Let's look at it. Let's walk
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Speaker 1: through it together, shall we? But when the fullness of
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Speaker 1: time had come, I love that phrase, the fullness of time,
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Speaker 1: the proper time, the opportune time. From a historical perspective,
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Speaker 1: the fullness of time. We just talked about the fact
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Speaker 1: that this event split time right in half But there
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Speaker 1: are a number of things in world history that made
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Speaker 1: this a significant time. Not least of which was the
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Speaker 1: height of the Roman Empire. Not least of which was
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Speaker 1: the influence of Koine Greek throughout that empire. Not least
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Speaker 1: of which was the system of roads during that time.
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Speaker 1: not least of which were a number of things that
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Speaker 1: made the spread of this news more possible. A number
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Speaker 1: of things that made Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, these little tiny
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Speaker 1: places in the grand scheme of things. Why? When in
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Speaker 1: history has it been more of a focal point outside
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Speaker 1: of recent wars and rumors of wars than at this
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Speaker 1: particular time and moment in the fullness of time when
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Speaker 1: the sacrificial system fully established and understood the fullness of
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Speaker 1: time when God's people were Groaning under the weight of
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Speaker 1: oppression and longing for a deliverer. And the fullness of
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Speaker 1: time when they would have been eager, eager to welcome him.
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Speaker 1: God sent forth his son. By the way, don't miss that.
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Speaker 1: It's not just the birth of a baby. And here's
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Speaker 1: a newsflash. I know we like to say, we like
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Speaker 1: to refer to birth as a miracle. Miracles are things
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Speaker 1: that are extraordinary. Miracles are those moments when God steps
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Speaker 1: in and does things in ways that are unexplainable apart
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Speaker 1: from God. Babies being born Wonderful. But even I can
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Speaker 1: explain that. It's not a miracle. There's only been one
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Speaker 1: birth that was a miracle. And it wasn't you and
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Speaker 1: it wasn't your baby. There's only been one birth that's
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Speaker 1: been a miracle. This one. God sent forth his son.
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Speaker 1: This birth was significant because it was the birth of
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Speaker 1: the son of God. This birth was significant because God
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Speaker 1: himself became a man. This birth was significant because this
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Speaker 1: is the incarnation. This birth was unlike any other birth
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Speaker 1: that ever had been or ever would be thereafter. God
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Speaker 1: sent forth his son. Jesus is not just an extraordinary man.
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Speaker 1: He's the God man. fully divine. He was not just there,
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Speaker 1: but spoke the world into existence. All things are made
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Speaker 1: by him and through him and for him. He is
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Speaker 1: before all things. He is the creator and sustainer of
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Speaker 1: the universe. That's who was born that day. That's who
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Speaker 1: condescended that day and wrapped himself in flesh. When the
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Speaker 1: fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son.
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Speaker 1: And so many who celebrate this day celebrate a good
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Speaker 1: man who was born, a good teacher who was born,
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Speaker 1: a good prophet who was born. But they utterly reject
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Speaker 1: the idea that the son of God was born. And
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Speaker 1: it matters. It matters. If this was not the birth
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Speaker 1: of the Son of God, then it was not the
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Speaker 1: birth of our Redeemer. But indeed it was. In the
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Speaker 1: fullness of time, God sent forth His Son. He sent
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Speaker 1: forth His Son, born of a woman. In the fullness
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Speaker 1: of time, God sent forth his son, and his son,
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Speaker 1: God's son, was born of a woman. If you were
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Speaker 1: here on yesterday, we talked some about this, but it
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Speaker 1: bears repeating. The significance of Christ's birth is not just
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Speaker 1: that we have the birth of the Son of God,
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Speaker 1: but it's that we have the birth of the Son
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Speaker 1: of God as the seed of the woman, born of
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Speaker 1: a woman. Look with me, if you will. In Genesis.
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Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 3. Actually before you look there. Go to Romans.
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Speaker 1: Romans 5. 12. Romans 5.12, then we'll back up to
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Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 3. Paul's explaining Genesis chapter 3 here in
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Speaker 1: Romans 5.12. God creates Adam and he gives him a
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Speaker 1: command not to eat of the tree of the knowledge
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Speaker 1: of good and evil. Says that if he does it,
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Speaker 1: he will surely die. And he eats. He eats. And
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Speaker 1: his eyes indeed are opened. Sin indeed enters the world.
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Speaker 1: And death. Romans 5.12. Therefore just as sin came into
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Speaker 1: the world through one man. And death through sin. And
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Speaker 1: so death spread to all men because all sinned. That's important.
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Speaker 1: Death spread to all men because all sinned. Why? Because
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Speaker 1: Adam was our federal head. Sin spread. didn't just enter
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Speaker 1: the world, sin entered Adam, and through Adam has been
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Speaker 1: passed to all men who are born of what is
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Speaker 1: referred to as ordinary generation. Every man born of Adam
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Speaker 1: is born with a sin nature. We inherit that sin
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Speaker 1: nature from Adam. It's called the doctrine of original sin.
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Speaker 1: There's no way around it. Actually, there's only one way
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Speaker 1: around it. We'll get there. Verse 13. For sin indeed
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Speaker 1: was in the world before the law was given, but
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Speaker 1: sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet
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Speaker 1: death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose
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Speaker 1: sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was
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Speaker 1: the type of the one who was to come. Now
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Speaker 1: go back to Genesis 3.15. So Adam eats. Sin enters
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Speaker 1: the world. Sin spreads from Adam to all his posterity.
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Speaker 1: It spreads to everyone who is born of natural generation.
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Speaker 1: Everyone who is born by the union of a man
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Speaker 1: and a woman, and that's all of us, right? Genesis
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Speaker 1: chapter 3, look in verse 14. First, there's a curse
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Speaker 1: to the serpent. The Lord God said to the serpent,
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Speaker 1: because you have done this, cursed are you above all
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Speaker 1: livestock and above all the beasts of the field. On
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Speaker 1: your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat
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Speaker 1: all the days of your life. And then verse 15,
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Speaker 1: I will put enmity between you and the woman, between
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Speaker 1: your offspring and her offspring. He shall bruise your head,
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Speaker 1: you shall bruise his heel. That is what's known as
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Speaker 1: the Proto-Evangelion, the first proclamation of the gospel. The first
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Speaker 1: proclamation of the good news, that the seed of the
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Speaker 1: woman would crush the head of the snake. So our
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Speaker 1: redeemer has to be a man. Our redeemer has to
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Speaker 1: be born of a woman. But if our redeemer is
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Speaker 1: born of the union between a man and a woman,
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Speaker 1: our redeemer would inherit Adam's sin. So what do we do?
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Speaker 1: When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth
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Speaker 1: his son, born of a woman, but not of a man.
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Speaker 1: This is the miracle of the virgin birth. That the
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Speaker 1: Spirit of the Most High overshadows her. So that what
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Speaker 1: is conceived in her is conceived by the Holy Spirit.
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Speaker 1: So that Christ could be Fully God and fully man.
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Speaker 1: He has to be fully man if he's to fulfill
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Speaker 1: the promise and crush the head of the snake. But
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Speaker 1: he has to be fully God if he is going
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Speaker 1: to be born outside of the federal headship of Adam. Otherwise,
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Speaker 1: he would have sins of his own to pay for.
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Speaker 1: The virgin birth matters. There have been many, and there
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Speaker 1: are still today, many liberal theological movements that argue that
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Speaker 1: the virgin birth is not theologically necessary. That the resurrection
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Speaker 1: is not theologically necessary. That we just need Christ as
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Speaker 1: a moral example And Christianity survives just fine. But if
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Speaker 1: Christ is just a moral example, there are several problems
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Speaker 1: with that. If there was no virgin birth, then Christ
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Speaker 1: was sinful and not sinless. And his sins might not
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Speaker 1: have been recorded in the scriptures, but they would have existed.
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Speaker 1: They would have to. They would have to. No virgin birth,
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Speaker 1: no Christianity. No resurrection, no Christianity. Not a Christianity worth believing.
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Speaker 1: Not a Christianity worth living. And the fullness, when the
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Speaker 1: fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son,
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Speaker 1: fully God, born of a woman, fully man, born under
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Speaker 1: the law. Every phrase here is important. Fully God, fully man.
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Speaker 1: Born under the law. Why is this significant? Well, Christ
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Speaker 1: is born without a sin nature. Amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord. However,
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Speaker 1: being born without a sin nature doesn't guarantee that you
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Speaker 1: will live without sinning. I.e., Adam. Born without a sin nature,
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Speaker 1: but sinned. By the way, look back in our passage...
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Speaker 1: In Romans chapter 5, if you had your finger there,
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Speaker 1: and I want you to see the last part. Let's
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Speaker 1: see verse 14 again. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses,
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Speaker 1: even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression
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Speaker 1: of Adam, who was a type of the one who
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Speaker 1: was to come. Adam was a type of Christ. A
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Speaker 1: type of Christ. There are two Adams. There is the
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Speaker 1: first Adam, and there is the last Adam. And the
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Speaker 1: first Adam was our federal head, and as our federal head,
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Speaker 1: he failed, he sinned, he did not obey God. The
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Speaker 1: last Adam comes, and like the first Adam, he is
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Speaker 1: born without original sin, but he's born under the law,
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Speaker 1: and he must keep the whole law in order to
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Speaker 1: be righteous. And he does just that. Scripture says he
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Speaker 1: was tempted at every point, as we are, and yet
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Speaker 1: without sin. Completely and utterly sinless. He kept the whole law.
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Speaker 1: So he was born without sin and he lived a
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Speaker 1: perfect righteous life. This is important because otherwise he could
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Speaker 1: not be our righteousness. He could not impute his righteousness
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Speaker 1: to us. He's born under the law. And he kept
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Speaker 1: that law perfectly. Son of God, son of man, perfectly
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Speaker 1: righteous according to the law. All of this is important.
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Speaker 1: Look at the next phrase. But when the fullness of
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Speaker 1: time had come, God sent forth his son, born of
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Speaker 1: a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who
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Speaker 1: were under the law. That's why. To redeem those who
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Speaker 1: are under the law. There's so much in that phrase.
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Speaker 1: Paul's using shorthand here. How does he redeem those who
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Speaker 1: are under the law? What does it mean for him
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Speaker 1: to redeem those who are under the law? Again, this
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Speaker 1: is a reference to Christ's active and passive obedience. His
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Speaker 1: active obedience we just talked about. It's him. the sinless
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Speaker 1: Son of God who keeps the whole law perfectly. That's
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Speaker 1: his active obedience. And because of his active obedience, he
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Speaker 1: can impute his righteousness to us. As his righteousness is
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Speaker 1: imputed to us, we can stand before God clothed in
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Speaker 1: the righteousness of Christ. But there's also the passive obedience
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Speaker 1: of Christ wherein he takes upon himself The sins of
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Speaker 1: those he came to redeem. Where he suffers vicariously on
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Speaker 1: our behalf. Where our sins are imputed to him and
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Speaker 1: our sins are nailed to the cross. God made him
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Speaker 1: who knew no sin to be sin for us so
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Speaker 1: that we might become the righteousness of God and Him.
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Speaker 1: Christ died for sin once for all, the just for
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Speaker 1: the unjust, so that He might bring us to God.
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Speaker 1: So our sinfulness is imputed to Him. And in His
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Speaker 1: passive obedience, He dies the death that we deserve He
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Speaker 1: pays the penalty that we owe and could never pay.
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Speaker 1: But because of his active obedience, he imputes his perfect
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Speaker 1: righteousness to us. This is what Paul is referring to.
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Speaker 1: Look in Romans chapter 3. Back up a little bit
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Speaker 1: to Romans chapter 3. And there's an important phrase here.
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Speaker 1: Look at the beginning of verse 21 of Romans chapter 3.
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Speaker 1: We just read that word, right? Right? as a gift
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Speaker 1: through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. We just
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Speaker 1: read that word, right? To redeem those who are under
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Speaker 1: the law. Whom God put forward as a propitiation by
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Speaker 1: his blood to be received by faith. Propitiation means he
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Speaker 1: satisfies the righteous wrath of God. This was to show
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Speaker 1: God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance He had passed
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Speaker 1: over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at
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Speaker 1: the present time so that he might be just. Why
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Speaker 1: is he just? Because he punishes sin and he has to.
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Speaker 1: And the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
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Speaker 1: God must punish sin. He's righteous. He must. And by
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Speaker 1: the way, we know this. We all know this. doesn't
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Speaker 1: matter where you grew up, doesn't matter what language you
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Speaker 1: grew up speaking, one of the first things that you
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Speaker 1: learn to say with conviction is, that's not fair. Amen?
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Speaker 1: I say one of the first things, because usually the
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Speaker 1: first thing you learn to say with conviction is, mine! Right?
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Speaker 1: But after that, it's, that's not fair. All of us
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Speaker 1: have an innate sense of justice. That's not fair. That's
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Speaker 1: not fair. That's not fair. That needs to be made right.
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Speaker 1: That needs to be fixed and you're absolutely right. And
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Speaker 1: it will be. It will be. Every sin will receive
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Speaker 1: its just retribution from a holy and righteous and just God.
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Speaker 1: By the way, Every last one of us learned to
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Speaker 1: say that with conviction about everyone's sin but our own. Amen?
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Speaker 1: There are people who just want to wipe their hands
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Speaker 1: and be done with God. Why? Because of the injustice
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Speaker 1: that I've seen. The injustice. How could there be a
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Speaker 1: God if that could be allowed to... Watch yourself. Watch yourself.
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Speaker 1: Because you thought, said, and did things on yesterday for
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Speaker 1: which you deserve to die in your sleep last night.
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Speaker 1: If God gave us all what we justly deserved, none
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Speaker 1: of us would stand. But rest assured, it will be
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Speaker 1: dealt with because God is just. It will either be
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Speaker 1: dealt with By the sinner separated from God in eternity
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Speaker 1: and under his wrath and hell or nailed to the cross.
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Speaker 1: What's the difference? Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
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Speaker 1: the difference. Those who come to him by faith. back
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Speaker 1: in our text but when the fullness of time had
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Speaker 1: come God sent forth his son born of a woman
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Speaker 1: born under the law to redeem those who are under
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Speaker 1: the law so that we might receive adoption as sons
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Speaker 1: so that we might receive adoption as sons you know
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Speaker 1: usually when we talk about the order salutis or the
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Speaker 1: order of salvation there are these three terms if you've
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Speaker 1: been around church for a while You know these three terms, justification, sanctification, glorification, right?
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Speaker 1: We know and love those three terms. But the Ordo
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Speaker 1: Salutis actually has four steps, not three. Justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification.
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Speaker 1: God justifies us. He declares us righteous. That's that legal terminology.
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Speaker 1: You stand before the judge, the gavel comes down, and
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Speaker 1: you are declared not innocent. You are declared perfectly righteous
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Speaker 1: because of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Speaker 1: Your sin has been imputed to him. His righteousness has
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Speaker 1: been imputed to you. You stand before the judge perfectly righteous.
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Speaker 1: You are justified. The declaration is made. And then we
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Speaker 1: usually think about sanctification. Sanctification is the process, right? Justification,
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Speaker 1: I have been saved from the penalty of sin, right?
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Speaker 1: And then there's sanctification, where we're being conformed to the
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Speaker 1: image of Christ. We are being saved from the power
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Speaker 1: of sin. We're being sanctified. Then there's glorification. One day
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Speaker 1: we will be saved from the very presence of sin.
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Speaker 1: But that other step, where God doesn't just declare us
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Speaker 1: righteous and then conform us to the image of Christ
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Speaker 1: and then one day take us on to glory. He
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Speaker 1: declares us righteous. He adopts us as sons and daughters.
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Speaker 1: He calls us his own, not slaves but sons. And
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Speaker 1: it is because of our adoption that we begin to
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Speaker 1: bear the family resemblance. Our sanctification is an outflowing of
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Speaker 1: our adoption. We have children who came to our family
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Speaker 1: through biological means, We have children who came into our
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Speaker 1: family through adoption. And it's an amazing thing. Sometimes we're
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Speaker 1: asked about that, right? And it's always awkward. People ask us,
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Speaker 1: you know, which ones are your real children? They're all real.
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Speaker 1: Which ones are your own? Try to take one and
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Speaker 1: find out. Right? Which ones are your natural children? None
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Speaker 1: of them are all that natural. You know, but what's
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Speaker 1: not natural about an adoption? God does that. Right? Which ones,
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Speaker 1: you know, at least these questions that people ask. But
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Speaker 1: what always amazes me is when someone will come and
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Speaker 1: they will say to one of the children who came
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Speaker 1: to our family via adoption how they look just like
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Speaker 1: one of us. Or they'll say about one of my
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Speaker 1: son's mannerisms, oh, I see dad right there. And I'm like, yeah,
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Speaker 1: me too. Me too. Even without the biological connection, there's
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Speaker 1: family resemblance. Even married people. Amen? Husbands and wives. You
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Speaker 1: let two people be married long enough And their mannerisms
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Speaker 1: start to, I mean, they just, you know, you let
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Speaker 1: them be together. There's a family resemblance. How much more
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Speaker 1: in the family of God when we are adopted sons
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Speaker 1: and daughters, when he takes us into the number of
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Speaker 1: his sons and daughters. And not only that, verse 7,
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Speaker 1: so you are no longer a slave, but a son.
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Speaker 1: And if a son, then an heir through God. An
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Speaker 1: heir to what? All things. And a fellow heir with Christ.
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Speaker 1: That is the significance of Christmas. Not just the hope
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Speaker 1: that we have when we look at a newborn baby.
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Speaker 1: And that's awesome. That's wonderful. Like, you have to be
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Speaker 1: a hard person not to have your heart melt when
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Speaker 1: you see a newborn baby. When they're like brand new
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Speaker 1: and little and smushy and they smell like, you just want,
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Speaker 1: you know, you have to be a messed up person
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Speaker 1: to not be moved by that, right? But that's not
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Speaker 1: what we're talking about here. That's beautiful. But it's beautiful
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Speaker 1: because it points to something greater. What's amazing is when
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Speaker 1: that promise comes, because that was a promise, they eat
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Speaker 1: of the forbidden fruit. Their eyes are open. They run
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Speaker 1: and they hide from God. They know. They know that
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Speaker 1: they're toast. It's done. They're going to die. God said so.
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Speaker 1: God shows up. And he starts by cursing the serpent.
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Speaker 1: And here are Adam and Eve. I imagine the two
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Speaker 1: of them grabbing each other's hand, just waiting for the end.
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Speaker 1: We're done. And he curses the serpent and he says,
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Speaker 1: I'm going to put enmity between you and the woman
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Speaker 1: and between your offspring and her offspring. And in that moment,
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Speaker 1: while Eve is waiting for her curse, she receives a promise.
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Speaker 1: You're not going to die today. Because you're going to
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Speaker 1: have offspring. Yes, death entered the world. But so did
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Speaker 1: a promise. She hadn't born children yet. And then she does.
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Speaker 1: And in the face of that newborn baby, there's hope.
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Speaker 1: Is this the one who will crush the head of
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Speaker 1: the snake? Is this the one who will undo what
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Speaker 1: we have done? And with the birth of every baby thereafter,
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Speaker 1: there is that hope until one day when the fullness
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Speaker 1: of time had come, God finally sent forth his son,
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Speaker 1: born of a woman, born under the law to redeem
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Speaker 1: those who were under the law. but the answer that
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Speaker 1: we've been waiting for to crush the head of the
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Speaker 1: serpent and he did and he did to end the
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Speaker 1: curse and he did for all of those who come
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Speaker 1: to him by faith and to offer us not just
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Speaker 1: redemption but adoption That's the message. Have your tree. You
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Speaker 1: better not miss this. Because if you have your tree
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Speaker 1: and you miss this, then you just got a whole
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Speaker 1: bunch of thistles and thorns to clean up in January.
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Speaker 1: And hopelessness thereafter. But if you have this, whatever other
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Speaker 1: trappings you have around you, pale in comparison to the
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Speaker 1: glorious hope that is ours because of the person and
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Speaker 1: work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the promise fulfilled
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Speaker 1: in him. If you are here today, my prayer for
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Speaker 1: you is that this promise becomes your reality. That you
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Speaker 1: find in Christ your only hope of salvation. That you
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Speaker 1: find in Christ the hope that you were intended to
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Speaker 1: find in Him and nowhere else. That you flee to
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Speaker 1: Christ not for the temporary nostalgia of a season, but
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Speaker 1: for the never-ending hope, the everlasting hope of eternal life
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Speaker 1: to all those who will repent of their sin and
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Speaker 1: flee to Christ. Receiving Him by faith. Trusting in Him,
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Speaker 1: in Him alone, to be the answer to the sin
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Speaker 1: problem that you inherited from Adam and then gladly participated
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Speaker 1: in every day of your life. Let's pray. Gracious God,
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Speaker 1: our Father, we thank you and praise you for the
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Speaker 1: glorious gift of your only begotten Son. For the gift
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Speaker 1: of salvation in and through Him. Grant by your grace
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Speaker 1: that we might receive this gift, rest in this gift,
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Speaker 1: and that Christ indeed might have the fullness of the
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Speaker 1: reward for which he died. This is our prayer and
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Speaker 1: our greatest hope. We ask this in Christ's name and
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Speaker 1: for his sake. Amen.