SERIES: “Galatians: The Gospel For Everyday Life”

TEXT: Galatians 3:24-4:7

MESSAGE: Gospel Identity: Standing in Christ

How would you answer this?

I AM __________.

Gospel Identity — I AM IN CHRIST.

“Most of our problems in life come from a lack of proper orientation to the gospel. Pathologies in the church and sinful patterns in our individual lives ultimately stem from a failure to think through the deep implications of the gospel and to grasp and believe the gospel through and through. Put positively, the gospel transforms our hearts and our thinking and changes our approaches to absolutely everything. When the gospel is expounded and applied in its fullness in any church, that church will look unique. People will find in it an attractive, electrifying balance of moral conviction and compassion.” — Timothy Keller (Center Church)

TEXT: Galatians 3:24-4:7

How do we see the gospel shape our identity from today’s passage? Well, we see the answer by looking at three aspects — (1. Who we are 2. How it happens 3. What it means)

1. Who we are (v. 3:24-29)

“So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.” — Romans 1:20-21

“The purpose of the law was to lift the lid off man’s respectability and disclose what he is underneath – sinful, rebellious, guilty, under the judgement of God and helpless to save himself…” — John Stott

“I said I am Magdalene, I am Zacchaeus, I am the thief, I am the harlot, I am the publican, I am the prodigal, and one of Christ’s murderers; yes, worse than any of these, and yet God was so far off from rejecting me, as I learned later, that there was music and dancing in His house for me, and great joy that I had come home to Him…O blessed be God for grace…for then I hope there is favor for me.” — John Bunyan (Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners)

2. How it happens (v. 4:3-5)

“In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. 4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

“They trust in their wealth and boast of their abundant riches. 7 Yet these cannot redeem a person or pay his ransom to God—8 since the price of redeeming him is too costly…” — Psalm 49:6-8

3. What it means (v. 4:6-7)

“And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

“Adoption is not a change in nature, but a change in status. If we fail to see this truth, we will reject the power of our adoption…” — Sinclair Ferguson

“Many take offense at using the masculine word “sons” to refer to all Christians, male & female. Some would prefer to translate v. 26: ‘You are children of God’ (as the NIV does). But if we are too quick to correct the biblical language, we miss the revolutionary nature of what Paul is saying. In most ancient cultures, daughters could not inherit property. Therefore, “son” meant “legal heir”, which was a status forbidden to women. But the gospel tells us we are all sons of God in Christ. We are all heirs. Similarly, the Bible describes all Christians together, including men, as the ‘bride of Christ’ (Revelation 21:2). God is evenhanded in His gender specific metaphors. Men are part of His Son’s bride; and women are His sons, His heirs. If we don’t let Paul call Christian women “sons of God”, we miss how radical and wonderful a claim this is.” — Timothy Keller

“Though the Lord is exalted, he takes note of the humble…“ — Psalm 138:6

“Why then does Paul use it, transliterated, in these two letters written in Greek? The answer is that it was the way Jesus spoke to his Father, in spite of the fact that virtually no one in Jewish culture referred to God with this endearing word abba. It stunned the disciples. They held onto it as a precious remnant of the very voice of Jesus in the language he spoke. In Mark 14:36, Jesus is in Gethsemane and prays, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” Therefore, in adopting us, God give us the very Spirit of his Son and grants us to feel the affections of belonging to the very family of God.” — John Piper

TAKEAWAYS: How can we stand in our new identity?

I. Remember whose you are

v. 9 “But now that you have come to know God, but rather be known by God…”

“Not only do we know God by Jesus Christ alone, but we know ourselves only by Jesus Christ. We know life and death only through Jesus Christ. Apart from Jesus Christ, we do not know what is our life, nor our death, nor God, nor ourselves.” – Blaise Pascal

II. Remember your adoption

“Although [the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15] is probably the best known of all Christ’s parables, the lesson it teaches…is often overlooked. Jesus was underlining the fact that…the reality of the love of God for us is often the last thing in the world to dawn on us. As we fix our eyes upon ourselves, our past failures, our present guilt, it seems impossible that the Father should love us. Many Christians go through much of their life with the prodigal’s suspicion.”  — Sinclair Ferguson

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” — Galatians 4:4-5

I AM __________.