Opening Prayer
Lord, let Your great mercy come upon me, Your salvation according to Your Word. Amen.
Text: Galatians 4:1-7
Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
Devotion
Now here we learn again from the Holy Spirit through Paul that God’s Son is born of a woman. Whom is he talking about except the Child born in Bethlehem, the Man who died on the cross? What is born of a woman is indeed man. Christ is really true Man, and yet the Spirit says here: “God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.” Can this be understood in any other way than that Christ is God and Man in one Person? God’s Son is Mary’s Son, the Word made flesh, the Father’s Only-begotten become Man.
He was born under the Law, and later He willingly confesses Himself to be under the Law. That’s why He was circumcised. That’s why He was baptized. He was subservient to the Law and fulfilled it in everything, its deepest demand and its every command. But even though He fulfilled it, He still let the punishment for its transgression fall completely on Him. He placed Himself under the condemnation of the Law and willingly bore its punishment. Because you transgressed and deserved condemnation and death, you should die the death of the condemned. The Son becomes the servant, the Holy One becomes the sinner, so that we may become sons and stand acquitted before God. The life and blood of His only-begotten Son are offered under the judgment of the Law on the accursed tree, so that we condemned sinners may be free and become children of God.
This is done, and now God’s Son says: “Believe in Me, and all this is yours. I didn’t need to keep the Law for My own sake. I am righteous from eternity. I had no sin of My own for which to suffer punishment. I never transgressed. But I did it and suffered it for you. You should believe it. It is done. You shouldn’t do it, but believe it. The fullness of time has come. Everything that was supposed to happen has happened. You are redeemed from bondage. Believe, and you are a free and blessed child of God. So don’t let the devil fool you with this lie of his, that you should perfectly keep the Law to become a child of God. This is nothing other than to deny Christ’s perfect work. Indeed, the Law is fulfilled, and you are a child of God when you believe this Gospel. You are now Mine,” says our Lord Jesus. “You are Mine, and I am yours, and where I am, there I will bring you. The enemy will not separate us.” God help us to understand this! But see how the Spirit of God’s Son cries in your heart: “Abba, Father!” and bears witness with His Spirit that you are a child of God!
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, blessed God and Savior, give us the simplicity of faith. Give us the freedom of grace. Give us the glory and blessedness of the adoption as sons.
Hymn
I cannot gather
This honor e’er so high,
That God’s my Father
Who lives in heaven high!
When one is turning,
Repentant to the Lord,
This world now spurning,
And heeding Jesus’ Word,
For heaven yearning,
Washed in the Lamb’s pure blood!
O what a story,
What wondrous news is giv’n!
And O what glory
To be a child of heav’n!
What us may bother,
We bring before Your throne
And say: Dear Father,
You are my Help alone!
What glory, Father,
To stand in heaven’s home!
Brorson: O hvilken Ære L 166:1-2 tr. DeGarmeaux;
tune: Paa Gud alene (LHy 350); alternate hymn: Baptized into Thy name most holy ELH 242:2.4