SONS OF GOD

The Jewish people took great pride in their heritage. They identity was bound up in the fact that they were children of Abraham and descended from the 12 tribes of Israel. Therefore it may have come as something as a shock when, in the last chapter, Paul stated that all who believe as Abraham believed can be reckoned as Abraham's children and heirs according to the promise. But that is nothing compared to what he is going to say in this chapter.

It is one thing to speak of being a son of Abraham. It is quite another to speak of being a son of God.

The Jews normally refrained from any mention of a "son of God." This need not have been the case. The prophets of the Old Testament occasionally likened the relationship of God with His people as that of a father and son.

Israel was described as both the son and the first-born of God. But what we shall see in this chapter is that Gentiles are also able to enter into this child-parent relationship with God. And not only that, the relationship that we enjoy today is actually BETTER than the one that the Jews enjoyed with the Lord under the Old Testament system.

Paul does not want to present the Law as being a bad thing. It is not. The Law of the Lord is perfect. But the Judaizers were trying to do something with the Law that it was not designed to do. Furthermore, their desire to remain under the Law was a sign of their own immature faith.

He is going to use the contemporary son-placing customs of his day to illustrate the relationship that we enjoy as Christians.

1. The Jewish Custom of Bar Mitzvah.

2. Roman Customs of Son-placing.

It did not matter whether you were Jewish or whether you were Roman, if you had not reached the age of adulthood, then you could be an heir but still not have the freedom of the house. You would be under the authority of guardians and managers.

In the same way, the Jews who lived under the Old Testament era were heirs of the kingdom, but lived under the rule and the bondage of the Law until the time that they could come into their inheritance. This tells me something of the Old Testament era. It was a time of CHILDHOOD. But this period of childhood has now matured into an age of adulthood.

Here is the principle. The Law was a temporary measure given until God's people grew up and were ready to partake of their inheritance.

Those who lived under the Law were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. Their existence was realy quite simple and elemental. They were told, "Do this and don't do that." These rules generally focused only on the outward actions, not the inward attitudes.

Notice that Paul is speaking in the first person plural - "while we were children." He is speaking of himself and his fellow Israelites. But when he comes to verse 6 he will change and speak to the Galatians ("you are sons"). The Galatians were never children under the Law. They did not becomes elevated into a position of adulthood after having first served under the tutelage of the Law. Instead we shall see that they were ADOPTED into that position.

In a very real sense, Jesus was born when the fulness of time came. His birth took place at a propitious time in history.

• This was the time of Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. It was generally a time of relative peace throughout the Roman Empire. This had not been the case 30 years before the birth of Christ. The empire had been plunged into a time of civil war. It would not be the case 40 years after the death of Christ. Jerusalem herself would be destroyed in the fighting. Jesus came at just the right time.

• The Romans had developed a system of roads to tie their empire together. These roads would be used to spread the gospel throughout the world.

• The entire known world spoke a common language in the Koine Greek of the day.

• The Bible had been translated in the Greek Septuagint and was therefore available to Gentiles.

• The dispora had resulted in Jewish synagogues being planted throughout the entire known world.

This verse is arrange in a type of parallelism known as a chiasm. It is designed to contrast the idea of sonship versus the idea of the Law.

Jesus was born and raised and lived under the Law. He allowed the Law to exercise authority over Himself. He had made the Law. But He became submissive to it. The One who instituted the rite of circumcision was Himself circumcised.

When I was growing up there were rules in my house. There were rules for cleaning and for sleeping and for eating. There was only one person who did not come under the rules -- the maker of the rules. But in Jesus' case, the maker of the rules allowed Himself to be placed under the authority of those rules.

Jesus was born under the Law. He was Jewish. The Law exercised dominion over His even to the cross where it judged Him as though He were a guilty sinner.

• The Law judges ® He was judged for our iniquities.

• The Law executes ® He died for our sins.

The purpose of Christ's coming was that He might REDEEM. This is the same word that we saw in Galatians 3:13 where Christ redeemed those who were under the curse of the Law.

As a result of that redemption, we now receive the adoption as sons (4:5). This brings up an interesting question. To what does this adoption refer? There are two possibilities:

1. Adoption of those who were not Previously Related.

2. Placing of the Son as the Legal Heir of the Inheritance.

• The word hios refers to a "son."

• The verb tithemi means "to place."

When a child came of age, he would come into his inheritance. What is the inheritance that we have received as adult sons of God? It is the inheritance of the very Spirit of Christ who has come into our hearts. God not only PROVIDES the inheritance; He IS the inheritance.

There are several different aspects to the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives. They each seem to have their own distinctiveness:

Paul here is describing the indwelling ministry - the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. The results of that ministry is that we find ourselves in the closest possible relationship with God.

The term "Abba" is taken from the Hebrew/Aramaic Ab, "Father." This rendition of it seems to be an endearment akin to our modern, "Daddy."

1. If you are a Son, then you have an Inheritance: And if a son, then an heir through God (4:7).

You know what an inheritance is. It is made up of all of the wealth that a person owns. That accumulation of wealth is taken and given to the heir.

The value of an inheritance is in direct proportion to the wealth of the benefactor. If a poor man leaves you an inheritance, then you might not even bother claiming it. But if the King of the Universe who owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the planets around a billion galaxies makes you His heir, then you have incredible fortune.

2. If you are a Son, then you Know God: You have come to know God, or rather to be known by God (4:9).

There are two parts to this. The first part is that a son knows his father. There are those unfortunate children who do not know their fathers. For one reason or another, they have been abandoned. My own mother was such a child. She was given up on the streets of San Juan as an unwanted child. But if you are a Christian, then you know your Father. And that means that you know God. You've heard the expression that it is not what you know, but WHO you know that is important. It is true. And if you are a Son, then you know the One who really counts.

But that is not all. If you are a Son, then you are known by God. This is the kind of knowledge that expresses love. It is the kind of knowledge that the Old Testament is describing when it says that Adam knew his wife and she bore a son. It is a knowledge that includes intimacy and love. If you are God's Son, then He knows you in the most intimate and loving manner possible.

3. If you are a Son, then there is No Going Back to your Former Slavery: How is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again? (4:9).