WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:03.680 Alright, let's get our Bibles open to Galatians chapter three. 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:05.599 We are still uh in Galatians. 00:00:05.679 --> 00:00:15.359 We're actually about halfway through or so, and uh just again plumbing the depths of the gospel and what that's all about, and trust that that's uh a blessing to you as much as it has been uh to me for sure. 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:20.079 And as you're kind of kind of getting turned over there, I got a picture to throw up here to show you. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:23.440 Uh these are uh great friends of ours of Ange and I. 00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:26.559 This is Tyler and Amber uh Steingard. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:30.559 They are um friends of ours from our days in Barrie, actually. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:37.600 Um, when I was up there and interviewing, Tyler was one of the very first guys I ever met, and he just made Ange and I uh feel so, so welcome. 00:00:37.759 --> 00:00:50.640 And I actually worked with Amber, and she was uh she was on staff at the church and was my administrative uh assistant there, and so they are great friends of ours, and uh, we of course know them and know their story a little bit. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:01:13.359 And just uh exactly a month ago, uh they had the amazing opportunity uh to travel to Thailand and finalize what has been about a three-year process uh of adopting that uh beautiful little girl that you see right there, uh Elsie, about 11 months old, uh, around her uh one-year birthday, kind of as of today. 00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:27.599 And uh this is actually that picture is the very moment uh that they met, that they were first introduced to her after years and years and years of praying and wrestling and all of that, just incredible. 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:39.760 I mean, we were, you know, because we know them so well and know a bit of their story and some of the details, it's actually a really emotional experience, even just watching uh Tyler as he was showing on Instagram, just kind of the process and the pictures of that uh of that whole thing. 00:01:39.920 --> 00:02:02.799 They were in Thailand for a couple of weeks during all of that, and uh to see the ups and downs of all of that and to know their journey and you know, trying to, you know, she was sick at the time and teething and all of that, and they're just getting to know her and trying to bring her back over the border and making sure that you know the visas and all of that stuff is all sorted out, and then getting her, you know, uh home and having her and getting familiar with her is just, I mean, outstanding. 00:02:02.879 --> 00:02:06.640 I mean, when you think about adoption, how awesome is that? 00:02:06.879 --> 00:02:17.919 You know, the really kind of funny and kind of crazy thing is that I just found out about 10 minutes ago uh that today is actually this weekend is national adoption weekend. 00:02:18.159 --> 00:02:19.520 Okay, how wild is that? 00:02:19.599 --> 00:02:22.479 Like I didn't I I mean I I planned this series back in June. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:31.360 Like I wasn't thinking about any of that, and here we are, you know, talking about it, and just found out uh from Christina that that this is the weekend and all of that. 00:02:31.439 --> 00:02:37.759 So just kind of wild the way that the Lord sometimes just works those things out and don't see coincidences in those things at all. 00:02:37.919 --> 00:02:40.000 Um, this is uh this is him for sure. 00:02:40.159 --> 00:02:42.800 And again, adoption, I mean, how how incredible is it? 00:02:42.960 --> 00:02:49.360 Somebody who is uh from our church and who uh who is adopted was telling me just this week, he's like, yeah, we actually prefer the word chosen. 00:02:49.599 --> 00:02:49.840 Right? 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:50.400 I love that. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:52.159 That's just so good, right? 00:02:52.240 --> 00:03:00.960 And and it's so good because it's such a clear picture of the gospel, such a such a clear picture that that uh you know of what God has done. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:05.039 It's like such a clear uh representation of our salvation. 00:03:05.199 --> 00:03:24.240 And our passage today actually uses the word adoption, it uses that very word to describe what what our heavenly Father has done when he calls us out of sin, when he calls us out of rebellion and all of our wandering away from him, and he draws us into a relationship with himself. 00:03:24.319 --> 00:03:36.000 And so this is the very thing that we're gonna be unpacking uh here today, as again we just explore the the various different facets of what the gospel is really about. 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:39.360 We can just never, never exhaust all of that. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:50.479 And so, adoption, our adoption by God the Father, uh signals to us how we're supposed to relate to God, and then of course how He relates to us. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:04:07.520 This is just so crucial that we would uh understand all of this because there is so much that we can enjoy when we understand, when our hearts are um filled with gratitude over the uh the adoption uh that we have in uh in the Lord. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:08.719 And so let's read this right now. 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:10.719 This is uh Galatians chapter three. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:15.280 We're gonna be uh starting in verse 26, reading down to 4 verse 7. 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:16.959 So read along uh with me here. 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:22.160 It says, uh, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith. 00:04:22.399 --> 00:04:27.040 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 00:04:27.279 --> 00:04:37.279 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 00:04:37.519 --> 00:04:43.199 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:52.800 I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he's the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:58.160 In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 00:04:58.480 --> 00:05:10.800 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:22.879 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father! So you are no longer a slave, but a son. 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:26.560 And if a son, then an heir through God. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:34.560 Lord, we come before you, and what a joy it is to be able to come before you as our father, as our heavenly father. 00:05:35.439 --> 00:05:44.560 And God, we are uh people here who have varying experiences of what it means to have an earthly father. 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:52.720 Lord, and some of uh those relationships have been incredible, and some of those have been very difficult. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:09.279 And Father, I pray that as we get into your word here today and and and you show us exactly what you have done and the kind of God that you are and how much you love us and how much we get to enjoy because of the great news of the gospel, Lord. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:12.319 I pray that our hearts would be filled with wonder, Lord. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:20.240 I pray that our that our hearts would be stirred up with this awesome reality, that you love us, that we are children of God, as we just sang. 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:31.439 God, would you help our hearts as we struggle with this, as we as we look to other things other than you for joy and fulfillment and peace and satisfaction and all of that, Lord? 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:38.160 I pray that all that stuff would drift away, Lord, and I pray that we would find uh that our relationship with you is what satisfies. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:41.600 So, God, open up our hearts, open up our minds. 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:44.240 We pray all this in Jesus' name. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:45.199 Amen. 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:46.560 Amen. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:52.000 All right, well, I've been adopted by God, and I get to enjoy some pretty incredible things. 00:06:52.079 --> 00:06:53.279 That's what we're talking about here today. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:07:00.959 So the first thing there, if you're taking notes there, it's it's true intimacy with the Lord and a profound unity with all believers. 00:07:01.120 --> 00:07:02.959 All right, so let's work through these verses here. 00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:03.759 Let's unpack this. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:07.439 This is uh, you know, starting in uh 3 verse 26 here. 00:07:07.519 --> 00:07:08.079 This is what it says. 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:13.600 It says, for in Christ Jesus, you are all sons of God through faith. 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:15.839 All right, you are all sons of God through faith. 00:07:16.000 --> 00:07:26.240 Now, now that those of us in Christ, those of us who are saved, are sons of God is it's a it's an astounding pronouncement. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:28.160 It is it is wild. 00:07:28.319 --> 00:07:30.879 I mean, let's just, again, let's pull this apart a little bit here. 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:35.199 Okay, that first part says that that we're all sons. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:41.759 Okay, all of us here who who know Jesus Christ, it says that we're all we're all sons. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:50.079 Now, now, why are all of us, okay, all of us considered to be sons as opposed to sons and daughters? 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:54.720 Like, I don't know, maybe some of the ladies in the room here are kind of thinking, like, man, I'm getting gypped here. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:56.079 Like, what's with the sons thing? 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:59.279 And I don't know, maybe you grew up with like spice girls and girl power and all that kind of stuff. 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:00.480 And you're like, what's going on with you? 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:04.879 You know, and should at least mention, you should at least mention daughters here, right? 00:08:05.279 --> 00:08:08.319 Bet you didn't expect there'd be a spice girls reference in the sermon. 00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:09.519 Oh, there was. 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:20.639 All right, I think some of us here would we would would prefer that we would go gender neutral on this at the very least, or at least again mention the idea of uh of daughters, sons and daughters. 00:08:20.800 --> 00:08:25.920 That's getting a little more inclusive here, but but actually to do that would really miss the meaning of the text. 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:30.160 And really it fails to understand the context of all of this here. 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:40.720 See, back in back in ancient times, back in these ancient cultures, in a lot of them, anyways, daughters couldn't actually inherit property from their fathers. 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:45.440 Okay, I'm not saying that that was right or good, that's just the way that it was back then. 00:08:45.759 --> 00:08:46.320 All right. 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:59.120 Um so when it actually uses the word uh sons here, it's actually you need to see it as a little bit less about the gender specifically and a more about the idea, the concept of a legal heir. 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:00.799 More about a legal heir. 00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:06.320 Okay, again, a status that daughters back in these times they weren't able to uh have. 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:09.200 That's just the reality of it uh back then. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:11.759 And so if you put it all together with the rest of the verse, what does it say? 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:16.080 It says, In Christ Jesus, we are all sons of God through faith. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:26.799 So it's saying that all of us, male and female, who are in the family uh of God here in Christ through faith, are given now a new legal status. 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:30.480 They were we're now considered heirs. 00:09:30.720 --> 00:09:40.000 Heirs who receive salvation, and we receive all kinds of other benefits that we're gonna kind of get to as we kind of go through here later. 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:48.879 But it says that we're now sons, we are, we are legal heirs of of God Himself, of the King, the King of Kings. 00:09:49.200 --> 00:09:53.840 We've been adopted as His as His legal children. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:10:01.279 We've been brought into a family through Jesus Christ, into a family that we didn't at one point uh belong to. 00:10:01.679 --> 00:10:03.279 Uh, that's pretty awesome. 00:10:03.600 --> 00:10:04.799 Right, that's sweet. 00:10:05.039 --> 00:10:19.759 And immediately here, Paul goes get kind of goes into and starts to give us a little sense here as to what kind of relationship with God that we've been uh adopted into, what that relationship is supposed to, you know, look like and what that experience is supposed to be. 00:10:19.840 --> 00:10:31.360 And and you know, you can just kind of picture here if you were, you know, if you were adopted and maybe you were a little bit older and you were you understood kind of what was happening here, you'd probably have some questions about this new family that you've been brought into. 00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:33.519 And you'd be wondering about your father. 00:10:33.600 --> 00:10:36.559 You'd be wondering, is is he gonna be a good father? 00:10:37.919 --> 00:10:40.559 Or is he gonna be a is he gonna be a tyrant? 00:10:40.799 --> 00:10:42.879 Is is there is he is he gonna love me? 00:10:42.960 --> 00:10:44.639 Is he gonna care for my needs? 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:47.039 Is is he is he gonna teach me some things? 00:10:47.120 --> 00:10:51.279 Is you know, or is he gonna be cold and and distant and all of that? 00:10:51.759 --> 00:10:58.960 You know, so for us to have those questions about about our God are are perfectly natural. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:03.759 And so here's what Paul starts to say here, starting in verse 27. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:05.039 Take a look at that. 00:11:05.120 --> 00:11:13.039 He says, For as many of you as were baptized into Christ, okay, baptism, of course, is uh is a public declaration of your salvation. 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:16.480 We just had four baptisms uh last Sunday here in this room. 00:11:16.639 --> 00:11:18.639 Baptism is not salvation, all right? 00:11:18.799 --> 00:11:24.639 Baptism is a declaration of a salvation that happened uh at a previous uh time here. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:29.519 All right, it's a sign that you have faith, which is what the the word that the verse uses here. 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:33.840 So for as many of you as were baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:35.279 You've actually put him on. 00:11:35.360 --> 00:11:52.399 And so what Paul does is he actually paints this picture for us, okay, that that when we get saved, we essentially put on Christ, much like how you would put on clothing, the clothing that you're wearing uh here uh today. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:54.399 All right, now think about it. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:56.559 Clothes, okay, think about that kind of picture here. 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:02.399 Clothes are the you know the closest thing uh to us physically. 00:12:02.559 --> 00:12:07.840 We wear them right up against our body, right up against our skin. 00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:16.799 And the idea here is that this that this relationship that we have with our adoptive father God is is intimate. 00:12:17.039 --> 00:12:17.200 Right? 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:19.919 It's supposed to be this close relationship. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:40.399 We don't get adopted by God to be like, you know, he's our father, and he kind of banishes us down into the, you know, into the cold, musty, dark cellar where he's up in like this amazing, warm family room, you know, fire's going, he's got some hot chocolate, and we don't get to enjoy that. 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:42.559 No, that's that's not you know what it is at all. 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:44.320 That's not the picture uh at all. 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:50.159 No, adopted, being adopted as his children means that we we put on Christ. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:55.919 We have a close, we have uh we have a very intimate, loving relationship with him. 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:57.200 He loves it. 00:12:57.279 --> 00:13:05.759 It's it's supposed to be this picture of a deeply personal, deeply personal relationship that you and I get to enjoy. 00:13:06.159 --> 00:13:07.759 We get to enjoy that. 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:09.679 Okay, what else about clothes? 00:13:09.919 --> 00:13:12.639 Okay, we can continue to kind of go down that road. 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:16.000 Clothes also give you, what they give you a sense of identity, don't they? 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:17.279 They give you a sense of identity. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:21.279 So my kids, they go to a school where they have to uh wear uniforms. 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:28.480 Those uniforms identify them as a part of that uh specific school. 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:30.159 You know, cultures everywhere. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:36.960 They have clothing that helps identify them as this ethnicity or from that country. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:42.639 So you go to Africa, for example, it's that it's that beautiful, very colorful, free-flowing clothing. 00:13:42.720 --> 00:13:47.039 If you were a you know, a woman from Japan, you might wear a a kimono. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:51.840 If, you know, if you're from Keswick, I think you like came out of the womb wearing camo or something like that. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:54.159 All right, I think that's how that works. 00:13:55.039 --> 00:13:55.279 Right? 00:13:55.440 --> 00:14:00.000 You see someone with camo, you're like Keswick, Sutton, right, somewhere up in that area. 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:01.600 Just kidding. 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:03.279 Love you, Keswick, big time. 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:09.360 Right, the point is here, clothes give us a they give us a sense of identity, don't they? 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:09.919 Right? 00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:16.080 And we put on Christ to show that our our ultimate identity is found in him. 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:16.720 Right? 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:23.120 Not in the things that we do, not in the things that we're good at or bad at, not in what people seem to think we are. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:27.919 Our identity is found uh in Jesus Christ and in our God. 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:29.440 Okay, what else about clothes? 00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:31.759 Well, our clothes serve as protection as well. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:35.440 You know, how many of you woke up and didn't realize that there'd be snow on the ground? 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:35.919 That was me. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:36.720 I was one of those. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:37.039 Right? 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:38.960 And so you probably threw on a coat, right? 00:14:39.120 --> 00:14:40.960 A little bit chilly on your way to church. 00:14:41.039 --> 00:14:43.679 So our clothes shield us from the elements. 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.480 They also cover our nakedness and they cover our shame. 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:49.200 Pretty glad that everyone's wearing clothes here today. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:51.279 No laughter at that one. 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:53.759 All right, right? 00:14:54.000 --> 00:15:05.840 In the same way, though, we put on, we put on Christ, who shields us, he protects us from things like our enemy who wants to continually come after us and attack us and shoot arrows at us and all of those kinds of things. 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:07.360 He he protects us from that. 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:10.960 He covers our our our sin and our shame. 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:24.320 Okay, all of that to say that when God adopts us into his family through his son, Jesus Christ, we we get to enjoy real, actual, true intimacy with our Lord. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:26.080 He doesn't keep us at arm's length. 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:29.759 He's not like, yeah, you're in the family now, but don't expect to get very close to me. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:30.240 Right? 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:33.120 That's not that's not the way it works at all. 00:15:33.440 --> 00:15:40.399 And so you need to, we need to, as a church, we need to, as believers, teach ourselves this when we begin to allow feelings to lead us, right? 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.799 Well, I don't feel very close to the Lord. 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:44.480 I feel like there's distance. 00:15:44.639 --> 00:15:52.639 Well, maybe there's some sin that's caused some of that, but you also need to remind yourself of the gospel that God is your father. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:54.720 You have been adopted. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:59.759 I get to enjoy true intimacy with the Lord. 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.120 So again, that's something we need to teach ourselves about. 00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:06.399 Remind yourself of the gospel, preach that to yourself. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:19.919 Yeah, no, I maybe feel that there's some some distance there, but the reality is, the truth is, I've been adopted into this awesome relationship where the Heavenly Father is my Father, He is my God, and I get to enjoy that intimacy. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:33.279 It also goes to show us here that God's intention when it comes to our relationship with Him is that it would always be about way more than what we as the church or we as believers often make our Christian walk all about. 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:33.759 Right? 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:39.679 Like how much is the church and us gagging on the idea of compartmentalizing our faith? 00:16:39.919 --> 00:16:40.159 Right? 00:16:40.320 --> 00:16:45.919 I allow God into certain areas of my life, but other areas of my life, no, that's for me. 00:16:46.080 --> 00:16:46.320 Right? 00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:57.039 I've got like my family time, I've got my work time, I've got, you know, I'll give I'll give the Lord an hour or two on Sundays for sure, but but other than that, it's it's kind of about me, and we compartmentalize all that. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:59.679 The Lord's supposed to be Lord of all of it. 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:11.440 Our walk with him is also way more about more uh more than just about this mechanical, wooden, boring kind of rules following obedience. 00:17:11.680 --> 00:17:20.559 Our relationship with him isn't supposed to be, you know, kind of casual and too loosey-goosey, where we're not taking seriously his holiness and and the reality of sin. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:22.079 It's not supposed to be distant. 00:17:22.240 --> 00:17:26.480 Our walk with him is not supposed to be like kind of God on the back born back burner kind of thing. 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.359 I'll get to it when I feel like getting to it. 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:34.319 No, we're supposed to be close to him, we're supposed to be truly in love with the Lord. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:39.599 Emotions deeply involved and engaged with all of this and loving that, right? 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:40.799 True intimacy. 00:17:42.240 --> 00:17:46.000 Can you say honestly that that is what your walk is all about? 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:49.519 Can you say that that's well, yeah, it's it's not perfect. 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:58.559 Of course, we would all say that our walk's not perfect, but would you sense that, yeah, there's some growth in this as I look back on the past number of months or a year or years or whatever. 00:17:58.640 --> 00:18:01.279 Yeah, there's been a growth in all of those things. 00:18:02.319 --> 00:18:07.519 That's what our adoption by God invites us to enjoy and to experience. 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:14.720 Okay, there's something else here that we get to enjoy because of our adoption, and that's a profound unity with believers. 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:16.880 Take a look at the verse here, verse 28. 00:18:17.279 --> 00:18:26.720 Paul says, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:32.480 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:50.160 Now remember, we talked about this, we've been talking about it all the way through, but remember the Galatian churches in this region here, they were they were really struggling with falling into this sense of elitism, you know, this sense of nationalism and and even racism here. 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:54.799 And Jews, they just flat out consider themselves superior to Gentiles. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:19:00.640 And they're like, we're better because you know we have the law and we follow the law and we try to obey the law. 00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:12.079 And so, you Gentiles, yeah, that's great that you got saved and you're trusting Jesus, but if you really want to be great, if you really want the Lord to love you the way that He loves us, then you need to add works to your repertoire. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:16.000 You need to also, you need to also follow the law. 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:20.240 And so, Paul, all the way through this, he's been like, no, right, no, that's not that's not what it's about at all. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:22.319 In Christ, we are all equal. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:23.519 We're all equal. 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:29.759 There's no, there's not no Jew nor Greek, there's no slave nor free male and female. 00:19:30.160 --> 00:19:33.279 You're all one, is what he's saying here. 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:48.960 Now, that doesn't mean that that there's no distinctions between people and between, you know, there are there are class distinctions, there are net ethnicity distinctions and gender distinctions and you know, all of that type of thing uh for sure. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:51.680 That's fine. 00:19:51.920 --> 00:19:57.519 But what he's saying here is that all believers everywhere who are saved by Jesus Christ, we're unified. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:19:59.039 We're unified. 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:02.000 Now here's what Tim Keller has to say about it. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:03.359 We got this quote on the screen for you. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.359 He says, the gospel has radical social implications. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:12.319 It means that I am a Christian before I am anyone or anything else. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:20.480 It means that all the barriers that separate people in the world into warring factions come down in Christ. 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:22.480 Okay, what is it saying? 00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:41.759 It means that that Christians, us as the church, we should be, we should be really leading the charge here within our walls and then ultimately out in society as we go out and we have an impact as the Lord is working in us, leading the charge in the sense that, for example, white is not better than black. 00:20:42.480 --> 00:20:50.799 Okay, or or that the you know the upper middle class are not better than, you know, for example, those in low-income housing. 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.720 Or that men are not superior to women. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:55.839 Right? 00:20:56.000 --> 00:21:00.799 We are to understand this as God's adopted children better than anybody. 00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:04.880 We must be leading, we must be taking a stand on all of this. 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:09.200 Okay, but we just love to create barriers. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:20.240 We love to erect walls and and and these classes and these you know inferior subgroups and and all of that. 00:21:21.039 --> 00:21:49.200 Again, it was just uh a couple of weeks ago that uh we I spent some time talking about racism and how there's just no room for that in the church, and I was um kind of floored by some of the response to all of that, and and and some people coming up and talking to me about it and and sending me emails just saying how much they appreciated that we would talk about that in the church, but at the same time, how much that has uh really rubbed a sore spot for them. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:52.319 And the question is well, why? 00:21:52.799 --> 00:22:00.559 And the answer is well, because at least on some level it may be subtle, they still feel racism, they still Feel it. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:01.599 It might be subtle. 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.880 It might be in the way we joke and we think it's really funny. 00:22:05.039 --> 00:22:16.480 But it might be in the way that we kind of separate ours from ourselves and we only hang out with the same people and the same uh ethnicity as us, and we don't we don't let those walls come down and we don't blend in the way that we should. 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:17.599 Right? 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:21.039 The church has to be different in all of this. 00:22:21.920 --> 00:22:26.720 We make differences in people and separate over uh issues of money. 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:31.920 People who you know make more money often in churches, you know, carry all the power. 00:22:32.160 --> 00:22:33.279 That's so sad. 00:22:33.839 --> 00:22:34.799 It's so sad. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:35.920 And it's wrong. 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:36.480 Right? 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:37.759 And why do we do that? 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.759 Why do we see people with more money or as as more superior? 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:47.200 Sometimes it does go the opposite, though, and we we we distrust people just because they have money, and that's not right either. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:48.640 Why do we do that? 00:22:49.359 --> 00:22:57.839 I mean, this whole idea of men being superior to women is brutal and so not biblical. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:14.559 And I mean, all you need to do is just, you know, uh pop open Twitter and look online and see the complete gas can that Hollywood is right now, and the Harvey Weinsteins and you know, all of those people because uh women are treated terribly and treated horribly. 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:15.519 Right? 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:18.160 This cannot be happening in the church. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:19.039 It can't be. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:23.119 And if it is, if any of this is happening, it shows that we don't understand the gospel. 00:23:23.359 --> 00:23:23.680 Right? 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:28.079 We don't get it, we don't understand our our adoption because listen, understand this. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:30.880 No one is superior to another. 00:23:31.119 --> 00:23:32.079 No one is. 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:32.640 Why? 00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.799 You might be asked, well, why is that the case? 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:37.920 Well, because of two very staggering realities. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:39.279 First of all, sin. 00:23:39.599 --> 00:23:41.680 Sin levels the playing field. 00:23:41.920 --> 00:23:42.240 Right? 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:43.359 We're all there. 00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:44.640 We're all sinners. 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:48.319 We all apart from Jesus Christ, we're all on the path towards hell. 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:51.359 You don't have some people headed there more. 00:23:51.519 --> 00:23:52.880 That's not the way that it works. 00:23:53.039 --> 00:24:01.839 We think of that in our mind because we see someone outwardly doing worse things than we think we do, but at the end of the day, we're all headed for hell apart from Jesus Christ. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:03.519 That's what the scriptures say. 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:06.720 We're all in the same boat, headed in the wrong direction. 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:07.920 Right? 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:11.599 That's one reality. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:13.440 We're all guilty. 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:17.440 Second one, in Christ, we've all been adopted. 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:17.920 Right? 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:34.799 We've been adopted, we've all received, and we all receive the same incredible benefits uh from from being one of God's chosen as heirs of the promise that was made originally to Abraham there, that we would be forgiven from our sin and freed from the bondage of our sin. 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:35.200 Right? 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:37.599 I'm not better than you, you're not better than me. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:38.880 That's just not the way it works. 00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:53.039 In Christ, through our adoption by the Father, we get to enjoy this profound unity with each other that is so great, regardless of the surfacey differences that we tend to allow to divide us. 00:24:54.880 --> 00:25:02.000 Listen, do you have a willingness to rub shoulders with people who are different than you? 00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:03.519 Look, I get it. 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:14.000 We're naturally attracted to people that have the same interests, people that have you know the same look and same age and same, same, same. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:28.960 I get all of that, but but do we have a willingness to look beyond that and and to connect with people and to disciple people and to be discipled by people, enjoy the unity that that God has created the church to be simply because the gospel has captured your heart. 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:29.440 Right? 00:25:29.519 --> 00:25:33.359 The gospel is like, wow, this is amazing what the Lord uh has done. 00:25:33.519 --> 00:25:35.359 The gospel is driving me to love well. 00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:40.960 I want to I want to love everybody, regardless of whether they're like me or whether they're incredibly different than me. 00:25:41.440 --> 00:25:48.160 When the gospel is grabbing us, that's when that uncommon community we spent so much time talking about earlier, that's when that becomes incredible. 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:49.440 That's when that becomes amazing. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:56.000 That's when the church becomes this unique, uh unreal place that people outside are looking at, like, wow, why are those people so different? 00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:58.400 And why do they seem to have this thing going on? 00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:00.720 It's because we're free of self-righteousness. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:02.319 I'm better than you or whatever. 00:26:02.480 --> 00:26:08.160 We're free of this judgmentalism that we so have in our hearts and sometimes comes out of our mouths. 00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:13.200 We're we're free of slander, we're free of the things that divide us because we know that we've been adopted. 00:26:13.359 --> 00:26:14.720 We've been adopted. 00:26:15.599 --> 00:26:19.519 And God's love is for all of us to enjoy. 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:24.960 All right, second thing that our adoption means that we get to enjoy. 00:26:25.119 --> 00:26:26.079 Love this too. 00:26:26.240 --> 00:26:31.920 All right, freedom from slavery to the law and ob and ob and confidence in being an heir. 00:26:32.160 --> 00:26:33.759 Confidence in being an heir, this is so great. 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:35.519 Take a look at ver uh 4 verse 1. 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:41.759 Okay, and Paul gives an illustration here of a child growing up into uh into adulthood. 00:26:41.920 --> 00:26:42.319 Take a look. 00:26:42.400 --> 00:26:47.920 He says, I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different uh from a slave. 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:57.279 Okay, though he's the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. 00:26:57.519 --> 00:26:59.839 Okay, so so think ancient Rome here. 00:26:59.920 --> 00:27:06.960 In ancient Roman times, a young boy was essentially no different than a slave in the sense that he had people in authority over him. 00:27:07.119 --> 00:27:07.440 Right? 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:10.079 That's that's the kind of the way that it it worked. 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:18.960 But when the boy grew up and at a date that was kind of determined by his his father, he would become a man. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:29.279 He'd become a man, and at that point he would be given the full rights and responsibilities of being an adult, and he could receive uh his inheritance. 00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:31.599 Okay, so understand all of that context here. 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:33.200 Keep going, verse 3. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:42.640 Paul says, in the same way, we also, when we were children, all right, so he's talking about God's people now under law, okay, before Christ came. 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:43.279 This is what he says. 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:50.079 He says, We we were in the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:52.160 We'll get to that next week. 00:27:52.400 --> 00:28:09.680 Okay, but when the fullness of time had come, so at the time that God the Father had decided, he had predetermined, he decided it was right, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive, there's the word, adoption as sons. 00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:13.680 Okay, so remember, last week we spent our time talking about the law. 00:28:13.759 --> 00:28:14.799 What's the purpose of the law? 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:16.559 What's that all about? 00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:18.960 How am I supposed to relate to it and understand all of that? 00:28:19.119 --> 00:28:22.960 Well, the purpose of the law was to show us that we've got sin in our lives. 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:26.720 Where we've got sin and the problem is deep and we can't fix it. 00:28:26.880 --> 00:28:30.640 And so the idea being the first commandment have no other gods before me. 00:28:30.880 --> 00:28:35.920 You and I should should hear that and realize, oh no. 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:36.640 Right? 00:28:36.799 --> 00:28:38.400 This is this is a bad scene. 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:47.039 I have so many gods, so many things that I love, that I worship, that I find more valuable and more important than the one true God. 00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:52.400 My heart operates that way, and why do I love other things and want other things more? 00:28:52.559 --> 00:28:59.519 It should be like a wake-up call, a siren to us that listen, we are in, we are in trouble. 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:03.440 Okay, the law shows us that we're lawbreakers. 00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:05.119 That's what it really does. 00:29:05.359 --> 00:29:09.519 It condemns us as sinners and reveals our need for a rescue. 00:29:09.680 --> 00:29:13.680 It reveals how desperately we need salvation. 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:22.480 But when the fullness of time had come, at the right time, God sent his son Jesus Christ to fulfill the demands of the law. 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:24.319 We couldn't, we couldn't obey any of them. 00:29:24.559 --> 00:29:27.680 Jesus came and he fulfilled them for us in our place. 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:36.160 He died in our place as well to be the sacrifice once and for all to redeem us from the sin that the law helps us realize that we have in our hearts. 00:29:36.400 --> 00:29:36.720 Right? 00:29:36.799 --> 00:29:38.400 That's what Jesus did. 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:42.319 And so the law, if you want to look at it this way, it was our guardian, all right? 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:48.960 It was our manager until the right time, until Jesus could come and set us free from all of that. 00:29:51.519 --> 00:29:55.920 Now we have freedom from that slavery, from our slavery to the law. 00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:58.319 It doesn't manage us anymore. 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:01.200 And it's certainly not our system of salvation. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:03.279 You know, obedience to it doesn't save us. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:07.119 That was never uh the intention at all, though we got really twisted up about that. 00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:07.599 Right? 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:08.720 We're free. 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:10.880 We are slaves no more. 00:30:11.759 --> 00:30:15.359 That's something that you and I, listen, we should find a ton of enjoyment in that. 00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:15.759 Right? 00:30:15.920 --> 00:30:16.880 That is an awesome thing. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:22.880 You don't have to try and get God to like you or approve of you through your obedience or through your morality. 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:25.519 He loves you because of Jesus. 00:30:25.839 --> 00:30:26.160 Right? 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:30.640 And his love will never, ever, ever, ever, ever fail you. 00:30:31.920 --> 00:30:43.279 And next week we're gonna look at how even though we are free, and that is the standing that we get to enjoy, uh, our tendency is to kind of revert back to as though we are slaves. 00:30:43.440 --> 00:30:43.680 Right? 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:47.839 We all we all drift, we all kind of slide back into that in all kinds of different ways. 00:30:47.920 --> 00:30:49.839 But for now, verse 6, take a look. 00:30:50.160 --> 00:30:56.960 It says, and because you are sons, God has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba Father. 00:30:57.279 --> 00:30:59.839 So you're no longer a slave, but a son. 00:31:00.240 --> 00:31:04.000 And if a son, then an heir through God. 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:12.319 Okay, that God sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying, Abba Father, is amazing. 00:31:12.720 --> 00:31:13.039 Right? 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:14.400 This is incredible. 00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:21.680 And what you really see here is the roles of the Trinity, the roles of the Godhead in, you know, on display here. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:38.720 Okay, so whereas Christ the Son, right, He He secures our freedom from sin and slavery, the Holy Spirit gives us this incredible ability to emotionally connect with the reality that we've been adopted by uh God our Father. 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:39.200 Right? 00:31:39.359 --> 00:31:41.759 You see the Trinity at work there. 00:31:42.400 --> 00:31:45.920 Now, Abba, maybe you've heard this before and you've studied this. 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:48.079 Abba means Papa. 00:31:49.839 --> 00:31:51.279 It means daddy. 00:31:51.519 --> 00:32:00.799 And it's this very childlike, deeply personal and intimate way that we now can refer to our God. 00:32:02.400 --> 00:32:09.920 Now, don't you find that there's something just so so great about watching little young kids uh relate to their father? 00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:11.599 Don't you love to watch that? 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:20.160 And you've seen videos of it, you've probably experienced that in your own families, and maybe you remember what it was like to be so enamored with your daddy. 00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:20.640 Right? 00:32:20.799 --> 00:32:22.079 Little kid, they what do they want? 00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:23.759 They just want to be near him all the time, right? 00:32:23.920 --> 00:32:24.960 Think of my little kids. 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:27.440 You know, cares is always coming up to me, like, can we snuggle? 00:32:27.519 --> 00:32:29.279 I'm like, yes, like I don't care what else I was doing. 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:30.960 Like that's happening right now. 00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:31.440 Right? 00:32:31.519 --> 00:32:32.240