In the previous two texts of our Galatians 4. 4-5 series, we learned four characteristics of the Apostle’s response to the question: “What child is this who was born at Christmas?”We focus on the child as the heart of history, in two circumstances of his birth, and on the purpose of his coming. In the latter part, we will know two other Christmas features according to Paulo.
So what kid is that at daycare?According to Galatians 4. 5, he is the Son who was born to make us heirs to God. As the Apostle says, he came “that we may receive the adoption of children,” that is, as heirs with full rights and privileges (Galatians 4. 5). In these words, we learn the ultimate goal of the Coming of the Son.
- We must re-appreciate the meaning of the term used by Paul here.
- Adoption was defined by Roman law and was widely practiced in Roman life.
- The Roman emperors had adopted men unrelated to them.
- In order to give them their title and authority.
- When a child is adopted.
- It is in all respects equal to those born into his new family.
- The adopted child had the same name.
- Inheritance.
- Same situation.
- And same rights as children born.
To appreciate the impressive reality of our position as heirs in God’s family, remember how God saw us before our adoption. Without the grace of adoption, we were not “children of God” but “children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2. 2); Were we not, by nature, children of God, but children of anger?(Ephesians 2. 3). The fact is that, when adopted, the Father assigns all the rights and privileges that belong to his own Son to those who were neither his children nor his heirs by nature and by birth.
Westminster’s main catechism captures Paul’s teaching on adoption in question 74. By adoption, we are told, all who are justified by faith are received only among the children of God, bear their name, receive the Spirit of the Son, are under their parental care and dispensations, are they admitted to all the freedoms and privileges of God’s children, have they made heirs to all promises and co-heirs with Christ in glory?. in other words, by adoption, those of us to whom God has justified have the same name, inheritance, position and rights as the Son of God.
So, what kid’s in day care? He is the Son of God who has become a servant of God so that we, who were servants of sin, may be sons and daughters of God; He is the child born to make us heirs to his Father.
Finally, as we reflect on the first coming of Christ in Galatians 4. 4-5, the Apostle gives us even more information about the question: what child is he?The child, he said, is the Son sent by the Father, these simple words take us to the background of the Coming of the Son: they tell us their pre-existence; existed before he was sent, existed as a person and as a separate person from the Father; the Son, who would be called Jesus and exalted as Lord, was (and remains) the only beget of the Father. He was (and is) of a substance with the Father and equal to him (and the Spirit). Although its pre-existence is the only possible statement to be inferred from Paul’s text, this statement is consistent with what the rest of Scripture makes explicit: the child in the manger was the son of the pre-existing Father, miraculously generated as to his nature. Human beings by the Holy Spirit and miraculously preserved from corruption. of Mary’s womb, a person of two natures.
Notice also that, according to Paul, the Father sent his Son. The Son who came was ordained by his Father, We are talking about the Great Commission, but here Paul speaks of the greatest commission of all, the basis of the Great Commission. The apostle’s words reflect the harmony between the Father and the Son. As for his coming, the Father agreed to send his Son, and the Son agreed to be sent by the Father. What Paul says here indicates what he calls elsewhere God’s eternal plan. in Christ (Ephesians 3:11), the dispensation of the fulfillment of times (Ephesians 1:9-10), according to which the Son, anointed with the Holy Ghost, must obey the will of his Father and thus become heir to all things, including countless descendants who would become consistent with him.
Therefore, according to Paul, the baby in the manger is God with God, the Son with the Father, who has permanently taken human nature and flesh for him. He wasn’t always a man, but he was always God, Jesus Christ wasn’t. First of all, a man upon which the deity descended; it was first and foremos say God, who took charge of humanity. After the Incarnation, he is now and always will be a person of two natures, human and divine.
So, what kid’s in day care? He is the child who is the Son sent by the Father, the Son who is now and now will always be God and man.
Throughout this three-part series, we reflect on the Apostle Paul’s answers to the courteous but constant question in William C’s Christmas song. Ten, what child is this? [?What child is this ??]. Despite all the merit of the answers found in the song, we need to make sure that we believe the scriptures teach about the baby in day care. According to the Apostle, he is the son who has always been He is the Son born of a woman and born under the law. Truly, this child was not only a baby for parties and feasts: he was and continues to be the eternal Son sent by the Father to be born as this holy child who would fulfill the greatest mission of all, to redeem us from our sins and to make us heirs of God with him.
By: R. Fowler White. © 2016 Ligonier Original: Christmas According to the Apostle Paul? Gal 4: 4-5 (part 3 of 3)
Translation: Joel Paulo Aragono da Guia Oliveira Review: Yago Martins. © 2016 Faithful Ministérium. All rights reserved. Website: MinisterioFiel. com. br. Original: What is Christmas according to Paulo?Galatians 4. 4-5 (part 3 of 3 )
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