Church Sermon - December 26, 2004

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

Old Testament Lesson; Isaiah 63:7-9
Gospel Lesson; Matthew 2:13-23
Sermon Text; Galatians 4:4-7

It is the apostle Paul who wrote this book, or this letter, to the church in Galatians.

The Apostle Paul went about his mission work, by going into a city, a very populous city. He would go into the synagogue where Jews and Gentiles gathered to worship. (It was these people who knew their Old Testament scriptures very well.) He would share with them those Old Testament scriptures, and then he would say that they have found their fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth. People, after looking at those Old Testament scriptures, would come to faith, believing that Jesus was the Messiah. And then, Paul would up and leave, go to another city, and do the same thing.

Well, often times after Paul left, there would be opposition that would arise in those churches. People would say, "Yes, we will get to Heaven by believing that Jesus is the Messiah, but we also must keep the Laws of Moses."

For example, they may say something like this. "You can get to Heaven by believing that Jesus is the Messiah, but you also have to be circumcised in order to be saved."

Paul, in his letters, always held forth that we are saved by

He oftentimes would give the example of Abraham. Scripture says, "Abraham believed and God credited to him his righteousness." Abraham is in Heaven - he who lived, even before the Law of Moses was given.

That now gets us to our text this morning, as Paul continues his letter to the church in Galatians, talking about how Jesus is the fulfillment of those Old Testament scriptures. We begin at verse four.

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. 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 4:4-7

As Paul continues this letter for us, he starts with that phrase that we know so well, "When the time had fully come". This morning, I want us to contemplate what that phrase really means. From the writing of the last book of the Old Testament, to the writing of the first book of the New Testament there were four hundred years in which God was silent. It was during those four hundred years, that the world was preparing itself for the birth of Jesus. Think about it from a cultural standpoint. In the Old Testament, nations rose and they fell. The Is Arian Nation rose and fell. The Babylonian Nation rose and fell. The Mead and the Persian Nations rose and fell.

And then, approximately in the year 330, (a little over three hundred years before Jesus was born), the Greek Nation came to power. The person who was in charge of that was Alexander, Alexander the Great. As he went around conquering the known world of the time, (that of Europe, Israel, and Egypt), he implemented Greek culture and the Greek language. Everyone in the known world spoke the Greek language. They were unified in their speech. It was during the rise of the Greek Nation, that the Old Testament scriptures, (which were written in Hebrew), were translated into Greek. That is the manuscript known as the Septuagint. So, all the world could read about those prophecies in the Old Testament, those prophecies that found their fulfillment in Jesus. The world was prepared, from a cultural standpoint. The time had fully come.

The time had fully come, also, from a political standpoint. After the Greek Nation, came the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire conquered the whole known world at that time. They allowed the people, and the lands in which they conquered, to continue their rights of religion and worship. How important this was for the Children of Israel.

Under the Roman Empire, in the land of Jerusalem, it was Herod the Great, who became king. Scripture tells us that Herod the Great was an Egumean, which simple means that he was a descendent of Esau. Scriptures prophesied that an Egumean king would once sit on the throne. That was fulfilled once, and only once, in all of history, when Herod the Great sat on the throne, in Jerusalem!

During the time of the Roman Empire, they had a wonderful transportation system. They built great roads. And, they made for safe travel on those roads and on the seas. Skip forward a little bit to Jesus’ ministry, and how wonderful that was for Jesus and His disciples, as they were able to travel about with the safety and the protection of the Roman Empire.

During those years, they lived in a time that was known as the Pox Romania, or the Peace of Rome. God even used Augustus - Caesar Augustus to issue the decree that everyone should go to their hometown to register, which lead Mary and Joseph from Nazareth, down to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. From a political standpoint the time had fully come.

And, also from a spiritual standpoint, the time had fully come. For those four hundred years, God had been silent. And the people were crying out to God to send the Messiah. They were crying out, "Oh come, oh come Immanuel."

And when the time had fully come, God sent His Son. Now, God sent His Son to be one with us, under the Law. That is why Jesus was born of a woman. That is the fulfillment of the scriptures. It is John, in his Gospel, who says, "The Word became flesh". That word, Word, is talking about Jesus. Jesus became flesh and He made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. He was born of a woman, in keeping with Isaiah who had prophesied, "The virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will give Him the name Emmanuel".

Matthew talks about how that prophecy was fulfilled in Jesus. God would send His Son to be born under the Law. To think that Jesus, Himself, had instituted that Law, and, He was now willing to live under that Law! An example of Jesus keeping that Law is when He was eight days old. His parents had Him circumcised, in keeping with the Law.

Jesus was born under the Law, to redeem us who are under Law. We are under the Law, and there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. Even before we could understand and even know the Law, we were sinners. King David said, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful since the time my mother conceived me." We had no chance to save ourselves, because we were sinful even before we understood the Law.

That is why God sent His Son to redeem us. Jesus bought us back from sin, death, and the devil. He paid a very hefty ransomed, in order to win us back. He did not pay a large amount of money, but He shed His own blood at the cross, to redeem us, and buy us back, so that we could have the full rights of sons. God sent His Son to be one with us under the Law, so that we could be one with Him, through Christ.

It is the second half to our scripture text for today that shares with us many words of comfort, and describes who we are, now that we have come to faith in Jesus, as our Savior. We are sons. We are no longer slaves, but sons. A slave has no rights. A slave carries burdens. But, a son is free. We are free. Our scripture text for today says that we are redeemed. We have been purchased by the blood of Christ. We are adopted. We were not Children of God, because of our sin. But, through Jesus’ birth, His life, and His death, we now are adopted Children of God. We have that wonderful privilege, when we address God our Heavenly Father, to call Him Abba. Abba is the Hebrew word for Daddy. To think that we get to call God Daddy! And, He addresses us as His children, when He addresses us as sons! And, because we are sons, we are heirs. We don’t deserve an inheritance, but because Jesus, our Brother, came to us, because God sent Him, we are at one with God. And, because we are heirs, He has given to us the inheritance of everlasting life in Heaven, because our sins are forgiven. That is the true miracle that took place in Bethlehem. God sent His Son, so that we could be His sons.

Now that we are His sons, how is it that we are to live? We are to live that we might be His own, and live under Him in His Kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

Amen.

Top of Page || Church Sermons || Return to Home Page