FOUNDATIONS FOR PEACE

Galatians 4:4-7
December 26, 2010
1st Sunday after Christmas
Pastor Don Sutton

Galatians 4:4-7
“ But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” (NIV)

Introduction
Do you ever get the feeling at this time of year that Christmas came too soon? Maybe you’ve had this feeling when you look back at the cards that weren’t sent, the cookies that weren’t baked, the cleaning and decorating that didn’t get done, the presents that weren’t purchased, given or sent. As a result you felt that Christmas came too soon. However, God’s word reminds us …“Christmas Came at Just the Right Time.”

The Fullness Of Time
December 25th – we call this Christmas. But we really don’t know the exact date of Christmas. The present date was established in the fourth century. The fact is, however, “when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son?.” In other words, Christmas came at just the right time in God’s way of seeing things.

We don’t know all the things God took into account in deciding when the first Christmas would be. But Scripture indicates that the time for the Savior’s coming was just right because all the Old Testament prophecies that God wanted people to have, had been given. Also necessary elements for fulfillment of these prophecies were in place. Then there was also the Pax Romana in the Roman Empire. This time of peace, together with a universal language – the common Greek – and a good system of roads by which the Gospel would spread, made the timing of the first Christmas just right.

Childhood
Then, as Paul alluded to, this is the time for the Old Testament period to come to an end. Paul compares the Old Testament times to a childhood. In childhood, while a child generally is loved, that child doesn’t have much freedom. He/she is told when to eat, what to eat, when to sleep, where to sleep, what to wear, how to act, where to go and not to go, what to do and not do. He or she may have money but not the freedom to spend it. There may be spankings or other forms of discipline.

Paul’s point is that similar to childhood, in the Old Testament times God’s law dictated almost every aspect of life for God’s people. There was not much freedom for them. God, in love, had good reason for this. His Old Testament people couldn’t handle much freedom. God’s law showed them their need for him and his mercy. God’s law separated his people from the unbelieving people around them. God’s law system, with gospel symbols such as the sacrificial system and the Sabbath day, pointed people to the coming Savior. But at the same time it kept God’s people as kids.

Freedom
With the coming of Christ, “born under law,” came the end of childhood for God’s Church on earth. While there would still be moral principles by which God would show us our sins, curb our sinful nature and guide our Christian living, in Christ, God would fulfill all the ceremonies of his law and give his people freedom to serve him in many ways. As Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ (2:16,17).” Christmas, from God’s perspective came at just the right time. Now his people would have freedom and maturity to serve him and spread the gospel in ways the Old Testament law system probably would not have allowed.

Now you may be sitting in your seat about ready to daydream and thinking, “So big deal!” It is a big deal. If you and I were still under the Old Testament legal system, many of us here today would not be here because we would be ceremonially unclean – couples who had sex in the last couple of days, women for whom it is that time of the month, women who recently had babies, those who have been in contact with the dead. All males would have to be circumcised. Sometime, somewhere in our worship we would have to incorporate the sacrifice of animals. Imagine bringing your sheep, doves, calves or lambs. Picture us slaughtering them and sprinkling the blood on the altar. If we were still in the Old Testament system all adult males would be required to journey to Jerusalem three times a year. Now that, my friends, would cost us a few shekels and cause some inconvenience. If you think that being a believer now is a challenge, just think of what it must have been like in the Old Testament times. If you think that carrying out the Church’s mission of making disciples is a challenge now, think of what it would be if we were operating in the Old Testament system.

Freed From Sin’s Curse
Folks, Christ freed you from these things and much more.” When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law” As we so heard on Christmas day in the beautiful Christmas Gospel, the Word – God’s Son, true God from eternity, co-creator of the universe, King of Kings and Lord of Lords – by the power of the Holy Spirit, took on human nature in the womb of Mary. He was born and born under law. He came to fulfill that law so that his Church, his people, would no longer be children. This meant removing the spiritual handcuffs of the Old Testament law. But this included fulfilling the law’s demand for holiness and redeeming us from the law’s curse for sin.

God’s Law
God’s law says, “Be holy for I the Lord your God am holy (Lev 19:1).” Without Christ, are you holy? You’re a liar if you say you are! God’s law says, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Have you kept every one of God’s commands all the time? Fat chance! We’re all born with sin and this by itself puts us under God’s curse and makes us do, say and think things also deserving God’s curse. Sin, if not dealt with, prohibits a person being a part of the family of God. Christ came to redeem, that it is buy back from sin’s slavery and curse. Jesus came to pay the price for the right for us to be God’s children.

Adoption
Those who have gone through the adoption process in recent times know that it can be very expensive – $25,000 – $35,000 for a domestic adoption and as much as $50,000 for an international adoption. Adoption involves not only money, but also a lot of action. God’s Son came at just the right time to do and pay everything necessary for us to have the adoption as God’s children. The life of the little Jesus that was spared when the angel directed Joseph and Mary to take Jesus and flee to Egypt, would be the life of the big Jesus who refused to flee his enemies when they sought his life. The Holy Child of Bethlehem would be the hideous-looking body loaded with sin and dying on a place called Golgotha some 33 years later. The sin God’s Son carried, was not his own, but ours. If God were not such a merciful God, we should be there – suffering, dying, damned. As a result of Christ’s being in our place, Paul could write, “Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes (Rom 10:4).” We are no longer under the law’s curse. We are forgiven. We are free to be children of God.

Sons Of God
“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Gal3:26).” Through Christ, God has given us the right to be his children. By his Holy Spirit working through his word, God has given us the power to be his children. God gave us faith. So as believers we are children of God ?.. but according to Paul, we are more than simply children, we are sons of God. Paul makes this distinction four times – “sons.” I realize there is the possibility that Paul is using the term figuratively as we often teach in our circles, to mean children. I also realize that in saying this someone might misunderstand me to be discriminating against girls. I am not.

In the Letter to the Galatians Paul knew that these people were familiar with the rights of sons as laid out in the Old Testament. For example, when a father died, his estate was divided among the sons with the eldest getting a double portion and his brothers a single portion. The eldest son became the leader of the clan. Daughters were cared for until their marriage, but they got nothing unless there were no brothers. The same thing was true among the Greeks. Add to that the fact that sons were valued more than daughters when it came to heavy work and war. To a woman living in such a social environment, to hear that through Christ, in the kingdom of God, she received the full rights of sons, this was novel. It was exciting! The same would be true for servant and slaves. In the verses preceding our text Paul wrote, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (3:28).” The point is, unlike the ancient inheritance laws, all believers, whether sons or daughters, have equal blessing as God’s children.

Rights Of Sons
What are some of those blessings? Paul answers, “God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba,’ Father.” Not only did God the Holy Spirit give us faith, he has given the right to call God our Father. This means that we can pray the Lord’s Prayer with confidence. We may look to God as a Father who will help his children in the way and the time that God sees as right – when we’re troubled; when tempted; when in need. Even when we’ve sinned, we know that God our Father, in view of Jesus, has compassion on us and forgives us.

Paul also added, “Since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.” An heir inherits. The ultimate inheritance is eternal life. Keep that in mind when you’re struggling with pain and problems. You have eternal life – keep that in mind when you’re thinking that maybe Christianity isn’t worth the struggle; keep it in mind when if you’re a going through mid-life crisis thinking, “What have I to show for my life?” Keep it mind when you’re facing death and you’re thinking “What next?” “Since you are a son, God has also made you and heir.” God made this possible by seeing to it that Christmas came at just the right time. Amen.

MATTHEW 1:18-25
December 19th, 2010
Fourth Sunday in Advent
Pastor Timothy Smith

18 This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.” 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. (NIV)

PART I. Matthew 1:18–19. The Circumstances that Confused.

“All this took place.” Matthew himself supplies this theme for this account, and its easy to see why: With all of the strange details, the amazing facts, the bitter divorce that didn’t take place, the angels, the dreams, the arrival, after centuries of prophecy—it finally happened. It really happened. “All this took place.” This morning I ask you to ponder with me the miracle of what place: (1) the circumstances that confused, (2) the dream that explained, and (3) the birth of Jesus, that fulfilled.

1:18. This is how, Matthew says, the genesis (that’s the Greek word) or “birth” of Jesus Christ happened. Matthew chose the word to echo the famous title of the first book of the Bible. Just as the Genesis of the Old Testament displayed God’s saving activity in the ancient world and among the Patriarchs, so this New Testament “Genesis” (Matthew’s Gospel) displayed God’s saving activity through his Son.

1:19a. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. In their culture, being “pledged” or “promised” meant something a little less than actually being married—it didn’t have the legal status of marriage, but it meant quite a bit more than what we think of as being “engaged.” It implied a binding moral obligation; it was the threshold of marriage, and that threshold could not easily be stepped away from. So when Mary discovered that she was pregnant, Joseph had only this much information: His fiancé was carrying a baby, and since they were not yet married and had not yet begun their sexual relationship, this baby could not possibly be his.

1:19b. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. The Bible doesn’t record the argument they had; in fact, the Bible doesn’t record a single word spoken by Mary’s husband Joseph. But we do find out about what kind of man Joseph was. He loved Mary, and even despite the feelings he had: she had betrayed him, she had embarrassed him, she had rejected him, she had cheated on him—but he didn’t want to destroy her life. Before there was any dream, before Joseph had all the facts, before the miracle was revealed to him, Joseph behaved with an example of Christian love that puts all the rest of us to shame. Here in the story of the Birth of Jesus we find especially this long accusing finger pointing at us: How does love show itself in our lives?

Here with Joseph it was a man and his fiancé. But let’s bring this into any relationship any of us has. Maybe you’ve been embarrassed by a friend, maybe you’ve been cheated out of something by a co-worker. Maybe you’ve been ridiculed by someone you looked up to. Maybe you saw your pastor in the grocery store and waved and he didn’t seem to notice you as he shuffled along trying to figure out the difference between light brown sugar and dark brown sugar, and your feelings were hurt. Maybe some relationship in your life seems to have been bruised or banged up or shattered by someone else’s sin. The question is, can you forgive?

We mistakenly brush aside Joseph’s forgiveness and compassion on Mary, thinking that he did it because she was the Mother of our Lord—but Joseph didn’t know any of that yet. He was just a jilted Joe when he decided for her sake, to put her future and her baby’s future ahead of himself. This is the love of Joseph, a love that was there because Joseph was a believer, a righteous man, and his faith in God and in God’s promises made him want to serve God in this way, when his own dignity and his own pride and his own reputation and certainly his own plans and hopes and dreams were going to suffer and get stomped on.

We look at other examples of Christian living like this an apply them to ourselves, and so here, a week before we celebrate the birth of our Savior, let’s learn from Joseph’s example. Let’s ask God to forgive us when we have put ourselves first, and look to examples like Joseph’s to see what God would have us do. The forgiveness that came to us through Joseph’s foster son Jesus covers over the guilt of all of these sins of ours, and takes our selfishness, our self-centeredness, our vengeance, our short fuses and quick tempers, and takes even our unholy arrogance, and it washes the guilt completely away. Through Jesus, we are free of it all. Let’s listen to the rest of Matthew’s account of this wonderful gospel truth:

PART II. Matthew 1:20–23. The Dream that Explained.

1:20. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. Although there are times in the Old Testament in particular when the “angel of the Lord” is the pre-incarnate Christ, here the angel is simply an angel, one of God’s holy messengers. When the angel calls Joseph “Son of David,” he is recalling what Matthew says earlier in the gospel, that Jesus is descended from David legally through Joseph. Without going into unnecessary details, the angel told Joseph that Mary’s baby was not a betrayal to Joseph at all. In fact, Mary’s pregnancy is the opposite: Mary’s child fulfilled all of the prophecies about the coming Christ, and so Joseph didn’t have to be afraid to marry her at all.

1:21. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” The name “Jesus” is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Joshua; they mean the same thing, The Lord Saves. And just so that those of us who don’t know Greek or Hebrew off the tops of our heads or to spare us from running to the nearest dictionary, the angel tells us why Jesus’ name is important: It’s because he will save his people from their sins.

Matthew goes on:

1:22-23. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.” This other name “Immanuel” or “God with Us” was part of another prophecy in Isaiah about the coming Christ. His name Immanuel which means “God With Us” is a reminder of just who Jesus is. The baby in the manger is the creator of the universe, who became this human child so that he could carry out the will of God the Father and present himself as the one perfect sacrifice for our sins.

PART III. Matthew 1:25–25. The Birth of Jesus that Fulfilled.

1:24-25. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus. (NIV) There is one last part to this story that we focus on today. Joseph had no union with Mary until after Jesus was born. This was not in any of the commands from God or messages from the angels to either Mary or Joseph. However, a very careful reading of Isaiah’s words tells us that this would take place: Isaiah 7:14 says, Behold, the virgin will conceive, and it also says that the virgin will give birth to a son, and call him Immanuel. Mary and Joseph fulfilled this prophecy without being asked or ordered, as far as we know, to do it.

Once again we see that they put the plan of God into first place in their lives. And as unlikely as all these things seem to be, Matthew has assured us: All this took place. : (1) the circumstances that confused Joseph, (2) the dream that explained everything, and (3) the birth of Jesus, that fulfilled it all.

All this took place so that you and I would know, so that you and I would believe, and so that you and I would put our trust in our Savior Jesus, the Christ Child, who came to take away the sin of the world. Amen.