All of grace. Galatians 4.4-7
Galatians 4 (2)
Pray Psalm 105.3-7.
Glory in His holy name;
Let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!
Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!
Remember His marvelous works which He has done,
His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth,
O seed of Abraham His servant,
You children of Jacob, His chosen ones!
He is the LORD our God;
His judgments are in all the earth.
Sing Psalm 105.3-7.
(Warrington: Give to Our God Immortal Praise)
Glory in God, rejoice in heart, all you who seek His holy part.
Him and His strength and Presence seek; His works proclaim, His judgments speak.
You holy children of Abraham, you chosen ones of Jacob, stand!
He is our LORD, of wondrous worth; His judgments are in all the earth.
Read Galatians 4.1-7; meditate on verses 4-7.
Preparation
1. When did God send forth His Son?
2. How did we become children of God?
Meditation
These few verses are filled with many glances at the glorious works of God! First, God’s management of time sets the stage. The “fullness of the time” (v. 4) indicates that all the world conditions were just what God intended for the coming of His Son. Then God sent Him forth as a Baby, born of Mary, born both to keep the Law and to bear the burden of the Law’s judgment against the sinful world (vv. 4, 5). By doing so, Jesus redeemed all those chosen children of God that they might “receive the adoption” as sons and daughters of God.
Then, because He chose and redeemed us, He moved to make us His own children, sending His Spirit to apply the work of redemption to all who believe in Jesus (v. 6). We note that the coming of the Spirit follows on from our election and redemption and precedes our calling out in faith. Indeed, the Greek makes it clear—by attaching the word “crying out” to the Holy Spirit—that the Spirit Himself engages our voice to call God our Father.
And with this “crying out” we are adopted into the household of faith, sons and daughters of the living God (v. 7). We are no longer slaves to the elemental things of the world; we have become children of God.
And all this is the work of God: His sovereignty, incarnation, atonement, redemption, justification, indwelling, and adoption. This is the work of grace by which we are saved for eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“But when the fullness of the time had come,
God sent forth His Son,
born of a woman,
born under the law,
to redeem those who were under the law,
that we might receive the adoption as sons.
And because you are sons,
God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son
into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’
…an heir of God through Christ” (Gal. 4.4-7).
“I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness,
and will hold Your hand;
I will keep You
and give You as a covenant to the people,
as a light to the Gentiles,
to open blind eyes,
to bring out prisoners from the prison,
those who sit in darkness from the prison house.
I AM the LORD, that is My Name;
and My glory I will not give to another,
nor My praise to carved images.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
and new things I declare;
before they spring forth
I tell you of them” (Is. 42.6-9).
“Behold! The Lamb of God
Who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1.29)
“…because He poured out His soul unto death, and He was numbered with the transgressors,
and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Is. 53.12).
“…Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree,
that we having died to sins, might live for righteousness—
by Whose stripes you were healed” (1 Pet. 2.24).
If keeping the Law was not important to please God, then why did He send His Son to keep it perfectly?
And then, if He gave us His Son’s Holy Spirit to live within us, wouldn’t He expect the same accomplishment from us?
Of course, we are sinful human beings, in need of a Savior, and in need of that Savior’s Spirit to empower us.
But what we are quibbling about is the importance of the Law, and of keeping it as best we can through the power of the Holy Spirit within us. Yes, by grace we are saved.
It is unimaginable to think that Jesus’ Spirit within us, the One Who allows us to cry out, “Abba, Father”, would want to do anything other than please God by keeping His way pure (Ps. 19.7-11).
And wouldn’t Jesus want to please Himself, and make His Father glad? (Prov. 10.1)
And really, would the Holy Spirit lead us in any other way (Jn. 16.7, 13, 14),
except straight back to the Law that God gave for all to live by? (Ex. 20.1-17; Matt. 22.37-40)
The perfect keeping of which, because we couldn’t, was the reason the Savior died.
We are redeemed and adopted to bear good fruit (Gal. 5.22, 23).
Reflection
1. Jesus is central to all the work of God. Explain.
2. How does the Law of God fit into Jesus’ work for our salvation?
3. How does the Law of God fit into the salvation we have in Jesus?
In venturing, he says, to call God your Father, you have the advice and direction of the Spirit of Christ; therefore it is certain that you are the sons of God. This agrees with what is elsewhere taught by him, that the Spirit is the earnest and pledge of our adoption, and gives to us a well-founded belief that God regards us with a father’s love. John Calvin (1509-1564), Commentary on Galatians 4.6
Pray Psalm 105.1, 2, 8-11, 45.
Rejoice in the Lord and in all His works, especially that He has made us His own children. Commit this day to walking the Jesus Path and serving God faithfully in all you do.
Sing Psalm 105.1, 2, 8-11, 45.
(Warrington: Give to Our God Immortal Praise)
Give thanks unto the LORD Most High; call on His Name, before Him cry!
Make known His deeds in every land; sing praise for all the works of His hand.
He will His covenant faithfully guard—His oath, the promise of His Word.
That which He to our fathers swore, He will perform forevermore!
So let us all in our Savior confide, and in His holy Law abide.
Let us observe His glorious Word, and praise our sovereign, faithful LORD!
T. M. and Susie Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter.
