1. "The law was never meant to save you from your sin. Instead it was meant to reveal your sin and reveal your need for a savior."

2. "Can you imagine a slave returning to become a slave again? This is something of the spiritual suicide that they were contemplating."

3. "If you're here and are not a Christian, you are enslaved to these spiritual forces and their master, the devil. You have no freedom of action or choice. And any freedom you think you have is an illusion. It's a mirage."

4. "God sent forth because he wanted to save a people who did not deserve to be saved."

5. "If Jesus had been anything less than incarnate, he would not have been able to satisfy God's wrath and secure for us true righteousness and life."

6. "Our Redeemer became human in a truly real way. He experienced life as we experience it. He really suffered. He really felt pain and hunger and loss. He knows what it is like to live a human life, which means that he can fully sympathize with us and our experience."

7. "If Jesus had sinned even once, well then his death on the cross would have been for his own sin. But no, instead he was the spotless lamb of God who took away the sins of the world."

8. "God bestows on us full familial rights and privileges. There is no second class child with God."

9. "It's shocking that we, fallen, sinful, wicked, evil people who are so far from perfect, so far from holy, can call the Almighty, all powerful, Holy God, Abba, Father. This should fill us with awe and wonder."

10. "Rather than being a slave to sin, we are a slave to righteousness. Brothers and sisters, we should act like it. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. You are no longer his slave. He holds no lasting power over you."

Observation Questions

1. According to Galatians 4:1-2, how does Paul describe the status of an heir while he is still a child, and what limitations does he face?

2. In Galatians 4:3, what does Paul say "we" were enslaved to when we were children, and who does this "we" include according to the sermon?

3. According to Galatians 4:4, when did God send forth His Son, and what two phrases describe how the Son came into the world?

4. What does Galatians 4:5 identify as the two purposes for which God sent His Son?

5. In Galatians 4:6, what does God send into the hearts of believers, and what does this Spirit cry out?

6. According to Galatians 4:7, what is the believer's new identity, and what contrast does Paul draw with their former status?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why does Paul use the imagery of a child heir under guardians to describe both Jews under the law and Gentiles before faith? What does this tell us about the universal human condition apart from Christ?

2. What is the significance of the phrase "the fullness of time" in verse 4? How does this phrase reveal something important about God's character and sovereignty?

3. Why was it necessary for the Son to be both "born of woman" (truly human) and "born under the law" (truly obedient) in order to accomplish redemption? What would have been lacking if either were not true?

4. How does the language of "adoption as sons" differ from merely being forgiven or pardoned? What additional benefits and privileges does adoption convey according to this passage?

5. What role does the Holy Spirit play in confirming and assuring believers of their adoption, according to verses 6-7? How does the Spirit's cry of "Abba, Father" relate to Jesus' own prayers?

Application Questions

1. The sermon described how before salvation we were slaves to sin with only an illusion of freedom. In what specific areas of your life do you still struggle to believe and live as though you are truly free from sin's mastery?

2. The sermon emphasized trusting God's perfect timing rather than growing impatient. What is one situation in your life right now where you need to practice patient trust in God's timing, and how might you pray differently about it this week?

3. Since Christ experienced human life and suffering, we can draw near to Him for comfort. What practical step could you take this week to bring a current burden or sorrow to Christ in prayer, rather than carrying it alone?

4. The sermon stated that believers are part of God's family and should treat fellow church members as true brothers and sisters. Is there someone in your church community who might be lonely or have a difficult family background whom you could intentionally include or encourage this week?

5. Paul says we are "no longer a slave but a son" and should act like it by resisting the devil. What is one habitual sin or temptation you need to actively resist this week, remembering that Satan no longer holds lasting power over you?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Romans 8:12-17 — This passage parallels Galatians 4 by describing believers as adopted children who have received the Spirit and cry "Abba, Father," emphasizing our status as heirs with Christ.

2. John 8:31-36 — Jesus teaches that everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin, but the Son can set people truly free, reinforcing the sermon's point about slavery to sin and Christ's liberating work.

3. Ephesians 1:3-14 — Paul describes the spiritual blessings believers receive in Christ, including adoption and the Holy Spirit as a guarantee of our inheritance, expanding on themes of God's sovereign plan and our inheritance.

4. Hebrews 4:14-16 — This passage encourages believers to draw near to Jesus, our sympathetic high priest who was tempted in every way, supporting the sermon's emphasis on Christ's humanity and our access to Him for comfort.

5. Romans 6:15-23 — Paul contrasts slavery to sin with slavery to righteousness, explaining that believers have been set free from sin to become slaves of God, which connects to the sermon's call to live in light of our new identity.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Anticipation and True Meaning of Christmas

II. Remember Who We Were: Slaves to Sin (Galatians 4:1-3)

III. Remember Who God Sent: His Son at the Fullness of Time (Galatians 4:4-5)

IV. Remember Who We Are Now: Adopted Sons and Heirs (Galatians 4:5-7)

V. The Joy of Christmas: From Slaves to Heirs of God

Detailed Sermon Outline

Well, it's finally Christmas. It's the day most of us have been looking forward to for weeks, if not months. Children, it's been so hard to wait this long, hasn't it? But it's finally here. The last few days have felt like years as we've waited.

But it's Christmas. The children at heart among us, we can finally admit now that we've been listening to Christmas carols since the summer, just counting down Down those days, 364, 363, it'll be here soon. Finally, it's Christmas. The tree went up weeks ago, it's been carefully decorated. The presents were ordered or made, wrapped and put under the tree.

Cards were sent out to family and friends. Food was carefully prepared. Maybe family has come into town. Everything is ready. And then Christmas Day finally comes.

I wonder if you have a special Christmas morning family tradition or had one growing up. When I was a child, our family had a tradition every Sunday or every Christmas morning, we would run down to the living room where our stockings would be hanging full of stocking stuffers. We'd grab them, run back to our parents' bedroom, jump on their bed, wake them up, which in hindsight they probably didn't appreciate, but we would then sit around on their bed and take it in turns one by one to open our stockings. After that, we would crank up the Christmas tunes, we would get a nice big roast lunch cooking, and then we would open up presents until lunch was ready. Christmas is a wonderful time.

But also Christmas is a time full of busyness, isn't it? There's the hubbub of family visiting or traveling yourself, the excitement of giving and receiving gifts. It's easy to get caught up in all of this. But how often do you stop and think, why Christmas? Why do we celebrate Christmas?

Is it just Hallmark movies and presents? Is it just a time to do others good and spread Christmas cheer? Or is there something more to it?

Well, this morning, Christmas morning, I want us to remember that on Christmas Day every year, we celebrate something amazing, something incredible. We remember who we were, who God sent, and who we are as a result. Our text this morning describes exactly what we remember on Christmas Day. If you turn in the red pew Bibles to Galatians chapter 4, you can find this on page 974. In the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul is addressing Gentile believers, believers who aren't Jewish.

They had received the gospel but were abandoning it for the Mosaic law. They were listening to false teachers who were saying you could achieve forgiveness through obeying the law.

The gospel of grace was no longer enough. In order to be a true Christian, you had to follow the Jewish customs and laws. They were trying to rely on their own obedience to the law to atone for their sin. And this Paul argues is a distortion of the law and it's abandoning the gospel. The law was never meant to save you from your sin.

Instead it was meant to reveal your sin and reveal your need for a savior. A person is not justified that is made right before God by the law but rather through faith in Christ. Jesus. In chapter 3, verses 23 and 24, Paul explains that before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith.

And then at the start of our passage for this morning, Paul uses another illustration to make this same point. Let's read Galatians 4:1-7.

I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything; but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. 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, and if a son, then an heir through God. Well, from our text, there are three things that we should remember every Christmas morning.

First, we should remember who we were. Second, we should remember who God sent. And third, we should remember who we are now. Those will be my three points this morning. First, who we were.

Second, who God sent. And third, who we are now. First, remember who we were. We see this in verses one through three. Here, Paul uses the legal imagery of a child awaiting the day when he comes of age and is able to finally claim his inheritance.

He uses this as a picture of Israel under the law. They were unable to escape the condemnation that the law brought. They were unable to escape their sins. They were slaves. Slavery in the first century, while not at all like the chattel slavery that we are more familiar with with American history, it was nonetheless a lowly, humbling, difficult life.

Slaves had restricted freedom and were always under the authority of their masters. They had people over them controlling every aspect of their lives. And Paul says that the heir while a child is no different. The child has no legal rights whatsoever. These guardians and managers act in his stead making decisions and guarding the inheritance while the heir is still an immature minor.

The heir has his property and finances controlled such that he has no independent action. And this is a picture of us before we are saved. In the same way also, when we were children, we were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. The phrase when we were children is imagery for before we knew God, not yet of age. We were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world.

Now, it's important to notice that here Paul is writing to the Galatian believers. And they were Gentiles. That is, they weren't Jewish. They were never under the Mosaic law. However, they were no less a slave to their sin than those under the law were a slave to their sin.

If you look down to chapter four, verse eight, it says, Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

The Gentiles were enslaved to idols of their own imagination and creation. They were enslaved to false gods and demons. And now by abandoning the gospel and turning to the law for salvation of some, the Galatians were preparing to enslave themselves again. Can you imagine a slave returning to become a slave again? This is something of the spiritual suicide that they were contemplating.

In the same way we, before we became Christians, you, if you are not a Christian, are enslaved to those things which are not gods. In the Gospel of John, Jesus had been preaching about the truth setting you free. Some of the Jewish people who were listening were confused. They said, We are offspring of Abraham. And have never been enslaved to anyone.

How can you say that we will be free? Jesus answers that everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.

Have you ever sinned? Have you ever done even one thing, no matter how small, that you knew was wrong?

Well then you have practiced sin. We are all sinful people, which means we are all slaves to sin. So if you're here and are not a Christian, you are enslaved to these spiritual forces and their master, the devil. You have no freedom of action or choice. And any freedom you think you have is an illusion.

It's a mirage. There is nothing you can do to get free on your own. I wonder if you've ever had that dream where you're lying in bed and you can't move, or maybe you're running trying to escape something and you can't get away. Try as hard as you might, you're thrashing and flailing and trying to get yourself up, get yourself safe, and you just can't move. You're stuck.

Well, that's a picture of how impossible it is for us on our own to escape being slaves to the elementary principles of the world, to escape being enslaved to our sin.

Well, this is who we were. This is who you are if you are not a believer in Christ. Rather than leaving us helpless and unable to get out of our slavery to sin, God had a plan. Look down at verse 4. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law.

Well, when we remember who we were, unbeliever, when you see who you are, we're filled with despair. Until we remember who God sent. So point two, remember who God sent. God acted, and he did so at the fullness of time. So at exactly, precisely the right moment, God sent.

In sending the Messiah, God waited until all the necessary prophecies had come to pass. He waited until the cross had been invented for crucifixion. He waited until the fullness of time. Had come. God had planned a rescue mission for the earth before the earth even existed.

And at the precise moment, the exact moment he had planned, God sent his son according to his predetermined will. God's plans are perfect.

I wonder how often you think about God's timing or God's plans as being perfect. It's so easy for us, isn't it, to think that we know what we want, we know when the right time is to get it. It's so hard to rely on God's timing. But yet, just as God showed in waiting until the exact right moment, the perfect moment to send his son, Well, so too, He always chooses the right moment for everything, no matter how small.

So if you're feeling frustrated and impatient, wait. Be patient. Trust the Lord and pray. Pray not only that that thing would come, but pray that you would wait well. And pray that you would be content if the Lord deems to not give you that thing you desire.

Well, kids, I wonder if you're waiting for anything even right now. Parents, when was the last time you waited for something like a kid waits for Christmas? I remember a few years ago, growing up, I was a massive airplane nerd, particularly World War II airplanes. And living in England, there's this big war museum full of airplanes. It's called Duxford, it's just outside London, and they were all my favorite airplanes there.

And my parents had promised me that, okay, we will go to Duxford, you will get to see all of your favorite airplanes in the flesh. Oh, man, I was excited. I waited and waited, and probably not super patiently, but yet I waited, and that day came. It was worth the wait. So we should wait with anticipation, but also wait in reliance on the Lord with contentment in our hearts.

Not only was this sending done at the right time, but it was God who sent. God sent forth We don't move toward the Lord, but the Lord moves toward us. God didn't send his son because of anything we did, because in some way we merited it. No. God enacted everything.

God sent forth because God saw fit to do so. God sent forth because he wanted to save a people. Who did not deserve to be saved.

And God didn't send forth merely a man or an angel, but rather God sent forth His Son. God the Father sent forth the second person of the Trinity, God the Son. He sent Himself. Only God was able to live the perfect life. That was required.

If Jesus had been anything less than incarnate, he would not have been able to satisfy God's wrath and secure for us true righteousness and life. This means that Christ Jesus is divine. He is truly God, even while truly man. If you're here visiting in a part of a religion that denies Jesus's divinity, that doesn't believe that Jesus is God. You have to reckon with this verse.

God came down to earth to redeem us.

And when God the Son came down to redeem us, he came born of woman. He was born a human. Christ was fully truly man, even while truly God. And this should be a great comfort to us. Our Redeemer became human in a truly real way.

He experienced life as we experience it. He really suffered. He really felt pain and hunger. And loss. He knows what it is like to live a human life, which means that he can fully sympathize with us and our experience.

He understands you, which means you can draw near to him. Find comfort in him.

If you're feeling weighed down and feel far from God, now is exactly the time that you should draw close to Him in prayer. It's hard to do, but only God can truly comfort you. In times where I felt the most depressed or oppressed, I found it restoring to my soul to sit and read Psalm 34 verses 15 through 22 and then pray it back to God. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. And saves the crushed in spirit.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

The Son was born of woman, but he was also born under the law. Jesus was not only born a man, but he was born a Jewish man. He followed all of the law's customs and demands. Rather than coming to abolish the law, Jesus came to fulfill it. He followed the law perfectly and so was able to die for our sins.

If Jesus had sinned even once, well then his death on the cross would have been for his own sin. But no, instead he was the spotless lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. The Son is the law maker and law giver, and yet he himself came under the law.

If you're here and are not a Christian, don't miss what this means for you. Children and teenagers, if you are not a Christian, this relates to you as well. This includes you. You and I fail to live up to God's law every single day. We aren't perfect.

We sin against God. But God in his mercy sent his son to live the perfect life that you and I cannot live. His son paid the punishment for our sin by dying on a cross. And on the third day, he rose, ascended into heaven. Where he sits at the right hand of God the Father, proving that God accepted his sacrifice.

And now he calls on you to repent of your sin, to turn from it, and to trust in the finished work of Christ. To trust that our text is true, that he was sent from God, and that he really did live, die, and rise again. And if you do, God promises to adopt you as His Son, to make you an heir of eternal life.

This brings me to my final point, point three. Christian, remember who you are now. Look down at verses 5 through 7.

Why did God send His Son? God sent his son so that we might receive adoption as sons. God's purpose in sending his son was to redeem, to redeem the enslaved, you and me. We were enslaved but have been saved from sin and its consequences by God himself. And the purpose of all of this is adoption as sons.

God's mission was to create a family for himself. Notice all the familial language throughout our passage. Verse 3, we when children. Verse 5, we sons. Verse 6, you are sons, crying Abba Father.

Verse 7, a son, heir. This text is packed full of language describing how God makes us part of his family. Family. He adopts us.

God bestows on us full familial rights and privileges. In that culture, it was the son who had received the rights of adoption, rights of inheritance. And so all of us, whether men or women, are sons adopted by God in that sense. We receive His full inheritance. We have all the rights and privileges.

There is no second class child with God.

One of the reasons I love adoption is because it pictures exactly this. We are adopted sons of God. And when you adopt a baby, it is an example of the adopting love that God has shown us. I'm so encouraged by the members here who have adopted or in the process of adopting or desire to adopt. It is a beautiful thing.

I commend you for it. You are picturing the adopting love that God has shown to us.

And through Christ, God the Father sees us as sons. Just as Christ Himself is God's Son.

If you have a difficult family experience or a broken family past, maybe you really don't like Christmas just because of the memories that it brings up.

God promises that if you are a Christian, you are part of His family.

You have a good and holy and perfect Father. You have a kind and compassionate brother.

If you believe in Christ, you have brothers and sisters in the faith who won't be perfect, but will love you and care for you and help you walk through this life. I hope that if you are a member of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, and have a bad family past, or maybe never really had a family, that you can truly say, we feel like your family. Look around you, we are your family.

God not only adopts us, but he also sends the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. Part of the Holy Spirit's role in our lives is to cry out, Abba, Father. Abba is a term of intimacy and it's one that Jesus himself used in his prayers. When he was praying in Gethsemane, Jesus prays, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. In crying out, Abba, Father, the Spirit confirms and affirms our sonship of God.

He acts as a sign and a pledge of our adoption. As Romans chapter 8 verses 15 and 16 says, 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.

The Holy Spirit is the seal of our adoption. So that by his presence in our hearts we are truly convinced that God is for us, not against us, and that he indeed is our heavenly Father. And also the Holy Spirit makes us more like the God to whom we belong. We bear a family resemblance as we grow in holiness and look more like our heavenly Father.

Christian, how many of you start your prayers with something like, Dear Heavenly Father, or Father in Heaven? Each one of the prayers that we just prayed in the service started with some version of Heavenly Father. Well, have you ever realized that this is one small way that the Holy Spirit bears witness to God having adopted you? It's a small thing, but when you stop and think about it, just being able to pray that is so encouraging. It's shocking that we, fallen, sinful, wicked, evil people who are so far from perfect, so far from holy, can call the Almighty, all powerful, Holy God, Abba, Father.

This should fill us with awe and wonder.

Where we're not only adopted sons, but we are also heirs of God. We see this in verse 7. Verse 7 is really a summary of our entire text, really the whole of chapter 2 and 3 as well. It makes explicit what has been implicit throughout our text. So you no longer are a slave, but a son.

And if a son, then an heir through God. So we're not just added to the family of God, but we are made full heirs. Notice the words no longer. We are no longer under slavery. We are no longer mastered and ruled by our sin, by the elementary forces of the world.

Rather than being a slave to sin, we are a slave to righteousness. Brothers and sisters, we should act like it. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. You are no longer his slave. He holds no lasting power over you.

Instead of judgment, we have received mercy in Christ. We are heirs of eternal life.

We're also heirs of the Holy Spirit as verse 6 shows. We've been given the Holy Spirit in our hearts and it acts as a down payment of our inheritance, a guarantee of things yet to come. But most of all, we are heirs of God. We've been made heirs of God's kingdom where we shall reside for all eternity, worshiping the one true and living God. We will receive eternal rewards in heaven, but the greatest part of our inheritance is standing face to face with our God.

Christmas is a holiday where we actually get to be in the presence of family. No more just face timing. And there's something especially fulfilling about being in the presence of the ones you love. You're able to express and know love in a uniquely full way.

But it pales in comparison to the experience we will have as part of God's heavenly family. We are part of God's family and will enjoy fellowship with Him forever. If you are a believer, this is what you've been promised. Eternal life.

At the start of the sermon, I asked the question, why Christmas? Well, hopefully now you can see the answer. We celebrate Christmas every year because we remember that God sent his son to live, to die, and rise again so that we could go from slaves to sin to be adopted sons and heirs of God. This is what Christmas is all about. This is why we are so happy to celebrate.

This is why Christmas carols are always so joyful. Sing with joy, joy to the world, the Lord has come. We celebrate Christmas to remember who we were, who God sent. And who we are now. No longer are we shut up in the prison house of sin.

No longer are we under the curse of the law. Through Christ Jesus we are free. We have been adopted by the Holy God. We are God's sons with an eternal inheritance. We have received mercy.

And adoption, and we are heirs of God.

As you leave church this morning, I pray that you remember these truths, this Christmas and every Christmas, until the day comes when you receive your full inheritance. On the day the Lord says, well done, good and faithful servant. Let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father, we praise you and we thank you for the adoption we have received through you sending your Son to die for our sins that we may be made heirs. Help us not to just leave and forget this, Lord. Help us to remember this today and every day until that final day. We pray this in Christ's name, Amen.