This week we have been looking at the reality that, at
the end of the day, Christmas in our culture is about the presents. And, when
it comes to presents, timing is everything. There is something powerful when
that special present that you spent so much time finding is opened at just the
right time, in just the right place. There is something powerful when the
timing goes off just as planned and we see the response that we had hoped for
when that present is opened.
And that is why it can be so devastating for us when the
UPS truck does not arrive on time. And that is why it can be so devastating
when our presents are not received with the response that we had hoped for
after all of the energy and effort that we placed into that present. Because,
when it comes to presents, while timing is everything, could it be that Christmas
can become about the wrong kind of presents.
We talked about the reality that Christmas began not so
that we could experience presents; Christmas began so that all of humanity
would have the opportunity to experience God’s presence. Christmas is all about
God revealing 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.
Christmas is about God responding to the problem of
selfishness and rebellion with a promise. A promise of His presence being
delivered; a promise of His presence being delivered in time to provide an
opportunity for the rescue all of humanity. Because, when it comes to God’s
presence, timing is everything. We see this reality revealed for us in a
section of a letter that is recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible
called the book of Galatians.
We saw the Apostle Paul reveal for us the reality that God
delivered His presence in the most radical way imaginable by, at just the right
time, sending His Son, Jesus Christ as a
baby born to a teenage girl in a feeding trough for animals.
In addition, we discovered 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. Today, we see Paul reveal the mission that
Jesus was sent on in Galatians 4:5. Let’s look at it together:
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 the
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 were created to live but
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 the Roman
society of the 1st century 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 based solely 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
Roman 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 to rescue humanity from selfishness, sin and rebellion 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.
Friday, we will see Paul provide further evidence of
this reality...
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