MONDAY 9th
Galatians 4
NIV (v5) ‘. . . that we might receive adoption to sonship.’
ESV (v5) ‘. . . so that we might receive adoption as sons.’
We have returned to the second part of yesterday’s verses as I had intended to cover this but got carried away otherwise. Christ came to . . . and in this space we could write down so much, for example, to save us, to forgive us, to reconcile us, to regenerate us . . . Paul says in this chapter to ‘redeem those who were under the law’ that in itself is amazing, but he continues ‘that we might receive adoption as sons.’
Today because of what Christ has done, we have been adopted as sons into the family of God. We can probably think of other Scriptures that remind us of this, such as Romans 8:15-17 ‘For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, Abba! Father! The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.’
I mention this today to remind us of the difference between the law and of grace, under the law there is slavery, slavery to sin, to fear and bondage, under grace there is Sonship! That speaks of relationship, it speaks of family and fellowship, it speaks of safety, it speaks of a loving and a caring environment. It is no wonder Paul wanted to correct the Galatian believers, for by going back to the law they were throwing sonship away and who would want to return to slavery if you have been set free from it into sonship, sadly over the course of the history of the Church it has happened, as many who have come to saving faith have later on become entrapped again into the allure of the world and its pleasures and they have become slaves again to Satan. It is so important that we pray for the backslider, for the end for them is far worse than as if they had never believed. Hebrews 10:29 (As I have said on a previous occasion, I appreciate that there are two camps in regard to the issue of falling away from grace or once saved always saved, it is my personal view that it is possible to fall away, but at the same time I also believe that God can keep us from falling, but it is conditional on us keeping our part by walking in his ways and in a continual relationship with him through his Word, prayer and fellowship.) But I side-track, ‘that we might receive adoption as sons.’ I mentioned some of the benefits of adoption above, but deliberately missed out something important, the benefit of inheritance. Paul continues in the very next few verses with ‘so you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.’ We are heirs of the Father; we are joint heirs with the Son. Being an heir, is linked to the promises that God made to Abraham, as we read earlier in Galatians, ‘And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.’ (3:29)
It begs the question, what is our inheritance, to answer it simply, I would say it is everything that God has provided for us in Christ Jesus, some of which we partly benefit from now (Ephesians 1:3) but more importantly that which will we be ours throughout eternity. In the present the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance, until as Ephesians 1:14 says ‘we acquire possession of it’ which speaks of the future. Peter in his epistle says ‘Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.’ He then continues ‘For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.’ (2 Peter 1:11-12) It is Peter who also says, ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.’ (1 Peter 1:3–5).
When someone inherits here on earth, it is whatever the benefactor has left or willed to them, it may be a house, some land, personal possessions, the problem is that sometimes it may even be the junk or rubbish, the possessions that nobody wants and needs to be disposed of rather than kept, when it comes to our eternal inheritance there will be no cast offs, no junk, no rubbish, it will be the very best, because it will have been given us by our eternal Father, he has already given of his very best, in sending his Son, the home he is going to provide us with will be of the very best, because it is being prepared by his Son, and all that we will have as part of the eternal inheritance will be the very best that heaven has to offer, because its eternal supply will be the eternal God himself.
What is our eternal inheritance, I will let Scripture answer, ‘But, as it is written,
What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.’ (1 Corinthians 2:9)