Unnatural birth (Galatians 4:21-5:1) - MP3 recording

Recording of this week's sermon preached at the Chinese Church on Sunday, 13 January 2013.



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Unnatural birth (Galatians 4:21-5:1)

Unnatural

“Unnatural” is the name we are calling this series on Galatians 4 to 6 as a way of describing the Christian life. Being a Christian is strange. Now by that, I don’t just mean that it is supernatural though Paul does say that in verse 29 - Christians are born “by the power of the Spirit”. Christians are born again through the work of the Holy Spirit, also known as regeneration, and this is supernatural. It is a work of God.

But the reason why I am calling the Christian life “unnatural” instead of “supernatural” is because Paul isn’t just talking about that turning point when we first became Christians. It’s not just conversion he is talking about. He is describing growth and maturity in Christ - the everyday experiences we have as believers - and he is describing how continuing to trust and depend on Jesus puts us at odds with our natural tendencies; puts us at war with our natural selves.

It is natural, having trusted in Jesus for our salvation some time ago, to live trusting in our own strength in the day-to-day challenges of life, school, work and family. Even though we know that God is sovereign and holy and loving, the more natural way to get things done is to act as if everything depended upon our initiative and effort.

Paul says that it is this natural tendency to rely on ourselves, even though we know we should trust in God and his grace alone, that lies behind the problem of religion. The reason why Christians need to be extra careful about religion is because there is a part of of us that thinks that maybe it isn’t enough to trust in Jesus alone. There is a part of us that thinks that God wants us to be religious and that maybe God wants us to pay him back for all he has done for us in Jesus.

Paul wrote this this letter because of this problem. Religious teachers had come to the church in Galatia, a church which Paul planted years ago, and in his absence were telling the Christians that while it was well and good to confess our sins to Jesus and be forgiven, they had to do something else; they had to be religious Jews. After all, Jesus was a Jew, the people of God were Jews, all of Jesus’ first disciples were Jews. To be a Jew meant you had to follow the Old Testament rules on what you could and could not eat, it meant observing the Sabbath and celebrating the Jewish festivals, and for the guys, it meant getting circumcised!

You might think, “That kind of religious fanaticism won’t work today,” but you need to realise that what these religious teachers were speaking to was that voice at the back of our heads which says, “I knew it! I knew it was too good to be true!” What they were appealing to was that sense of debt and insecurity that says, “I owe God for his blessing to me and I need to pay him back,” and what the religious teachers did was open up to the passages in the Old Testament which said, “This is how you do it.” For them, the Old Testament Law was like a giant bill which said, “This is how much you need pay up!”

But this is where Paul really surprises us in his response to the religious teachers. He tells us that people who talk like that haven’t read their bibles.

Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?

Galatians 4:21

In effect, Paul is saying that the law warns us not to be under the law. That is what we are going to see today. The law warns us that if we try to live under the law, we end up being enslaved to the law.

Using the Old Testament, Paul gives us three illustrations - of two women, two covenants and two sons - to show us how law and religion lead us to slavery but only Jesus frees us from sin. Three points from today’s passage: Two women, two covenants and two sons; to show who we are, who God is and what Jesus has done for us on the cross.

We begin with two women. That’s verse 22.

1. Two women

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as a result of a promise.

Galatians 4:22-23

The story of Abraham and his two wives is the story what happens when we think that God’s promise is too good to be true. When God says to us, “I am going to bless you with something you have longed for, with something that will give you ultimate joy and meaning,” and you reaction is, “That’s nice, God. But it’s just not going to happen.” We look at our circumstance, we look at our limitations and even though we know God is offering us our heart’s desire, we don’t believe him because his word sounds too good to be true.

The promise that God gave to Abraham was the promise of a son. “To your offspring I will give this land,” God says to Abraham in Genesis 12:7. But three chapters later, Abraham complains to God, “You have given me no children” (Genesis 15:3).

Such that by Chapter 16, when there is still no sign of a son, Abraham and his wife take things into their own hands. By this point of time, Abraham is 86 years old, his wife is 76 years old, and the two of them have basically given up on the idea of having kids but the truth is, Abraham and Sarah gave up on God. Sarah says, “The LORD has kept me from having children.” (Genesis 16:2). Did you hear that? God is responsible for this problem we’re facing. He didn’t come through. He didn’t keep his word. It’s hard not to blame God when things don’t go according to plan. When that happens we get desperate, we feel guilty, we get angry. When that happens we take things into our own hands. Sarah says to her husband, “Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her” (Genesis 17:2)

The servant’s name was Hagar and she gave birth to son, a boy named Ishmael. Notice how the NIV describes this in verse 23, “His son by of the slave woman was born in the ordinary way,” or “according to flesh,” which is a way of saying that this is how all babies are born. The normal way. The usual way. But it wasn’t God’s way.

For all intents and purposes, the plan worked. Abraham had a son to call his own. But it wasn’t God plan, it was theirs. To the extent that when God reminds Abraham again of his promise to give him a son through Sarah, he laughs. He laughs at God, saying, “Will a son be born to man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” (Genesis 17:17) In fact, Sarah does the same thing when she hears God’s promise in Genesis 18, “So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, ‘After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?’” (Genesis 18:12) Why? Because it was an impossible situation, but more than that, it was something that sounded too good to be true.

When you have been waiting for something you’ve prayed for and dreamt about for so long, only to be let down and disappointed time and time again, you stop waiting. You stop dreaming. You start to lose hope and the natural thing to do, the human thing to do, is to lower your expectations; to settle for something more realistic. It’s a defence mechanism.

Abraham laughed at God and sometimes we laugh when God says to us, “I offer you eternal life.” If you are in the prime of your life now, healthy, intelligent, on the college rowing team, playing badminton every Sunday after church, you probably don’t think much about eternal life. But go through cancer and then read a passage on healing. Lose a loved one and then hear how Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn.” Some of us might just laugh cynically in God’s face, “Eternal life? Is there such a thing?”

The same thing happened to Jesus in Matthew 9. He goes to a funeral and says to the mourners, “The girl is not dead but asleep,” (Matthew 9:24) They laugh at him. I would have thought the more natural response would have been anger, but no, the mourners laugh at Jesus.

Why? Because when God offers you something that really matters but has eluded you for so long and when he offers it to you at the time of your life when you need it the most - joy, happiness, meaning, life, love - we dare not trust him to come through with his promises. Like Sarah, we might even say, God kept me from this happiness. So now it’s up to me to try and manufacture my own.

That’s what Sarah did. She manufactured a son. Through Hagar, her servant, she was able to produce for Abraham, a son born in the ordinary way. “But,” verse 23 continues, “(Abraham’s) son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.” This son was not born the ordinary way; the natural way. How could he? Abraham was 100, Sarah was 90. But the point is, God did keep his word. Their circumstance and even their sin could not stop God from keeping his word. This son was born to Abraham as the result of a promise that God gave, that God kept.

What was natural in our eyes - a son born to woman in perfect health as a result of a natural act between a man and a woman - was unnatural in God’s eyes; Abraham slept with his servant, Hagar. Abraham laughed at God’s promises. Abraham broke his marriage covenant. And what was unnatural in our eyes - a son born to a grandma in her nineties - was never a problem for God. He was simply keeping his word.

Isn’t it ironic that Paul is speaking to a group of people who “want to be under the law,” and saying to them, “Are you aware of what the law says?” (verse 21) Some people know God’s word only enough to doubt it. Like Abraham, they hear the promise, and instead of trusting it, they say, “It’s too good to be true,” or, “My situation’s different,” or, “God is telling me what I need to do.” They know God’s word enough - but just enough - to doubt it, to question it and to deny it.

Yet God’s word reminds us again and again that God is a God of his word. He is faithful in keeping his word and his promises.

2. Two covenants

From two women, Paul quickly moves to the picture of two covenants. That’s verse 24.

These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves. This is Hagar.

Galatians 4:24

Paul points to Hagar, the slave woman, and says, “That’s religion. That’s the Old Covenant.” In doing so, he is equating the Ten Commandments, the Law given by Moses on Mount Sinai with slavery. The word “covenant” means “contract,” like the piece of paper you sign when you get a new mobile phone, or when you apply for a job, or when you get a loan for your new flat, except that this contract locks us into slavery. It “bears children who are to be slaves.”

More than that, Paul says, it’s not just the Old Covenant that locks us into slavery, it is also the present day religious system in Jerusalem. Look at verse 25.

Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.

Galatians 4:25

What Paul does is bracket the entire Old Testament religion - from Hagar, the slave girl in Genesis; to Mount Sinai in Exodus with the Ten Commandments; right up to present day Jerusalem with its temple worship - and says, It’s slavery. Religion is slavery.

It might surprise you to hear that in the bible; to hear the bible warning us about being religious. Paul is warning us that if we try to obey the Old Testament as a series of rules and regulations - let me put it plainer than that - if you try to obey the bible as a to-do list, what you are doing is signing a contract that binds you into lifelong slavery.

Well-meaning, good-natured, sincere Christians do this. They open the bible and all they see are the rules. They open the bible to remind other Christians to obey the rules. The gather on Sundays and all they hear are rules and regulations on what they must do in order for God to love them and bless them. But that’s not Christianity. That’s religion.

And Paul is telling us, that’s not the way to read the bible, as law. We open up the bible and see what God has done, not what we have to do. We open up the bible and see Jesus, how he fulfilled the law when we could not - living the life we could not live, dying the death we should have died. As Christians we read the bible not as law but as a promise to see God’s faithfulness and goodness to us in Jesus Christ.

Or as Paul puts it in verse 26 onwards, we open the bible to see the unseen - to see the Jerusalem that is above.

But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. For it is written:

“Be glad, O barren woman,

who bears no children;

break forth and cry aloud,

you who have no labour pains;

because more are the children of the desolate woman

than of her who has a husband.”

Galatians 4:26-27

Paul tells us there are two Jerusalems, but notice this: it’s not the old versus new Jerusalem; as if to say, it’s old school versus new school. Paul isn’t telling us to update our forms of worship. He isn’t saying that we need contextualise the bible to a new audience. It’s not old versus new but rather the present Jerusalem versus the Jerusalem above. It’s any and every religion that is here and now as opposed to the reality of heaven that is above.

That’s really important because Paul isn’t wiping away the Old Testament. The Ten Commandments, the temple, the worship and sacrificial system, the priests - these are shadows of a greater reality. Meaning when we as Christians do read the Old Testament, we should see Jesus. The Old Testament gives us glimpses into the heavenly reality of what God has done through Jesus. Jesus is the Word of God. Jesus is the meeting place between God and man. Jesus is the High Priest who intercedes on our behalf.

Paul is confident of what the bible actually says - it actually reminds us of Jesus and God’s faithfulness and love to us in Jesus. So much so, that when the religious teachers come along and say, “The Old Testament teaches us that we should obey the rules and regulations,” Paul can actually say to them, “You guys don’t know your bibles.” Verse 21, “Are you not aware of what the law says?”

But more than that, Paul says to them, “You are slaves. Hagar is your mother. Sinai is your mother. The present Jerusalem is your mother. And in preaching the law all you are doing is producing more slaves.” Verse 25 again, “Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem.” Why? “Because she is in slavery with her children.”

“But,” Paul says, “the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.” What does he mean by that? In what way is the Jerusalem above “free”? It is the freedom that comes rejoicing in God’s children. “Be glad, O barren woman, who bears no children; break forth and cry aloud, you who have no labour pains.”

Imagine saying this to a wife who is unable to bear children, “Be glad, O barren woman.” Of course, we shouldn’t - Paul is speaking of the heavenly Jerusalem. But then again, what Paul is describing is joy - a joy that is so significant it can overcome the sorrow of a childless mother. He even dares to say this, “More are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband.” A desolate woman is someone who has lost everything. No family. No husband. No children. She is emptied out, that’s what “desolate” means.

It’s a strange description: of joy in the midst of sadness; of abundance in the midst of emptiness. But again, Paul is not describing us, he is describing heaven. The Jerusalem above is the reality of heaven, and here Paul is quoting the words of Isaiah the prophet (Chapter 54, verse 1) to describe how Jesus saves us through the New Covenant. He emptied himself. He bore our suffering. He fills us with his righteousness and joy.

In verse 24, Paul tells us that the two women represent two covenants, and we’ve looked at Hagar. Hagar was the woman who produces children the natural way and that’s a picture of religion. Religion is the natural way of growing your church, your attendance, your influence. But religion lays down burdens. It empties us of joy. Its creates demands that are never satisfied.

But the second woman is Sarah. She is the barren woman who produces more children, she is the desolate woman who overflows with joy. Why? Because the Jerusalem above is free and she is our mother. What does that mean for us? We find out in our last point as we look at two sons to ask ourselves this question: Which son are you?

3. Two sons

Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

Galatians 4:28-31

How do you know you are the real thing? How do you know you have truly been freed from slavery through the promise of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ? That’s the question Paul is answering. Verse 31, “Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.” This is how you know.

Paul gives us two indicators. The first is persecution.

“At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now.” Peter says the same thing to us when he writes, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12-13) Paul writes to the Philippians, “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him.” (Philippians 1:29)

But perhaps it is Jesus’ own words that bring home the reality of persecution at the hands who think they are serving God. “In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God.” (John 16:2)

It’s easy to think that these warnings are only for extreme cases; for Christians living in places opposed to the gospel, where it is illegal to read the bible, when you might get locked up for meeting in the name of Jesus Christ. At one level, it reminds us that many of our brothers and sisters live in this reality. We are the ones who are strangely blessed with freedom to worship, an abundance of bibles and different translations, meeting halls with air-conditioning and comfy seats; here in Cambridge where you can hop from church to church looking for the best teaching and the best music and the best fellowship and not worry about persecution and rejection or the threat of death. We are the ones who are strange.

But on another level, it’s not so much that we are strange, as we are naive. How do you know you are the real thing? For us, it’s strange to hear Paul talk about persecution and say, “This is how you know are the children of promise.” And yet Jesus says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” (Matthew 5:11) Speak boldly for Jesus and you will experience rejection. By implication, one of the reasons we don’t experience much rejection is because we don’t speak about Jesus. It’s not just circumstance the bible is describing, it’s faithfulness to the gospel.

That’s why the persecution that Paul describes in verse 29 comes from the son born in the “ordinary way.” This is Hagar’s son, the one born through religion, the one born in slavery to religion. It’s another way of saying that religious people are bullies. They take out their frustration and rage on those they perceive as being not worthy of God’s love and the freedom that he gives in Jesus Christ. If you make your stand for the gospel in an environment that is religious, that is entrenched in its traditions, that prides itself with its goodness and accomplishments and history, you will be cut down. Why? Because the gospel exposes our slavery to sin and the law. The gospel exposes pride and hypocrisy.

But the point is, this is how you know you’ve got the gospel - when you continue to speak for Jesus in a world that is in slavery to sin and the law, and you experience the inevitable backlash of making your stand for the gospel. That’s the first indicator: persecution.

But the second is this: You are still standing firm in Jesus. That’s Chapter 5, verse 1.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1

The freedom we receive is not the freedom to move away from Jesus. It is the joy that comes from willingly serving him and continuing to trust Jesus in the face of opposition, temptation and sin.

What this does is help us understand the rather controversial Old Testament quotation in verse 30, which says, “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Paul could be telling them to get rid of the false teachers. “Don’t tolerate them. Kick them out. They have no place amongst God’s people.” At the very least, I think that is true.

But more than that, Paul is speaking to us; to our assurance as Christians, because remember how he then says in very next verse, “Therefore, brothers, we are not sons of the slave woman.” Tie this back to Galatians 5:1, warning us about being “burdened again with the yoke of slavery,” I think what Paul is saying to us is this: Christians are aware of a greater cost of slavery, beyond the burden and unhappiness of religion. Christians are aware that those who willing enslave themselves to religion have no right to God’s inheritance as sons. It is only as we stand in Jesus alone for our justification and acceptance before God that we have this assurance that we are the real thing. We are loved as sons. And we are citizens of heaven, the Jerusalem that is above. Whatever the cost and whatever the temptation, we stand firm in Christ.

Two ways to live

To recap: we have seen two women, two covenants and two sons. The two women represent the slave and the free, the natural and the unnatural; one represents doing things our way, the other involves trusting God who graciously makes a way.

The two covenants are religion and the gospel, the present Jerusalem and the heavenly Jerusalem. Religion multiplies itself by multiplying rules and by multiplying slaves. The gospel is God emptying himself in Christ to fill us with his righteousness. He takes our sin and gives us his joy.

The two sons are the persecutor and the persecuted, the bully who asserts his rights and the heir who receives his inheritance. It is the slave and son.

And Paul ends by asking us, “Which are you?” There are two ways - and only two ways - to live. Either you are trusting in the law, a religion, a belief system, your own goodness to justify yourself. Or you are trusting in God’s promise of freedom that comes through Jesus’ death on your behalf on the cross.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Romans 5:1-2

We will stand as children of the promise

We will fix our eyes on Him our soul's reward

Till the race is finished and the work is done

We'll walk by faith and not by sight
(“By faith”, Keith and Kristyn Getty)

Mountain of glory (Matthew 17:1-13) - MP3 recording

Recording of this week's sermon preached at the Chinese Church on Sunday, 6 January 2013, which also happens to be Epiphany Sunday in the traditional church calendar.



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Video: God sent his Son (Galatians 4:1-7)

God makes us sons (Galatians 4:8-20)

Knowing God

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

Galatians 4:8

Paul uses the term “slave” deliberately and carefully. He knows that some of his hearers were themselves slaves. To be a slave is to be without any rights or any status. You are owned by someone else, their property.

Yet the slavery Paul describes in verse 8 is not vocational but spiritual. “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.” Today, Paul would say that to any Christian who used to visit temples, who used to offer up joss-sticks to deities, who used to burn incense at altars. You were slaves, that is, in offering up your worship to these false gods (by which, I think Paul was describing something quite sinister, ie. demons), even though you might have been sincere in that worship, what you were doing was offering yourselves up in slavery and bondage to powers opposed to God.

“But,” Paul says in verse 9, “now that you know God.” Formerly, you didn’t know him (verse 8), now you do (verse 9). Yet notice how Paul immediately clarifies himself, “or rather are known by God.” That’s an important clarification. Being a Christian isn’t like going to university and taking up a course on God. We didn’t come to know God because we were clever enough or did a theology degree.

If I asked you, “Do you know Jackie Chan?” most of us would have seen his movies and some of us might even have met him before (eating wantan noodles in Hong Kong Fusion), but what if that question was, “Does Jackie know you?” What I am asking then is not whether you know something about a person but whether you have a relationship with that person. To be a Christian is to have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ who freed us as slaves to receive full rights as sons of God and to be able to call him Ah-Pa. It’s a relationship.

But there’s a problem. These sons were turning back into slaves. It’s still a problem. It is what happens when the relationship becomes rules. Think of a marriage, a friendship or a family. When the relationship is replaced with rules, Paul says, what you end up with is slavery.

But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

Galatians 4:9

What Paul does in the following few verses is spell out for us three things: a hidden problem, a clear symptom and the only solution.

A hidden problem: Religious legalism

When Paul says to the Galatians, “Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?” they would have been genuinely surprised. “Who, me? But I’ve stopped going temple. I’ve stopped burning incense at the altar.”

That was the slavery we began with back in verse 8. This is another kind of slavery (though it’s not entirely different). The clue lies in the accusation of verse 9, “How is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles?” Paul uses the same phrase back in verse 3 to refer to the Old Testament Law, “So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.” It’s the same word stoichea translated “principles” in English.

On the one hand, these Christians used to be slaves to idols. This much, they understood. But on the other hand, they were submitting themselves under a new form of slavery - one that was through the law. That’s what verse 3 means, “we,” meaning the Jews under the Old Testament Law, “were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.” That word “principles” can refer either to basic rules and regulations or it can even be talking about spiritual forces in the demonic realm. Meaning, what Paul was saying - and this would have shocked his Jewish friends - was that being under the law without Christ was no different from being under the influence of pagan worship. Both were slaves.

Now how does this apply to us here in the Chinese Church? Take a look at verse 10.

You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!

Galatians 4:10

What are the principles of the Chinese Church? Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with celebrating Chinese New Year and Mid-Autumn Festival here in the Chinese Church. What I am asking is, do these festivals define us?

The “special days and months and seasons and years” that Paul is surprised to hear about in verse 10 were not cultural or pagan festivals. These were Jewish festivals from the Old Testament. The reason why he is so shocked to hear that the church was celebrating these festivals wasn’t because there was anything wrong with these celebrations - after all these were prescribed in books like Exodus and Deuteronomy; these included the Passover, even the Sabbath! There was nothing wrong with these celebrations and yet... and yet, there was something fundamentally wrong with them being celebrated in the church, because now these religious celebrations were no different from their pagan celebrations. Now, these celebrations were beginning to define their identity in the church not as Christians but as Jews.

Here in the Chinese Church, we have to be watchful that our Chinese-ness doesn’t come before Christ. Not simply because it brings shame to the gospel. Not simply because it hinders evangelism. Not just because it makes us inward-looking, small-minded and takes our eye of the great commission to the nations.

No, the danger that the bible warns us of is slavery. We turn sons back into slaves when we preach our culture instead of Christ; when we tell people what they must do instead of what God has done on the cross. We actually reverse the work of the gospel and lead people back into slavery.

So much so that Paul then says that when we preach law and neglect gospel, gathering here on Sundays is a complete and utter waste of time.

I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

Galatians 4:11

As the Chinese Church, we’ve been around for fifteen years. Imagine the founding leaders standing up in front of us today and saying, “It’s all been for nothing. You guys really let us down.” What would prompt them to say such a thing? Brother and sisters fighting against one another? Gross sin within the church family? Mismanagement of church money? A huge drop in attendance at prayer meetings?

You won’t find a hint of any such problems reading Paul’s letter to the Galatian. People were coming to church week in week out. They were celebrating the Jewish festivals. Believers were even doing their best to obey the Ten Commandments. No, what prompted Paul to write this letter to a church he himself founded and say to them, “I think I have wasted my time with this church,” is this: Men and women who don’t know the gospel; Leaders who don’t preach the gospel.

Because friends, when we stop preaching the gospel, what we end up preaching is law,  religion and rules. When that happens, the bible says, we have turned back to slavery.

A clear symptom: Loss of joy

It is clear that Paul had a long history with the church in Galatia. He reminds them of that history in verse 12.

I plead with you, brothers, become like me, for I became like you. You have done me no wrong. As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you.  Even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.

Galatians 4:12-14

There was a time when Paul knew first-hand how loving this church could be. He was suffering with an illness that he admits was a burden to them; a “trial” is how he puts it in verse 14. Yet this was the circumstance God used to bring the gospel to them and to plant the church in Galatia - through an illness, through a pain situation - but as the setting in which Paul would tell them about Jesus.

Often times, it’s the other way around. Someone is suffering - he is in hospital, or she is in depression - and we respond in love and compassion. Notice however, something unique in this situation. Paul, the one who is suffering, tells them the gospel. That is why they welcomed him as if he were “an angel of God, as if (he) were Christ Jesus himself.”

We miss the point when we think that the reason why Paul was treated so well was because he was sick or because he deserved to be shown compassion or that these Galatians were such nice people. Paul wasn’t being nostalgic. Their initial response was compassion towards a sick man, yes, but in addition to this, faith in the message of this sick man. They put their trust in the gospel he preached and thus, received him as an angel (that word angelon can also mean messenger) of God, as if he were Jesus, whom Paul represented.

As a side point, this has application for those who are suffering and those who are comforting. If you are suffering as a Christian, the bible is saying that God can use your pain and God can use you to witness to him in the midst of your pain; not after you have been delivered from your pain. Paul can point to his suffering, “It was because of an illness,” and say, This was the reason, “I preached the gospel to you.”

Conversely if you are the one who is doing the comforting, you need the gospel as well. If all you are relying on is your own compassion; if all you are doing is responding to the need you see in front of you; you will either find yourself sorely ill-equipped or burnt out. God, who is the God of all comfort, comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from him (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

That was their initial response: compassion to Paul sickness, faith and repentance in Paul’s message. But something changed along the way.

What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?

Galatians 4:15-16

This joy that they had lost was joy that came from sacrifice. Paul isn’t saying that they’ve become meanies and hard-hearted. He testifies, “If you could have done so, you would torn out your eyes and given them to me.” That is, they were willing to help Paul to the point of sacrificing their own well-being. And Paul knew that they did this willing, lovingly, joyfully.

When Paul walked into church he knew each and every one of these brothers and sisters loved him. These guys had his back. Whatever happened to him - if he got into trouble, if he lost everything he had, if his life was on the line - these guys would do everything they could to help him, pray for him; they would sacrifice their own well-being for Paul. Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that what we want to happen here in our church? Isn’t that liberating and simply, biblical? Why would we want to settle for anything less than that? And isn’t there a joy that comes from being able to love in that way?

Another reason why it’s important to see that this joy is in the context of self-sacrifice is because of what Paul says next: their joy has been replaced with zealousness.

Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you.

Galatians 4:17-18

A more familiar word for “zealousness” might be “eagerness” - these Christians were now eager and keen to display their good works. But looking at the context, I would even describe it as a kind of artificial infatuation.

Their joy has been replaced with infatuation. The language Paul uses is one of courtship, whereby the false teachers have come into the church to woo the believers, to “win” them over, he says in verse 17, so that they would be zealous for them or infatuated with them. Yet this emotion is fleeting and temporal, as evident from verse 18, “It’s fine to be zealous,” Paul says, “provided the purpose is good, and to be so always and not just when I am with you.”

Meaning, if you were to visit the Galatian church, everyone would still smiling. They would be more than eager to show you how much fun they have as a church. “What do you mean we’ve lost our joy, Paul? Can’t you see how happy everyone is?”

But Paul is telling us that it’s just a cover-up for something they’ve lost that’s deeper and much more precious. It’s joy. Joy that comes from the gospel. Joy that is borne from willing sacrifice. What they had replaced that joy with was an infatuation that was fleeting, that was self-serving, that was designed to mask their lack of joy. It was an act put on by the false teachers to win their approval and to alienate them from the truth.

Verse 16, “Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?” I sincerely doubt the apostle Paul would have been considered a success today. You wouldn’t find him speaking in big church planting conferences. Even if he did, few would want to hear what he had to say. He was faithful to the gospel even when it meant being unpopular with his own brothers and sisters. It’s sad when that happens. But it happens, and when it does, the question is, will you still be faithful to the truth of the gospel?

Some you think it’s just in the context of Christian leadership that I’m saying this, but this faithfulness to the truth in the face of opposition and alienation stretches into any and every relationship - as friends, as family, as parents, as children, as husband and wives. It is not incongruous with what it means to love our friends, family, parents, children, spouses - and yes, we ought to speak this truth in love (Ephesians 4:15) - but the question is, will we still speak truth that is truth to those we love; will we still be faithful to the gospel and proclaim Christ when we are rejected by those whom we love. Jesus told us as much when he said, “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:21-22)

And what Paul goes on to say in the last couple of verses is that genuine love speaks this truth in the midst of the anguish, and continues to do so till the gospel takes hold of our hearts.

The only solution: Christ formed in you

My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

Galatians 4:19-20

I spoke with Cassii after last week’s service and she told me she’s going to study midwifery next year. My immediate reaction was, “That sounds gross!”

Maybe that’s just the reaction of a guy (an insensitive one!) but as Paul talks about childbirth here in verse 19, he spoke of it in terms of the “pains of childbirth” which he himself was experiencing, which I wonder if the Mums here today might hear and go, “What on earth does Paul know about the pains of childbirth!”

Paul is, of course, using an analogy, but with reason. The Mums can tell us from experience how painful it is to bring a baby into this world - the nine months of pregnancy, the morning sickness, the labour pains - but isn’t it true, Mums, that some of the pain that you’ve experienced in raising your children after childbirth can be just as painful, if not more painful, than childbirth itself. When a child rebels against his parents. When a teenager goes off the rails. When they endanger themselves and fall into deep trouble. The anguish and the hurt is so intense because.. because, it’s always there. You are always worried. You are always concerned. Because you are always, always their Mum and you always, always love them.

That’s the pain Paul is describing - an anguish that is prolonged and drawn-out - until, that is, Paul says, “Christ is formed in you.”

I was talking to an older Christian this week about his two kids, now all grown up and married, and living overseas. And he just casually said to me, “I don’t get to hear from them always and I know they have their own struggles. But as long as they know God, I’m not worried.”

Can I say, that is true assurance and that is true love of a Christian parent. That their children know God, or as Paul puts it, that Christ is formed in them. It’s talking about maturity in trusting Jesus and maturity in becoming more like Jesus. It’s not the university degree. It’s not the well-paying job. It’s not the happy family, house and kids. If those are the things we are trusting in to save us and our kids, we will carry our worries to the grave.

It is Jesus: Christ formed in us. That’s the we are doing here in the Chinese Church - we preach the gospel of Christ and the Spirit of Christ takes root in our lives, changing us to be more and more like Jesus.

And it is hard. Paul is in anguish. He is at this point seen as their enemy. People are saying he is being a spoilsport, a wet-blanket and a has-been two-bit apostle. False teachers are drawing believers away from the gospel to adopt religious legalism.

But this is true love rooted in the truth of God’s word. It means the gospel is relevant not just when things are going well, it is essential when relationships go down the drain. We keep preaching Christ and trusting in the power of God’s word and God’s grace to redeem us - and our loved ones - out of slavery to sin, out of selfishness and pride, into the freedom and salvation of the sons of God.

God sent his Son (Galatians 4:1-7)

No different from a slave

Our bible passage this afternoon is a classic Christmas text. It tells of how God sent Jesus to be born as a baby, taking on our humanity. We will get to that in verse 4. But just to set things in context, it is important that we begin reading from verse 1.

What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate.

Galatians 4:1

The key phrase for us to note is how Paul says that the heir can be “no different from a slave”. Paul is describing a someone who looks like he has everything - who himself thinks he owns everything - but in reality is no different from a slave. Why? Verse 2 says that he is subject to guardians and trustees. Verse 3 tells us that he is enslaved by “the basic principles of the world”. He’s a slave. This guy isn’t free.

Now, Paul is not talking about sin. That’s important to realise as the slavery which Paul describes in this verses is not addiction to some kind of destructive behaviour. That kind of slavery is obvious. You can see it in your own life (and you may or may not realise this, but your friends can see it too). That kind of bondage or addiction to sin is obvious.

But the slavery that Paul is describing here is not sin because this kind of slavery looks respectable. In verse 1, he gives us a picture of the heir who “owns the whole estate”. Literally, it reads “lord of all”. This guy has everything. Do you know anyone like that - who has all the money in the world; who has the car, the girl, the looks, the smarts? Paul says this guy might have it all but in reality he is no different from the slave forced to clean his toilet.

The thing is, Paul isn’t being hypothetical. He might be using an illustration but in verse 3 he makes it crystal clear he’s applying that illustration to us as Christians. He’s saying it’s possible for us to be saved but still live like we’re lost; it’s possible for us as believers to be sons and act like slaves.

So, also when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world.

Galatians 4:3

Did you get that? When we were children; we were in slavery? That’s Paul’s introduction to the Christmas message and his point is this: It’s possible for us as Christians to make a big deal out of Christmas and yet be absolutely clueless about the Christmas message.

It’s possible - in fact, I’d say that it’s likely - we have turned up today thinking, “This Christmas stuff is for someone else”; and we think it’s because we’ve done it so many times before, we know everything there is to know about Christmas; Christmas is for the kids, it’s for the newcomers, it’s boring - that’s what we think. But in reality, Paul says to us, “The real reason why you’ve lost that wonder over the message of the gospel is because you are like the heir who is no different from the slave”. Your friends might look at you and go, “That guy has everything.” Or, “She’s my role model.” But the truth is your life isn’t one of freedom. It’s one of slavery.

From Christmas to the cross

I got my haircut this week and struck up a conversation about Christmas with my barber, who is a Jehovah’s Witness. The thing you need to know about Jehovah’s Witnesses is they don’t believe that Jesus is God, so they don’t believe in the Christmas message that Jesus was God become man through the incarnation. So, my friend, the barber doesn’t celebrate Christmas (in fact, he doesn’t even celebrate his own birthday). When I asked him what his plans were for Christmas - whether he was going home, spending time with his family - he wasn’t at all keen on talking about it. “Christmas here in the UK is meaningless.” he said. “It’s just about presents and buying things. It’s not about Jesus.”

But then he pointed to bible which I’d placed on the counter. He had seen me reading it while I was waiting in line (I was preparing for this message) and was genuinely curious. “What is this, if you don’t mind my asking?” “It’s a bible,” I said.

“Do you mind if I took a look at your bible?” he asked. Wow! In fact, he did more than take a look at it. He called out to his friend behind his counter, “Hey, check this out!” He then showed me what he was reading that morning for his devotional (Psalm 37). We even talked about his favourite passages from Scripture (John 17 and Revelation 21).

As you can imagine, my haircut took a little longer than expected (and my hair ended up a bit shorter than expected!) He was trying to tell me why he believed Jesus was not divine. I was trying to answer his objections by showing how the bible pointed to Jesus as God.

But I also wanted to steer the conversation back to Christmas. Here was a guy keen to talk about God. He was enthusiastic about the bible. He had a high view of Jesus but he had a big problem with Jesus being God coming to be born as a baby. So finally I said to him, “I know that we disagree on this one thing - you say Jesus wasn’t God, I think the bible says he was. But what would it mean if he was? I know you don’t think so, but consider just for a moment - if Jesus was God, then what Christians are really saying is that God died on the cross. That’s the biggest difference between you and me. If God died on the cross, then it means God had to come as a man; then it means God had to be born as a baby.”

You see, Paul was trying to get to the same point when he talked about Christmas. He was trying to get to the cross. The reason God sent Jesus two thousand years ago, wasn’t just to be born as a baby. It was so that Jesus could die for our sins. In other words, the reason for Christmas is the cross.

Born under law

But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.

Galatians 4:4-5

Most people only ever hear verse 4, “God sent his Son, born of a woman...” but it is verse 5 that tells us why God sent Jesus; why Jesus was born of a woman. Verse 5 says, “to redeem those under law.”

If you remember, that is what the angel said to Joseph, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” Most babies only do three things - eat, sleep and poop. Babies are helpless, they can’t look after themselves, they need constant attention. They need constant care. But this baby, according to the angel, will grow up to do something for us instead. He will save his people from their sins.

That’s why Jesus was born. If you notice, Paul doesn’t just say, “born of a woman,” he also adds, “born under law.” Why does he say that? Born of a woman, we understand. In fact, isn’t that what we hear every Christmas? Jesus was born as a baby. His parents were Mary and Joseph. And then we get the kids to dress up as the shepherds who come and see the baby Jesus in the manger. We understand that Christmas is about Jesus being born as a baby. We’ve heard again and again that on Christmas Day, God sent his Son to be born as a man, born of a woman.

But why? That’s the question Paul is answering. Why did Jesus have to be born of a woman? Answer: Because Jesus was entering our world not as an heir but as a slave. That’s what being born under law means. It means humbling himself. It means Jesus subjected himself under God’s law, living in obedience to the law and ultimately taking upon himself the punishment of the law.

That’s why verse 5 begins, “To redeem those under law.” Redeem simply means to pay. His life was a kind of payment and the law was a bill that we couldn’t afford to pay ourselves, but which Jesus took on and signed on our behalf. Under the law, Jesus paid the price for our salvation.

A few days ago I went to see the musical Les Miserables, which tells the fictional story of Jean Valjean, a man locked up in jail for nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread. Upon his release from prison, he meets a bishop who offers him food and shelter, but Jean ends up stealing the silverware instead. Jean gets apprehended by the police who bring him back in chains to the priest’s home. But instead of charging Jean Valjean with the theft of the silverware, the bishop thrusts a couple of silver candlesticks into his hands, saying, “You left so early, surely something slipped your mind. You forgot... I gave these to you, also!”

What the bishop showed was more than generosity. It was grace. He gave Jean a second chance. “God has raised you out of darkness. I have bought your soul for God,” said the bishop to Jean.

When Jesus paid our debt on the cross, he did more than pick up the tab. He released us from slavery to become sons. Verse 5 again, “To redeem us under the law that we might receive the full rights of sons.” Paul puts it another way in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

At the end of the day, Paul is saying you are either a slave or an heir. It’s either one or the other. Again, the kind of slavery Paul is talking about isn’t chains and oppression and bondage - it’s not the kind of slavery that’s obvious. Rather, this slavery looks respectable and proper from the outside.

Over and against the Valjean’s character in the musical Les Mis was the character of Inspector Javert, who spends his life searching for the escaped convict. Yet in a pivotal scene of the musical, Jean risks his life to save the inspector from being executed. The inspector cannot comprehend how a criminal he has despised all his life would come to his aid. Instead of gratitude, the experience fills the inspector with grief and hatred.

Damned if I'll live in the debt of a thief!

Damned if I'll yield at the end of the chase.

I am the Law and the Law is not mocked

I'll spit his pity right back in his face

There is nothing on earth that we share

It is either Valjean or Javert!

Unable to deal with the conflict in his soul, Javert takes his own life by jumping off a bridge. You might say to me, “Now that’s just silly. Why would anyone be so broken up over the law - a bunch of rules - of all things?” Well, for Javert it was the law, but for many students here in Cambridge, it’s their degree. For many parents, it’s their children. For many Asians, it’s respect and status in the community. We’re not talking about something that’s bad or destructive in and of itself, rather, it’s what we’ve built our entire lives on, over and against God. It’s that thing or person or accomplishment, which if taken away, we would say, “I no longer have a reason to live.” That’s the kind of slavery Paul is describing in Galatians and I think it’s a kind of slavery that happens a whole lot here in a city like Cambridge.

What Jesus did in coming to be born on Christmas Day was take on our humanity, yes, but also, take on our slavery. He was born under law, so that when he died on the cross, he could take the full penalty of that law.

When you understand slavery in that way and what Jesus did to free us from that slavery, then you begin to see that people react to the message of Christmas in one of two ways. Either they are freed from their slavery by trusting in Jesus, or sadly like Inspector Javert, they would rather die the slave than live in gratitude to the one who freed them.

This means determining whether you are a slave or an heir is not as simple as asking yourself, “Am I free?” or “How blessed do I feel?” After all, Paul began with the heir who thinks he has everything but in reality is no different from the slave. Meaning, it’s easy to fool yourself into thinking you are one or the other - either out of pride or self-pity. No, the real test is in your response to God’s grace in Jesus Christ. The real test is look at the cross - to see there a man hanging in agony, bearing the full weight of God’s anger - and say, “That’s what I deserved, but thank you, Jesus, that you came and paid price I could never have paid on my own.”

The Spirit of the Son

Some of you are terrified at the idea of doing something like that because you think it’s a con that Christians use to get you to feel miserable about your sin. You are afraid that if you let yourself be vulnerable even for a moment, even before God, he’s going to point the finger at you and go, “Aha! Gotcha!”

If that’s you, then just listen to what Paul says next because he tells us God sends the Spirit to help us to cry out to him as more than just a master, more than just a judge. He wants us to call him Dad.

Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

Galatians 4:6-7

God helps us to turn to him every step of the way. First he sent his Son to die for us on the cross. Then he sends the Spirit of his Son to call him Father. Why does he do that? Precisely because it’s not enough to know that we are no longer slaves, we need to be reassured that we are sons. If you are at all able to pray to God and call him Father, here is a word of assurance from the bible that says to you, it’s the work of the Holy Spirit enabling you to do just that.

The point is, God doesn’t want slaves, he loves us as sons. He loves us to such an extent that he sent his own Son to die on the cross for us. It means he isn’t looking for you to prove yourself - he loves you. It means he isn’t looking for you to make up for your mistakes - he forgave you in Jesus already.

It means that in Jesus Christ, God became man, the Son humbled himself as a slave, the author of life suffered death, the sinless one became sin, the one who made the law was born under law in order that he might redeem those under law. In order that we, together with Jesus, might receive the full blessings of God our Father as his sons.

Born that man no more may die

Born to raise the sons of earth

Born to give them second birth

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

God promised his Son (Galatians 3:15-29)

How do we understand the Old Testament? According to today’s passage, there are two possible ways: We read the Old Testament either as law or as promise. According to today’s passage, one leads to death while the other leads to life.

When you teach kids in Sunday School about Daniel and the lion’s den, or when you read a psalm, or even when you watch a movie like the Prince of Egypt, it is important to ask yourself, “Is the bible telling us what we need to do or is it telling us what God has done? Am I reading it as law or as promise?” The two are completely different; and chances are, many don’t see that difference. Chances are, many look at the bible - specifically the Old Testament - and see only the law, the rules and the things we need to do for God.

Paul wants us to open our bibles and see God’s promise of salvation through Jesus Christ. He wants us to hear good news. Today, we will look at the second half of Galatians Chapter 3 under three headings:

1. Promise

2. Purpose

3. People

1. Promise

The first point is promise and Paul begins with an everyday example. That’s verse 15.

Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no-one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case.

Galatians 3:15

Paul is describing a contract - a piece of paper that you sign your name on to say, “I agree to everything written in this document.” Whether it’s a mortgage for your flat, a subscription for your iPhone or the marriage certificate you sign on your wedding day, the contract is promise that you make in writing. “I give my word that I will abide by all the terms spelled out in this contract.”

The word that Paul uses to describe this contract in verse 15 is “covenant,” (Greek: diatheke) a word which commonly refers to a person’s last will and testament (“When I die, I bequeath my XBOX and Pokemon collection to Rock Fellowship”). Yet at the same time, the word “covenant” is used in the bible to describe not a human contract but God’s promise. God made a covenant with Noah promising never again to destroy the earth by a flood. God made a covenant with Moses giving him the Ten Commandments. When God makes a big promise he wants us to sit up and pay attention to, he makes a covenant.

Meaning, when you read the Old Testament, what you should hear is God saying, “Here is all the stuff I am going to do.” The Old Testament is a written contract with God’s name signed on every page, “I, God, promise to abide by all these terms.” In fact, “testament” is simply another way of saying “covenant”. Old testament and new testament simply mean old covenant and new covenant. The bible is God’s promise given to us in order that we may trust in his word; in order that we may rely on his promises.

Why is this important? Because we often see the bible not as a promise but as law. We often teach the bible as a list of rules that must be followed in order to be saved. When someone comes along and says, “Actually, it’s not about what we need to do but what God has done,” we get surprised. When someone comes along and says, “Reading the bible as the law is the wrong way to understand God’s word,” we get upset. But that is exactly what the apostle Paul says to us in verse 17.

What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise, but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Galatians 3:17-18

Paul is telling us, “Don’t get the law mixed up with the promise.” The promise came first to Abraham (verse 16) whereas the Law came 430 years after Abraham. Meaning, two things: firstly, salvation is not through the law - as a kind of reward for being good - that is not the basis of our salvation; but secondly, the terms of salvation are not cancelled out by the law - God didn’t add extra requirements to be saved. He didn’t replace the promise with a new set of rules. That’s what verse 18 means, “God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.” There were no strings attached when God first blessed Abraham and that hasn’t changed even with the coming of the law. God’s blessing was always by grace alone.

How does this apply to us? It’s easy to start with God’s grace. That’s what made Christianity so awesome to start with - God saved us while we were still sinners. Beginning with grace is easy, continuing on by grace isn’t. Sometimes we open up the Old Testament and read about people like Abraham, Moses and David and turn them into examples on how to live the Christian life. To some extent, that’s useful. We learn from their faith, from their mistakes, from their experiences. But if all we see in the Old Testament are models of faith - examples on how to live faithfully and avoid sin - if that’s all we see, then we’ve read the bible as law and not as promise. We have read the bible as a how-to manual on how to be a good person. And Paul is saying, that’s the wrong way to understand God’s word.

God’s salvation is always by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. From day one, that’s how it began with Abraham. Abraham was not a holy man. He was a pagan worshipper whom God chose to bless and to use to prepare the way for Jesus. It was God who made a covenant with Abraham and God who gave Abraham his promises. If you are a Christian, it was God who called you when you were still running away from him. He called you by grace and he saved you by grace.

Each time you open the bible, it ought to remind you about what God has done, not what you need to do. Each time you meet Abraham, Moses and David in the bible, you should be amazed not so much with their faith but with their God who was faithful and gracious to them, who continues to be faithful and gracious to you.

2. Purpose

The second thing we see is the purpose of the law.

What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one.

Galatians 3:19-20

The question is: If God saves us by grace alone, why do we need the law? Doesn’t the law distract us from the promise? In fact, why not get rid of all these stuffy rules and let people think for themselves?

Paul says there is a reason why God gave the law. Asking the question, “What, then, was the purpose of the law?” Paul immediately answers, “It was added because of transgressions.”

Meaning, the law helps us to recognise our need for Jesus by helping us to recognise our sinfulness. The way the law does this is rather strange if you’ve never heard it before. The law doesn’t simply point towards our sin and say, “Ooo, that’s a bad thing you’ve done! That’s sinful.” What the law actually does is reveal our sinfulness. It is like dropping a mentos sweet into a bottle of Diet Coke and watching the whole thing explode. That’s what happens when we come into contact with the law. Our hearts rebel against the law almost instinctively like a chemical reaction.

Why would God have such a strange purpose for the law? To show us that sin is more than just breaking a set of rules. Sin is that instinctive reaction in our hearts to turn against God who set the rules.

If you are in any position of authority, you need to realise this. Whether you’re teaching Sunday School or you’re trying to get friends to come for Rock Fellowship or you’re leading the music team in church, one way to exert your authority is to lay down the law - “No Haribo in class!” “Why didn’t you come for Rock the last couple of weeks?” “Make sure you keep to the music rota and turn up on time for practice!” If all you are doing is laying down the law, pretty soon, your friends won’t simply be rebelling against the law, they will be rebelling against you. Don’t get me wrong, rules are important. Kids do need structure. Adults do need direction. But if all you are as a leader is keeping the rules and punishing those who break the rules, you are not a very good leader. In fact, you are not a Christian leader.

Why do I say that? Look at verse 19, “The law was put into effect by angels through a mediator.” God enforced the law through angels, meaning, this was serious; it wasn’t willy-nilly to be taken lightly. But at the same time, God didn’t simply give us the law, he gave us a mediator for the law. A mediator is there not just to make sure the rules get followed, he’s there for when the rules get broken. Moses was a mediator: he gave the Ten Commandments to Israel yet when Israel sinned, Moses went before God to ask for forgiveness.

You see, God knows who he is dealing with. The question is: Do you? When you look at the kids in your Sunday School class, when you look at your music team, when you look at the guys who turn up (or don’t turn up) for Rock Fellowship - do you realise who you are dealing with? Spoiled brats? Rebellious sinners? If all you have is the law, then all they will be are spoiled brats and sinful rebels! But if you know your own heart as sinful (that’s what the law does) and if you know Jesus as your mediator in heaven who intercedes before his Father (that’s what the gospel does), then each time we mess up, we will point to Jesus and not the law. Each time our friends mess up, we will be gracious with them just as God has been gracious with us.

That’s why Paul can say, “The whole world is a prisoner of sin,” but at the same time not mean that we’re stuck. He can actually talk about the law and not be legalistic (which is actually a really hard thing to do!) Why? Because Paul can look at the law - which shows him his failures and his sin - and what he really sees is his need for Jesus.

Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

Galatians 3:21-22

What do you see when you look at the law? Another way of thinking about it is to ask: What comes to mind when you think about Christmas? Until I came to the UK, I didn’t realise what a big deal Christmas was here. I mean, back in Singapore, Christmas is a public holiday, there’s lots of shopping, Christians meet for a church in the morning and families gather for a meal afterwards - so there are similarities between UK and Singapore. But I have noticed a big difference and that’s the stress. Travelling back home in the snow, getting presents for the family, preparing the turkey dinner, going on the diet afterwards - it all results in depression, anxiety and friction. It made me realise that Christmas here in the UK is better equated with Chinese New Year back in Asia.

I’m not even going to say something like, “It should be about Jesus.” Don’t get me wrong, Christmas is about Jesus. But even Christians who know it’s about Jesus get stressed over carol-singing, over organising evangelistic events or rushing to the family service on Christmas morning in a way that is not unlike the non-Christian who thinks of Christmas as just another bank holiday. Why? Because we look at Christmas and see law. Christmas is just long list of stuff to get done and we forget that Christmas is about what God did that we could not do for ourselves. He sent his Son to die for our sins.

The biggest difference between the person who understands Christmas and who doesn’t isn’t who goes to church and who doesn’t; it isn’t the person who gives presents and the one who doesn’t - the biggest difference between the person who understands Christmas and the person who has completely misunderstood it is this: one sees it as promise, the other sees it as law. One hears the message of Jesus coming as a baby, born in a manger, taking on humanity and goes, “God promised he would send his Son and he did.” The other goes, “God sent his Son and I must send Christmas cards.”

Promise or law: Which is Christmas to you?

Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

Galatians 3:23-25

The English Standard Version translates verse 24 by saying, “So then, the law was your guardian until Christ came.” Here, Paul describes the law like a babysitter. It’s job is to make sure we keep out of trouble and finish our vegetables. At times, the English Congregation feels a bit like baby-sitting with kids who don’t want to be here and parents who want me to make sure you kids learn some manners. Now the bible isn’t saying that’s wrong, I mean, here it’s saying that’s precisely the role of the law. But it also tells us that if you think they are going to be Christians that way, you’re kidding yourselves. The law can never save, only Jesus does. “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision/babysitting of the law.” If all we are doing here in the English congregation is going through stories on how to be good and respectful, we are actually keeping people from hearing the gospel. We are acting as if Jesus never came. Similarly, this Christmas, no amount of gift-giving or carol-singing can take the place of the telling our friends the gospel - Jesus Christ came to save sinners. In our Sunday School, in our evangelism, in our Christmas services, there needs to come a point when we say, “Alright, I need to actually get to Jesus.”

To recap, the purpose of the law is reveal our sinfulness and to keep our sinfulness in check. It’s purpose was never to save but to point us to the only one who can: Jesus.

3. People

From promise to purpose, we end with our third point: people. Paul says to us in verse 26:

You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 3:26

God’s promises were given to Abraham, it says in verse 16, but not just to Abraham but rather to his son. If you look back to verse 16, you notice that Paul goes to great lengths to explain how this promise comes to just one son; he isn’t talking about many sons but just one, “and to your seed,” he says at the end of the verse, “meaning one person, who is Christ.”

That’s important because here at the end of the chapter, Paul turns to us as Christians today and says, “You are all sons of God.” The only way that happens is through Jesus, the one and only Son of God. Verse 29, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.”

One way of thinking about this to imagine waking up on Christmas morning to find loads and loads of presents underneath the tree. How exciting! Except that when you look closer at the packages, every single one has label on it that says “For Jesus.” None have your name on them. All of them are meant for Jesus alone.

The bible - the entire bible, meaning the Old and New Testaments, from Genesis to Revelation - is God’s promise for his Son, Jesus Christ. All the blessing and all the inheritance of God are meant for him alone but here’s the thing: if you are in Christ, all those blessings come to you. Every single one of those presents under the tree might have his name on them, but you can say, “This is mine.” To be in Christ means trusting in death that pays for all your sins. When Jesus died on the cross, he took all the punishment of the law for all the sins that you did. In that way, Jesus fulfilled the law on your behalf. But to be in Christ also means to identifying with Jesus in his death.

I am crucified with Christ therefore I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Galatians 2:20

Paul refers to this identification with Christ’s death when he says in verse 27, “For all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” It’s not our goodness that saves us, it is Christ. All we do is trust in the salvation that he offers. That’s verse 28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ.” We don’t trust in our status, gender or heritage, we trust only in Jesus.

In the recent weeks, verse 28 of Galatians 3 has been used in controversial ways. Especially where Paul says there is neither male nor female (which is an echo of Genesis Chapter 1, verse 27). This verse has been used to argue for the equality of genders within the church’s leadership, particularly the ordination of women bishops in the Anglican church. This verse has been used to argue that there ought to be no gender discrimination, especially in the issue of marriage between two homosexuals. I don’t have time to go into either one of these debate except to say that the central issue for Paul was our trust in Jesus alone for our identity and salvation. The biggest thing that separates you and me is not colour of skin, language, status, money or gender. The biggest problem between you and me is the biggest problem between us and God. It is our sin. These issues matter greatly, I’m not saying that they don’t. But they are secondary (yes, even the issue about homosexual marriage) to the gospel of Christ’s death for our sin. If we as Christians engage in these issues, our job is not simply to defend the law, it is to preach the gospel. In marriage and the distinction between the genders, there is a glorious picture of the gospel of Christ and his church. In the headship of the church and submission to male elders, it is shaped firstly by our submission to Christ who himself submitted to his Father when he went to the cross.

All of the blessings of Christ only come to those who are in Christ. So, more important than asking this Christmas, “Am I blessed?” and start to count off how many presents you received through the post box, is to ask the question, “Am I in Christ?” Why? Because none of these blessings -  of inheritance, of God’s love, of eternal life - mean diddly squat if you are not trusting in Jesus alone, and what you are doing instead is trying to earn these blessings outside of Christ by working hard, obeying the law and being as good as you can.

Are you in Christ? If you are, then you have three things: promise, purpose and people. Promise: You open up the bible and see how generous and gracious God is to his people and to you. God’s word becomes God’s promise to you in Jesus. Purpose: Even when you mess up, you see the real purpose of the law, not to condemn you but to point you to the cross where Jesus took all your condemnation. People: These are your brothers and sisters in Christ, here in the church, who have all received grace and forgiveness through the cross. Each time we meet, we encourage one another to keep trusting in Jesus alone for our salvation and identity.

Are you in Christ? If you are, then Christ is your blessing. All you have is Christ.

I once was lost in darkest night

Yet thought I knew the way.

The sin that promised joy and life

Had led me to the grave.

I had no hope that You would own

A rebel to Your will.

And if You had not loved me first

I would refuse You still.

Hallelujah! All I have is Christ

Hallelujah! Jesus is my life

(“All I have is Christ, Jordan Kauflin, Sovereign Grace)

BibleCentral: Four lessons from Jonah Chapter 1

1. Revelation: God speaks

The book begins and ends with God speaking audibly to Jonah. What an amazing privilege to hear the voice of the Creator!

Yet Jonah’s response is to run. He flees from the “presence of the LORD” (that expression occurs three times in this chapter; twice in verse 3 and once again in verse 10). It is silly to think that Jonah could ever escape God’s presence, and he knows that. God is the God of heaven, who made the sea and dry land (verse 9). Where could he possibly hide in all of God’s own creation?

Still, what Jonah is running away from is God’s word. He willfully ignores and disobeys God’s instruction to preach to the city of Nineveh.

2. Mission: God sends

The power of God’s mission lies not in the messenger but in the message of the gospel. God used Jonah – a self-centred, rebellious prophet – which means that God can certainly use you and me to speak the gospel to our friends …and even to our enemies.

3. Repentance: Turning away from idols to face God

The sailors turn from worshipping pagan idols to worshipping the true and living God. Repentance in the bible is not an emotional response whereby we feel rotten about something horrible we’ve done. Repentance is a complete radical change in life direction – from idolatry to true worship, from self-centredness to God-centredness.

Aside from the sailors, don’t miss the fact that Jonah needed to repent. The great storm and the great big fish were signs sent from God to show us that even the prophet Jonah needed to repent from his selfish actions and turn to face the true and living God.

4. Salvation: A better Jonah

Verse 15 reads, “So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.” Although the sailors did everything they could to try and row back to land, in the end, the only solution that worked was the one Jonah himself proposed in verse 12, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea.”

As Christians, we have been saved from an even fiercer storm – the punishment of God’s anger for our sin. We can try to make up for it, but like the sailors, often times we find that even our sincerest efforts do more harm than good. Jesus came to take our punishment on our behalf. He is the better Jonah, who went to the cross willingly, not willfully; who died for our sins and not his own.

Jesus is a better Jonah – and a better Saviour – who faced the storm of God’s wrath because he was doing the Father’s will; and because he loved us even while we were his enemies.