Galatians 4:4-7
But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father.’ Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Galatians 4:4-7
Here are questions to consider as we approach this holiday season: What is the greatest gift we could ever receive? And what is the greatest gift that we could give to someone else?
On the corner of 9th avenue and Bayou Blvd in Pensacola, Florida sits Sacred Heart Hospital, directly across from Cordova Mall. I grew up just a few blocks from there, and my mother was a private duty nurse at that hospital. So the story I’m about to tell you means even more to me because I know the setting so well.
Alice Murray is an attorney who specializes in working with those who would like to adopt a child. As you can well imagine, there is no rest for the weary in this important field of service. It’s a 24 hour a day job, 7 days a week and 365 days out of the year.
When it’s time for a baby to be born, the child doesn’t stop to check the calendar to see if it’s a holiday. So, in answer to an urgent call, Ms. Murray drove to the parking lot of Sacred Heart Hospital. Now most hospitals put up a few decorations for the holidays, but which hospital can compete with a shopping mall?
So as the attorney looked across the street at Cordova Mall that Christmas Eve, she felt envious. The restaurants were full and everyone seemed to be in a festive mood “as the shoppers rushed home with their treasures.”[i] But as any medical professional could tell you, hospitals and nursing homes don’t make for the happiest of holidays. Ms. Murray knew that it was a painful episode for the new mother giving up her child.
She wrote, “But, poor pitiful me, I was relegated to getting about 50 pages of adoption paperwork executed in a hospital. Oh, Christmas joy! Of course, my bad attitude evaporated immediately when I saw the beautiful bundle of joy and the beaming faces of the new parents. . . . The young couple had received the best Christmas present ever; if they did not receive a single other gift that holiday, they would not have cared.”[ii]
But then she told the rest of the story. The new adoptive mom, who had been unable to have children, was a preschool teacher. Earlier that month, she had been out on the playground supervising the children, when one little girl approached her. “What do you want for Christmas?” the little girl asked her. The teacher told the little girl that what her husband and she wanted more than anything else was to adopt a baby for Christmas, but that was unlikely. So the little girl told the teacher that she would pray for that, and she did. She knelt down on that sandy playground, clasped her hands and prayed a simple prayer asking God to give her teacher a baby for Christmas! And a few days later, the couple received a call from the office about a last-minute opportunity to adopt.
Isn’t the Lord good? The psalmist wrote that out of the mouth of babes and infants the Lord has ordained strength (Psalm 8:2).[iii] Just imagine what Christmas Eve is like in that household in Pensacola each year. A “Christmas adoption” would make the joys of the holiday season even brighter. An adopted child is blessed with acceptance, and a sense of belonging. The legal aspect of adoption also makes the child an heir of the adoptive parents’ estate. In Galatians 4:4-7, we can see God’s plans for a “Christmas adoption;” God sent forth His natural Son, the Lord Jesus, in order to adopt believers into His family. Merry Christmas!
In this Christmas season, we have studied Galatians 4 and the phrase, “The Fullness of Time”[iv] and the theme for our Christmas program last Sunday was “God Sent Forth His Son.” This has been all the more meaningful as we have understood the connection to the Book of Daniel.
The Blessing of our Christmas Adoption
But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Galatians 4:4-5
God sent forth His Son. That’s what we celebrate at Christmas. But there is even greater reason to celebrate. God sent His Son to redeem those who were under that Law so that we might be adopted as sons! And verse 7 adds that this makes us heirs of God. Wow! This brings to mind so many other passages of Scripture, such as Ephesians 1:3-14, Romans 8:14-17, 23-26 and Hebrews 2:5-13. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Jesus calls us “brothers” now (Hebrews 2:11). The Apostle Paul wrote, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the manifestation of the sons of God” (Romans 8:18-19)
Now it’s one thing to adopt a beautiful little newborn. But the adoption described in this passage is far more wonderful. Imagine adopting a surly teenager who has been bitten and blasted by the bitterness of this world. Can you see how such a Christmas adoption would demonstrate even greater grace?
Yet, that’s exactly what the Lord did, and you can see the description for yourself. Turn to Romans 3 to begin with verse 10. Now just imagine this profile and ask yourself, “Would I be willing to adopt such a person as this?”
Not righteous (3:10), doesn’t understand, doesn’t seek after God (3:11), is not profitable and doesn’t do good, no not one of them (3:12), has speech like an open tomb, and uses it deceptively like a serpent’s poison (3:13), full of cursing and bitterness (3:14), is murderous (3:15) with ways full of destruction and misery (3:16). They way of peace they have not known (3:17) and there is no fear of God before their eyes (3:18). Is it any wonder that the Law of God shuts every mouth, and that all the world is guilty before God (3:19)? So here is what the Lord did: by providing righteousness that was very different from the Law’s unattainable righteousness, God offered mankind redemption and adoption (3:21-23). Why? It is because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (3:23). So, God can show mankind how to have a righteous standing in His sight freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (3:24). So, yes, God is very gracious to adopt humbled, repentant people who are like surly teenagers.
Sometimes, half the fun of Christmas is collaborating with others about what you are going to give. Think about the collaboration in Galatians 4:6, “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts crying, ‘Abba, Father.’” Who worked together? God the Father sent the Holy Spirit, who works so closely with God the Son that He is called “the Spirit of His Son.” All three worked in our hearts to cause us to realize what it really means to be adopted by the Lord. We have been blessed with the understanding that we have been accepted in the Beloved, to the praise of the glory of His grace (Ephesians 1:6)! We now have a sense of belonging in the church as a family (Ephesians 3:15). And now, as children of God, the Holy Spirit helps us cry out to our Heavenly Father with an even greater sense of acceptance and belonging. What a reason to have a very merry Christmas this year!
“The time of fullness marked the day when God sent forth His Son.
Of woman born, and under law, redemption’s time had come,
Reversing that old curse for us, adopting us in love,
The blessing of the Trinity, free grace, from heav’n above
Joint-heirs with Christ, and Spirit-led, we praise the Trinity!
For “Abba, Father!” now we cry, we’re in God’s family!
We’ve heard the Gospel Word of Truth, believing by His Grace:
In His own precious promises, for our accursed race.
The Promised Spirit seals us now for greater blessings still
God gives us an inheritance the Living Father’s will” [v]
When you fully grasp the meaning of your Christmas adoption and eternal inheritance, then you will see that the gifts under the tree are mere trinkets.
Remember those two questions from the beginning of the message? What is the greatest gift we could ever receive? And what is the greatest gift that we could give to someone else? Now we know that the greatest gift we could ever receive is the gift of the Christmas adoption. Joy to the world, we have been adopted and given an inheritance. What is the greatest gift that we could give? Consider the words of Romans 8:32, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
About 16 years ago, a woman from West Virginia decided to find her birth family. Sarah Culberson had been adopted by a loving family, but she wanted to find out more about her biological parents. She learned that her mother had died. But then the real shock came: her father was alive and well in Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa, just north of Liberia. But even more, her father was a “paramount chief” in the Mende tribe, and Sarah learned that she was considered to be a princess.[vi] Her newly-discovered position did not bring her wealth, but it gave her something more important. As she toured the war-torn nation of Sierra Leone, Sarah developed a sense of responsibility to help her family and her native land. Every truly redeemed person knows the joy of a newfound position and responsibility.
Blessing Others with Our Christmas Adoption
And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father.’ Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Galatians 4:6-7
In these Covid-crazy times, people are lonely, depressed and discouraged. What can we do to help? As people who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, adopted into God’s family and given an inheritance, what could we do? You and I both know that between talk of pandemic policies and political policies, people are frustrated. (Ok, yes, that’s an understatement.) So what could we do to help? What could we give them this Christmas?
We can pray! We can give them the gift of prayer. We could show them that God really could change their lives and circumstances.
When you trusted the finished work of Jesus Christ, God sent His Spirit into your heart. In the words of Romans 5:5, God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. We have the privilege and the responsibility of taking requests to God, crying out, “Abba, Father!” We are the people who have been given the honor of going before the throne of grace that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
Would you consider beginning a prayer project with us? The pastors and deacons discussed this idea in our meeting on Wednesday night. During the initial surge of this recent sickness, there was a lot of community support for those in the medical field. But now folks have grown weary of all the Covid restrictions, and some are angry over the situation. Unfortunately, some are venting their spleens[vii] toward the very people who are trying to help them. And many of the hospital ICU departments are full. Would you be willing to reach out to the medical professionals you know to ask them how we might pray for them? And would you be willing to join a team to pray (even by phone) for those who are on the front line of this crisis? In these trying times, this is one of the way that we could put our “Christmas adoption” to work and take on our responsibilities as believers.
Pastor Gordon Dickson, Calvary Baptist Church, Findlay, Ohio, www.cbcfindlay.org
[i] Silver Bells by Bing Crosby accessed at https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/bing-crosby/silver-bells
[ii] Alice H. Murray, “Miracle on 9th Avenue – A Christmas Adoption Story” accessed at https://adoption.com/miracle-9th-avenue-christmas-adoption-story
[iii] Jesus quoted this passage to His critics in Matthew 21:1-17 as the children praised Him.
[iv] The Fullness of Time Youtube video accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VrxgyzLZQNM
[v] A Hymn of Adoption, accessed at https://www.cbcfindlay.org/a-hymn-of-adoption/
[vi] Char Adams, “In quest to find birth family, woman makes ‘life-altering’ discovery: She’s a princess,” NBC News, December 17, 2020 accessed at https://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/quest-find-birth-family-woman-makes-life-altering-discovery-she-n1251296 The book, “A Princess Found” is the basis for a forthcoming movie.
[vii] “Venting one’s spleen” is an English idiom meaning to voice one’s anger. See https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/vent+your+spleen