P a g e | 1 Galatians 3:26 – 4:7 – Freedom by Adoption
Inheritance, identity and intimacy
Previously in Galatians…. recap
1)
Inheritance
3:29 – 4:2:
“If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs
according to the promise. What I am saying is that as long as the
heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the
whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until the time
set by his father.”
4:7:
“So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son,
God has made you also an heir.”
The homeless brothers who inherited a share of GBP 4 billion estate
A pair of penniless down and outs inherited a share of a 4 billion
GBP fortune after a bizarre twist in family fortunes. Brothers Zsolt
and Geza Peladi were so poor they lived in a cave outside
Budapest, Hungary, and sold scrap they found on the street for
pennies. Now both of them and a sister who lives in America
inherited their grandmother's massive fortune after a life of
poverty. "We knew our mother came from a wealthy family but
she was a difficult person and had severed ties with them, then
later abandoned us and we lost touch with her and our father
until she eventually died," said Geza, 43. They learned of their
good fortune after homelessness charity workers in Hungary were
contacted by lawyers handling the estate of the brothers'
maternal grandmother in Germany.
P a g e | 2 What have we inherited? What is in the will? What is our spiritual
inheritance?
Elsewhere, Paul prays:
“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order
that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the
riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people” (Ephesians
1:18)
The promise made to Abraham and fulfilled in Christ.
Ephesians 1 – every spiritual blessing…
We have inherited the kingdom of God.
We own the whole estate….
The now and not yet of the kingdom of God.
“In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into
an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance
is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by
God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be
revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1:3-5)
Salvation. Justification. Sanctification. Glorification.
Ephesians 1:13-14
“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the
message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you
believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy
Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the
redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of
his glory.”
P a g e | 3 2)
Identity
“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.” (3:26)
“clothed with Christ” (3:27)
no dividing lines…”you are all one in Christ Jesus” (3:28)
“heirs” (3:29)
“no longer a slave, but a son; ….also an heir.” (4:7)
The Peladi brothers….
“The brothers are currently seeking copies of their mother’s death
certificate and proof of their identity and family connections as
the rightful heirs before travelling to Germany to claim the
fortune.”
From collecting scrap and eking out an existence in a cave to
owning the vast majority of a £ 4 billion estate…
You are no longer a slave, a cave-dweller, a dealer in scrap….you
are no longer under the law, you are a child of God and you have
inherited vast riches from God’s estate… from God’s kingdom.
Who do you think you are?
I Am Significant (Freedom in Christ)
I am no longer worthless, inadequate, helpless or hopeless. In
Christ I am
deeply significant and special. God says:
I am the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
I am a branch of the true vine, Jesus, a channel of His life.
I have been chosen and appointed by God to bear fruit.
I am a personal, Spirit-empowered witness of Christ.
P a g e | 4 I am a temple of God.
I am a minister of reconciliation for God.
I am God’s fellow worker.
I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realms.
I am God’s workmanship, created for good works.
I may approach God with freedom and confidence.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!
3)
Intimacy
4:6 “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our
hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
A baby’s cry matches its mother’s language. A new-born child,
just two or three days old, cries in a distinctive way, mimicking the
sound of the child’s mother. Researchers recently studied 60 newborn children from French and German families. They found that
babies will match their cry to the sounds and intonations of their
mother’s voice.
Parents don’t need to be told this. From day one they can
distinguish the cry of their child from a crowd of others. The mother
or father recognises instantly the cry of their child.
God our Father is no different. We have a distinctive cry.
“Abba, Father!” something which we cry by the Spirit of the Son
who lives in us as believers.
4:6 “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our
hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”
P a g e | 5 “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live
in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your
adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The
Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ.” (Romans 8:15-17)
Prayer is an unusual exercise in many ways.
If I were to petition the Queen of England for something, I am not
sure I would get very far. While she is my Queen and I am her
subject, I have no relationship with her beyond that, she does not
know me, my contact with her would be formal and probably
fairly fruitless.
Why would I then come to the God of the Universe, the God of all
creation, the God who is beyond space and time – and pray?
Why would I raise my petitions to him? Why would I talk to him?
Why would I pray?
Because he is my Father and I am his son and he recognises my
cry – “Abba, Father.” It is a cry of intimacy. It is the cry of a child to
its parent. It is a cry that is heard.
It is the cry of Jesus in Gethsemane – “Abba, Father”.
And we get to share that intimacy because, as Christ-followers,
we have been adopted into God’s family, we have received the
Spirit of the Son who now lives in us, and we are God’s children, he
is our Father.
By him we cry Father. We have the Spirit of Christ in us. We are
clothed with Christ. We are in Christ. Christ is in us. We identify with
him. He is our co-heir.
P a g e | 6 Lord, teach us to pray, said the disciples to Jesus.
Pray like this, said Jesus. “Our Father”….
Isn’t this what John is exclaiming in his first letter:
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1
John 3:1)
While the law was holding sway, we were slaves, held captive,
waiting for an inheritance, looked after by the family tutor, but
“when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a
woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that
we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Galatians 4:4-5)
When we pray, when we cry out to God, it is from a place of
relationship and intimacy.
At the surface level, this is strange. That we could speak to God.
That we could pray. That we could be in relationship with God.
But you can only really experience this when you become a
Christian, when the Spirit of God lives in you, when you are “born
of the Spirit”….
This isn’t about rules and regulations and religion – this is about
relationship with God as your Father.
When you pray, you don’t need formulas and formalities and fixed
phrases…
The Spirit of God in you cries
out….”Abba”….”Daddy”….”Dad”….”Father”….
P a g e | 7 Do you think it’s your performance that brings you close to God?
Your correct prayers? Following the rules? Doing the right things all
the time? Do you think it’s your service? Your ministry? Your
attendance record? Do you think God cares whether you pray in
the right order, get the ACTS acrostic right, use the right words….
Jesus told a story in the Bible about a father and a son. The son
had an inheritance due to him, but he squandered it, wasted it,
didn’t value it, and ended up living like a slave – worse than a
slave.
As the son sat one day in the mess of his own making, he thought
back to his Father’s household, the warmth, the laughter, the
meals together….the intimacy.
He missed home so much. He had messed up so much. So badly.
I want to go home to my dad, he thought.
I’ll make a deal with him. I’ll work for him. I’ll be his servant. I’ll serve
him. Maybe then he will accept me again into his home. I’ll beg
and I’ll grovel, and I know it won’t be what it was, but at least I’ll
be home.
The Father. The father has different ideas. The father is waiting for
the son, looking for the son, wanting the son to come home… As
the son approaches, rehearsing his lines, ready with his offer to
serve and work in his dad’s house, the father sees him while he is
still a long way away, and rushes out.
P a g e | 8 There follows a scene of great joy. Hugs and tears and embraces.
The dad clothes the son with the best robes, puts a ring on his
finger, lays on a feast, welcomes him home, loves him deeply.
All the son can say in this heap of tears and hugs is
“Abba”…”Dad”….. “The inheritance”…“I am so sorry”
The son turns up dirty …the father washes him
The son is in rags….the father places a robe on him
His fingers are gnarled from cold and work…the father slides a ring
on his finger
The son is hungry and poor….the father puts on a massive feast
The young man comes as a slave…the father embraces him as his
son
Let me show you one of my favourite pictures of me and my
daughter which sits on my desk. (Show picture of Beth and me.)
There is no earning here. No servitude. No rules.
Just the embrace of a father.
Don’t stay in your mess thinking there is no way back home.
Don’t think that you can earn or work your way into your Father’s
house.
Read Galatians 4:4-7
The Father is waiting to embrace you.
Song - Julie Miller – I will arise and go to Jesus…
P a g e | 9 Community group questions and discussion points:
If it is helpful focus on one area of the message:
1) Inheritance 2) Identity or 3) Intimacy
1)
Inheritance
What does it mean to be an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ?
What have we inherited? What is in the will? (See Ephesians 1:18, 1
Peter 1:3-5, Ephesians 1:3-14)
2)
Identity
Who does Paul say we are in Christ? (See Galatians 3:26, 27, 28,
29; 4:7)
What are some of the names or descriptions of us in scripture (see
Freedom in Christ list in the notes) that you find hardest to accept
about yourself?
How can we really know and live in the reality of who we are in
Christ? How can we strengthen our identity as “heirs of the
promise” / “adopted children of God”?
3)
Intimacy
What is that enables us to pray and speak to God as our Father?
(See also Romans 8:15-17)
In what ways do we act like the prodigal son, thinking that we will
serve our father for his favour?
P a g e | 10 How do you get on with prayer? Do you think there is a right way
to pray? How can we grow in our intimacy with God as our
Father?