Fully Adopted
We spent the weekend on the east side of the mountains and I got to speak on Sunday at East Wenatchee First Baptist yesterday. If you’d have 50 minutes and want to listen to the message, you can click here. Below is a brief look at that message.
What helped me remember this passage is when I started connecting the word “Full” to each of the phrases.
“When the time had FULLY come”
God intervened by sending His Son when He determined to do so. We can see now that God had waited until the stage was ready for the gospel to go forth to the Gentile. There was a common empire, a common language, and a road system connecting it all together.
“God sent His son”
God saw a job that only he could do. Instead of delegating the job of redemption to one of His heavenly creatures, He took it upon Himself. He sent His Son as an expression of His love. He came as FULLY God.
“Born of a woman”
We mentioned the topic of the virgin birth a couple days ago. Here Paul expresses that not only did he come as the Son of God, He also came as a baby—FULLY human.
“Born under Law”
God sent His Son to be subjected to Law. This was completely necessary for Jesus to live a life to meet the standard of God’s holiness. God sent His Son to be sacrificed for our sins, and in order to do that the sacrifice would need to be FULLY accepted.
“To redeem those under law”
His purpose in sending His Son was to provide a FULL redemption. It wasn’t a partial redemption.. Christ paid the penalty for all of our sins.
“That we might receive the full rights (adoption) as sons”
He fully redeemed us so that we could be FULLY adopted into His family. The verses that continue this passage teach us that because of this adoption we are not longer slaves to sin. We now have the full rights as part of God’s family. This is why we have the FULL Spirit in our hearts. The God who created everything dwells within the life of those who believe.
As you think of the Christmas story and that little family journeying to the stable in Bethlehem, remember that the incarnation story is one that brings us into God’s family. We aren’t simply listening to the story of how God came into the world, we are listening to the story of how we became part of His family.
-Daniel Jensen
Director of Camp Ministries
Lakeside Bible Camp.
P.s…. LBC received $137.70 from AmazonSmile this last quarter. As you shop for the holidays, remember to purchase your gifts using AmazonSmile so you can give a portion of your purchase to LBC.
Pss… Also Winter Postcards should be arriving in the mail this week to remind folks to register for Weekend Retreats. If you aren’t on the mailing list, make sure to message me dcm@lakesidebiblecamp.org to get added to the list.
