To Paul, a man living under the Law is considered a
minor, a child who is not of age. He could be the master’s son and would
inherit an estate, but he is not of age yet. Therefore, he is placed under the
custody of a guardian till the right moment the Father had set for him to
inherit the estate. As the owner he should have possessed everything, but because
he is still a minor, his life is like that of a slave under control and
tyrannized by the guardian.
In verse 3, Paul said, “So also we …” meaning the
people who were earmarked to inherit the promise made to Abraham but were under
bondage. The bondage of course is referring to the Law. And we need to be
redeemed from it. The Law is also referred to in verse 3 as the elemental
things of this world. And in verse 9, we see the Law as weak and worthless. The
word “elemental” can also be taken to mean false spirits and demons as
suggested by verse 8. Thus we see that while the Law given through Moses and
the agency of angels was good, the devil had twisted it and used it to enslave
men and women.
Praise God, in verse 4, Paul tells us that “… when the fullness of the time came.” He was
referring to that prepared divine moment of God. In fact all
events in history up till then were preparing for that moment: the Greek that united the then known world by a
common language, and the Roman that provided roads for
easy travel. And the
spiritual and moral decadent of the time made the coming of Christ a necessity. Two things were said here: God sent His Son
(vv.4-5) and God sent His Spirit (v.6-7).
In verses 4-5, Paul
described two aspects of
this Son. He is both divine and human. Divine because He is God’s Son sent to
us, and human because he was born of a woman. He had a two-fold mission: to
redeem men under the Law and to enable men to receive their adoption. He was
born under the Law, meaning He was born of a Jewish woman in the Jewish
country, and was subject to the Jewish Law, and was the
only man ever to meet the full demands of the Law. Hence, He is perfectly
righteous and thus qualified to be man’s Redeemer. Through Him also, believers receive their adoption. This term “adoption” is loaded with
blessings. It means becoming God’s own son with all the rights to the inheritance
He has promised.
In verses 6-7, we are told
that God not only sent His Son into the world but He also sent
His Spirit into our hearts. This coming of the Spirit into a believer’s heart
enables him to experience intimacy with the Father, thus enabling him to
acknowledge the Father in the most intimate of terms, “Abba, Daddy.” This
status makes us children. It is divine in initiative and not achieved through
any merits of work.
Paul reminded the Galatians of their status in Christ. You are no longer
a slave but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God (v.7). However he was
puzzled by the Galatians. He wondered why they still chose to return to their
former life of slavery. So he pleaded with them to think rationally. He
argued: “In the past you were slaves and now sons; in
the past you did not know God but now you know Him and are known by Him, why
then do you want to go back into slavery again? Why go back into bondage to
observe regulation, days, months and seasons again?” Paul was afraid that the
effort, time and sacrifice he made to bring them into the liberty in Christ
would become futile if they would return to a life of bondage.
We need to know who we are to live our Christian life
effectively. We are sons and daughters and not slaves. Let’s serve out of love
and not out of obligation! Let’s develop
a Mary’s lifestyle and not a Martha’s – we need not go about doing much about
nothing. The Lord said “One thing is needful and Mary had chosen that which
will not be taken away from her.” Let’s choose to sit and listen to His heart, and
then go forth and do our part!
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