But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,In this single verse, we see the Apostle Paul reveal for us how God delivered His presence in the most radical way imaginable, so that all of humanity could know that God was real and that God was present and active in the world. But when the fullness of time came; in other words, at just the right time. At just the right point in history, not too early, not too late, at just the right time, God sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ.
And what is so amazing is how God delivered His presence in the most powerful and radical way imaginable. God delivered His presence as a baby born to a teenage girl in a feeding trough for animals. But not only does Paul tell us that Jesus entered humanity as a baby; Paul also states that Jesus was born under the Law. But what does that mean? And is that a big deal?
When Paul refers to the Law here, he is referring to the first five books that are recorded for us in our Bibles today, which the Jewish people referred to as the Law or the Torah. These five books contained the list of commandments that revealed to the Jewish people God’s nature, God’s character, and the type of nature and character that humanity would need to possess and display in order to live in a right relationship with God. However, as we discovered earlier in this series, instead of living in relationship with God, the Jewish people selfishly rebelled against God. Over time the Jewish people increasingly were involved in actions and attitudes of omission and commission that flowed from selfishness and rebellion and that hurt God and others.
And as a result of the selfishness and rebellion of the Jewish people, the Jewish people were guilty of having a problem with God; a problem that resulted in a separation between the Jewish people and God. God’s presence was not longer present because selfishness and rebellion had created a division and void. And in the same way today, the reason why God’s presence is not present is not because God has changed or moved. The reason why God’s presence is not present is because we have moved; we have rejected the relationship with God that we were created for and instead chosen to run from God and run to selfishness and rebellion.
And at just the right time, God sent His Son Jesus into humanity to reveal His presence in the most powerful and radical way possible. But notice that Paul states that Jesus was born under the Law. Jesus did not enter into humanity in a position where He was above the Law; instead Jesus entered into humanity under the Law. This phrase literally means to be in subjection to the Law. Paul’s point here is that Jesus entered into humanity and faced life here on earth under the same conditions that all of humanity faced, under the same rules, the same expectations and the same temptations that we face, so that He could totally and completely identify with us.
You see, God sent His Son on specific mission to solve a specific problem. A problem that we caused; a problem that separated us from God; a problem that only God, in a bod, could solve. Paul then reveals the mission that Jesus was sent on in verse 5:
so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.In this single verse, we see Paul reveal for us two reasons why Christmas began as Jesus entered into humanity as a baby born in a feeding trough and under the same rules, the same expectations and the same temptations that we face. First, Christmas began so that Jesus might redeem those who were under the Law. Now this word redeem, in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means to liberate or rescue. Christmas began so that Jesus would be able to rescue humanity from their selfishness and rebellion that separated us from experiencing God’s presence.
Jesus entered into humanity as a baby in a feeding trough so that He could grow up and live the life that we refused to live by following all of God’s commandments, all of the time, so that He could then allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives, so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life. You see, it is not what we do for God that results in us experiencing God’s presence; it is placing our confident trust in what God has done for us through Jesus life, death, and resurrection that results in us experiencing God’s presence in our lives.
But Christmas began not only so that we could experience God’s presence through a rescue mission to liberate us from selfishness and rebellion. Christmas began so that we could experience God’s presence as His children. Paul explains that Jesus entered into humanity so that we might receive the adoption as sons. Now to fully understand what Paul is communicating here, we first need to understand what adoption looked like in the Apostle Paul’s day. You see, unlike today, most adoptions in Roman society did not occur when children were babies. In Roman culture, you would never adopt a baby. Now a natural question that arises here is “why would you not adopt a baby? Why would you wait to adopt until children were older?”
In Roman culture, the reason you would never adopt a baby is you would never know what you would be getting. The Romans recognized that when a baby was born, “you got what you got,” whether you liked it or not. This would include the sex of the child, birthmarks, etc. Thus, according to Roman law, a naturally born baby could be disowned from the family if they failed to meet up to expectations. However, people adopting an older child knew exactly what they were getting, and no one adopted a child unless that specific child was wanted as a family member. So as a Roman child growing up, you never had a sense of security, because your security and your identity was solely based on your ability to perform.
So what would often happen in Roman culture, where there were many who did not have large families, an affluent but childless adult who wanted an heir would adopt a post-pubescent male, often a slave, to be his son. The need for a male heir and the expense of raising children were strong incentives to have at least one son, but not too many children. However, if that son did not work out, what a Roman citizen would do is disown his son and adopt a slave who had demonstrated the responsibility and ability to continue the legacy that they had built.
This system of adoption also acted as a mechanism for ensuring a smooth succession, as the emperor often would take his chosen successor and then adopt him as his son. In fact, adoption was the most common way of ascending to the throne without use of force. Probably the most famous adopted man in Republican times was Augustus Caesar, who was the ruler of the Romans Empire at the time of Jesus birth. In addition, according to Roman law, an adopted child could not be disowned. He or she was permanently added to the family.
So when the Apostle Paul states that God sent His Son Jesus Christ to rescue humanity from selfishness and sin so that we would be adopted as His children in spite of our performance, this would have been a revolutionary statement. This would have been difficult to comprehend. That God would adopt us in spite of our performance instead of because of our performance? That God would make us a permanent member of His family? That I could never be disowned, not because of my performance for God, but because of God’s performance for me?
Maybe I have just described the thoughts that are running through your mind. Maybe you feel like there is no way that God would adopt you; maybe you feel like that you need to change some things in your life, that you would need to clean up your life, before God would even consider adopting you. If I have described you, here’s the thing; Christmas is about God delivering His presence in order to provide an opportunity for rescue and to experience His presence in spite of your performance, not because of your performance.
Tomorrow, we will see Paul provide further evidence of this reality.
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