A Christian Has a New Relationship (Galatians 4:4-6)

Paul is explaining to the Galatians aspects of God’s programme of salvation. In the previous verses, he has summarised what life was like during the period when God’s kingdom was mainly found in Israel. The apostle does this because he wants his readers to understand the contrast between those days and the present time. We know that a change in circumstances can cause issues and that a big change can cause major issues. It is important in such circumstances to know what the change means for us and whether it is for the better.

The divine intervention

In Paul’s explanation, he highlights two divine sendings that involve God the Father. The first was the sending of his Son into the world. Paul says that this happened ‘when the fullness of time had come’. This expression indicates that the Father sent his Son at the right time, at the time when all necessary preparations had been made.

What did those preparations include? Several answers could be given: First, there was the global spread of the Greek language, which made communication easy all over the known world. Second, the Old Testament, through the observance of the ceremonial law, which was known through synagogues found in most countries, had prepared the world for a deliverer from sin. Third, God had predicted, through Daniel’s words to Nebuchadnezzar, that the kingdom of the Messiah would occur during the period of the Roman Empire. Fourth, over all those other options is God’s eternal purpose, his timetable of the ages.

In that prediction to Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel was told that the Saviour would come as a little stone that would overthrow all other kingdoms. Paul here says how little the divine intervention was because God’s Son, his eternal Son who shared fully all the prerogatives of deity, became an infant in a particular time and place. We are familiar with the story of his miraculous conception, his virgin birth and his submission to the ceremonial law even from his infancy. Yet despite its miraculous nature in that God became a man, his coming was a descent in which the glorious Son humbled himself and lived among his creatures in such a manner that his identity was hidden from others apart from those to whom the Holy Spirit revealed it.

This description indicates divine sovereignty in at least two ways. First, it tells us that the Father is in control of time (of course, each of the three divine persons have this position as God, but here the authority is described from a certain perspective). Second, this perspective includes the Father having the authority to send the Son, a description that reminds us that God has a plan in which each of the divine persons had roles. In the plan, God the Father is the Sender and God the Son is the Sent.

The divine intention

Why did the God the Father send the Son? Paul gives us the answer when he says that Jesus came ‘to redeem those who were under the law’. It is possible to use the illustration of redemption to mean several things, such as using what happened in slave markets when a buyer purchased (or redeemed a slave). No doubt, that can be a helpful application, but I would suggest that it is better to view the explanation of the meaning of redemption through what happened in Israel.

In Israel, a person needed a redeemer when he lost his inheritance. The role of the redeemer was to recover the inheritance for the person who had lost it. The requirement or qualification to be a redeemer was that he had to be a relative of the person and that he was able to pay the price required. Those aspects describe what it meant for Jesus to be our redeemer.

We had lost our inheritance because of our sins – we sinned in and with Adam at the beginning. Our offence was against the God whose laws we had broken, and which demanded payment of the penalty. For the Son of God to be a suitable redeemer, he had to become our relative, which he did when he became a human in the womb of Mary. He lived under the law of God, except that in his case he lived under it perfectly.

When he went to the cross, he went there to pay the penalty of sin. If he had been a sinner, he could not have paid it because only a sinless person can pay it. But it was not enough that he be a sinless person, he also had to have the strength to pay it, and that strength was given to him by the Holy Spirit (Heb. 9:14), whom he had without measure.

So on the cross he paid the penalty that was demanded, the penalty that satisfied divine justice against those who had lost their inheritance because of their sins. It was a vast payment that he made, and its worth is known only by God. But it was a vicarious payment made for those he represented. And it was a verified payment because that is what his resurrection from the dead proved.

The intention of the Father was more than for his Son to deal with the loss that his people had incurred. It also included the recovery of their status that had been lost, and that status was that of sonship. There is a sense in which justification does not fully deal with the status we had lost. The distinction has been explained in this way. In justification, we are regarded as restored servants who have been forgiven by the God whose law we broke. The obedience of Jesus is reckoned to our account, so we are regarded as forgiven servants who have kept the law of God. But full redemption required more than that, and the more was restoration to family membership in God’s sight.

Adoption by God is the greatest privilege that God could give us. As we think about it, we can see several important aspects connected to it and we can mention them briefly. First, it is a common adoption since it is equally possessed by every family member. Second, it is continual adoption because, unlike what happened with Adam, we cannot lose it. Third, it is a concealed adoption because it is hidden from the eyes of others at present. Fourth, it is a cordial adoption because God the Father is glad that they are his children, and they are glad that he is their Father. Fifth, it is a courtly adoption, because, since they belong to the Son of God, they have royal connections and will have an inheritance to rule over.

The Divine Inhabitant (v. 6)

Paul now refers to the second sending engaged in by God the Father. When he first sent his Son, he sent him to deliver sinners from their terrible set of circumstances. When he, secondly, sent the Spirit to his people, he sent him so that they can discover some aspects of the inheritance now as they live in this world.

The description of the Holy Spirit is specific – he ‘is the Spirit of his Son’. This description should lead us to ask, ‘In what ways is the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Jesus?’ He is this by fulfilment of promises made to him. The Father promised the Son before he came into the world that, if he completed the work assigned to him, he would receive the Spirit as a reward, not only for himself but also for all his people. Each of them now has the Spirit after they believe in Jesus and become sons of God. Paul in Romans 8 says that this possession is a defining mark of a believer: ‘he that has not the Spirit of Christ is none of his.’

Where within us does the Spirit go? He is sent into our hearts. It is difficult at times to work out what the Bible means by its different descriptions of what we are on the inside. For example, it speaks about a distinction between our soul and our spirit. In other places, it speaks about our minds and our choices and our affections. By the term ‘heart’ it means everything that is within us. So we can say that the Spirit, when he comes, indwells our minds influencing what we think about, indwells our affections influencing what we love and enjoy, and indwells our wills influencing what choices we make.

What does the Spirit say when he comes? Paul says that the indwelling Spirit says ‘Abba, Father.’ Although the word Abba is what a Jewish child would have used when speaking to his father, the word does not mean Daddy. Instead, it is a title of respect and reverence used by adult children. Jesus used both words when he addressed his Father in the garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:36), and there he acknowledged that the Father possessed great authority. In fact, the words ‘Abba’ and ‘Father’ mean the same thing. Paul combines the Aramaic and Greek words here, which may a hint from him that the Spirit brings about unity between different peoples when they are converted.

We get further insight on what Paul means by the term ‘Father’ when we consider how he uses it in the context of these verses. The obvious feature in the passage is that the Father has authority (he sent his Son, and he sent the Spirit). He also has aims in mind which are to do with salvation as experienced by members of his family. He desires and demands our sanctification.

Moreover, this cry is a strong cry, even if it never reaches to the lips. The cry can be made anywhere, even if we are surrounded by other people. Imagine travelling across the Rockies in a train and observing repeatedly the wonders of creation. Words fail us, but in our hearts, we say with awe, ‘Abba, Father.’ Or maybe we find ourselves being tempted, almost overwhelmed by the darkness that comes along with it. Words fail us, but in our hearts, we say in desperation, ‘Abba, Father.’ Or we be meditating on the greatness of salvation, thinking about the fact that the Father chose his people, that he sent his Son to be the Saviour, that he sent the Spirit to indwell them, and as our minds are staggered by the richness of his grace, all we can say with astonishment and gratitude is ‘Abba, Father.’

Why does the Spirit lead believers to cry ‘Abba, Father’? At one level, he wants them to have a God-centred life. At a higher level, he wants them to have strong assurance of the Father’s love, no matter their circumstances. He wants them to appreciate that they belong to the family of God and that they will be in it forever.

There is another aspect here that should help us because this cry brings us into fellowship with Christ. This must be so because the Spirit comes as the Spirit of Jesus. Since the Spirit who speaks in our hearts is the Spirit of Jesus, it means that he speaks in our hearts as the Spirit of Jesus. It is when we can pray in this manner that we grasp something of the intensity with which Jesus prayed when he was in the Garden. We cannot experience anything like the fullness of what he felt, but we do discover something of the agony he endured when we ourselves have Spirit-given agony of soul.

Perhaps we can think about it this way. When the Father sent the Son into the world, his commission was, ‘Redeem my people!’ When the Father sent the Spirit into their hearts, his commission was, ‘Teach them to say Abba, Father!’ Those two sendings are a summary of what our heavenly Father has done for his people.

Application

We can say that the divine intervention of sending Jesus, the divine intention of redeeming lost sinners, and the divine Inhabitant speaking powerfully in our souls will find its goal when we stand on the verge of glory as the heavenly Father makes all things new. This will take place after the Day of Judgement. On that day, we will say with fullness of energy, ‘Abba, Father’, as we behold the endless glory stretching out in front of us forever. Paul’s conclusion here will be very real then: ‘So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God’ (v. 7). That is who we are as believers.